Description
Object description
British officer served as adjutant with 4th Bn Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders, 152nd Infantry Bde, 51st (Highland) Infantry Div in GB and France, 1938-1940; prisoner of war and escapee in France and Belgium, 6/1940-11/1940
Content description
REEL 1 Background in GB, 1913-1933: family; education. Aspects of period as adjutant of 4th Bn Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders, 152nd Infantry Bde, 51st (Highland) Infantry Div in Scotland, GB, 1938-1939: involvement in Territorial Army recruitment; reaction to declaration of Second World War, 3/9/1939; mobilisation; attachment of regular units to 152nd Infantry Bde; equipment taken to France; unsuitability of kilt on active service; lack of expectation of gas warfare. Recollections of period as adjutant with 4th Bn Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders, 152nd Infantry Bde, 51st (Highland) Infantry Div in France, 9/1939-5/1940: anticipation of hostilities; reaction to lack of Allied offensive actions; opinion of disarray of French Army; nature of Maginot Line and French attempts to impress British; preparation of defensive positions in Pas-de-Calais; period in Maginot Line including attacks by German patrols, use of Gaelic to confuse Germans and casualties.
REEL 2 Continues: question of exaggerated nature of Fifth Column fears; opinion of Territorial Army troops; limited training possibilities. Recollections of operations as as adjutant with 4th Bn Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders, 152nd Infantry Bde, 51st (Highland) Infantry Div in France, 5/1940-6/1940: German attack, 10/5/1940; move to Somme area and use of commandeered Parisian buses; attempt to eliminate German bridgehead and heavy casualties suffered in abortive counter-attack; reorganisation of unit; opinion of performance of French Army artillery and machine gun personnel; chaos during withdrawal; German Air Force strafing; problems in distinguishing between civilian and military targets; question of policy of sacrificing 51st (Highland) Infantrry Div to preserve Anglo-French alliance.
REEL 3 Continues: retreat to Saint-Valery-en-Caux via Dieppe. Recollections of operations as adjutant with 4th Bn Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders, 152nd Infantry Bde, 51st (Highland) Infantry Div at Saint-Valery-en-Caux, France, 6/1940: withdrawal from defensive perimeter; opinion of disorganised communications; attempt to reach Royal Navy ships; boarding fishing boat; capture by Germans; German attitude and initial medical treatment; defensive perimeter; degree of awareness of overall situation; exhaustion of troops; effects of battle stress during campaign; opinion of French Army. Aspects of period as prisoner of war and escapee in France and Belgium, 6/1940-11/1940: effect of hunger on personal morale; psychology of newly captured prisoners of war escape and recapture; second escape from Tournai, Belgium.
REEL 4 Aspects of operations as as adjutant of 4th Bn Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders, 152nd Infantry Bde, 51st (Highland) Infantry Div in France, 5/1940-6/1940: opinion of performance of German Army; campaign lessons for British Expeditionary Force.