Description
Object description
British NCO served with No 8 Troop, No 8 Commando in GB, 9/1940-12/1940; served with Folboat Troop, No 8 Commando in GB, 12/1940-2/1941; served with Folboat Section, Layforce in Egypt and Mediterranean, 2/1941-3/1941; served with No 1 Special Boat Section in Mediterranean and North Africa, 4/1941-2/1943; NCO and officer served with No 2 Special Boat Section in GB and Far East, 4/1943-8/1945
Content description
REEL 1 Background in Southport, GB and Dublin, Ireland, 1918-1939: family education; employment. Aspects of period as driver with Royal Army Service Corps in GB, 1939-1940: volunteering for Royal Army Service Corps; duties; reasons for volunteering for commandoes. Aspects of period as NCO with No 8 Troop, No 8 Commando in GB, 9/1940-12/1940: recruitment to commando, 9/1940; memories of Roger Courtney; training in Scotland; pattern of training; system of civilian billeting in Largs; reaction to disbandment of unit, 12/1940. Aspects of period as NCO with Folboat Troop in GB, 1940-1941: selection for unit; degree of knowledge of Folboat submersible canoes.
REEL 2 Continues: composition and size of section; pattern of training; discipline in unit; loss of Folboat crew off Scottish coast; review of section by Admiral Roger Keyes; embarking aboard HMS Glen Roy. Aspects of operations as NCO with Folboat Section, Layforce in Egypt and Mediterranean, 1941: voyage to Egypt, 2/1941-3/1941; initial impressions of Egypt and Egyptians; effect of sandstorm; move to Kabrit, Egypt; training in Alexandria Harbour; embarkation on board submarine HMS Triumph; plans for operation on Rhodes Island, Greece; abandoning of operation; threat to continued existence of Folboat Section. Recollections of operations as NCO with No 1 Special Boat Section in Mediterranean and North Africa, 4/1941-2/1943: formation of unit.
REEL 3 Continues: duties on board submarines; character of reconnaissance operations in eastern Mediterranean, 1941-1942; landing agents in Greece; use of motor boats to transport folboats; character of operation on Gavdos, Island, Crete, Greece, 1941; abortive operation off Benghazi, Libya from submarine HMS Triumph, 1941; air of defeatism in North Africa, 1942; operation on German held coast of North Africa, 1942.
REEL 4 Continues: outcome of operation and problems of blowing up inflatable boat; rendezvous with motor torpedo boat after operation; absorption of Special Boat Section into the Special Air Service; avoiding parachute training; character of desert journey for operation against Benghazi, Libya; loss of tank support for raid; proposed role of No 1 Special Boat Section during raid on Benghazi, Libya, 13/9/1942; arrival in Benghazi, Libya, 13/9/1942; behaviour of David Stirling during action; escape after the operation under air attack; taking cover in ravine; navigating southwards to Kufra Oasis, Libya.
REEL 5 Continues: driver's fatal accident and problems with vehicle; proposal to walk towards Kufra Oasis, Libya; discovery of underground well; theft of equipment by local Arabs; acquiring transport for journey to Kufra Oasis, Libya; running out of petrol; Special Air Service officer's jeep journey to acquire petrol from dump; effects of sun on member of group; picking up solitary Special Air Service officer; German Air Force attack on Kufra Oasis, Libya; escorting German prisoners of war back to Cairo, Egypt; problems of getting back to GB, 1942-1943; character of voyage to GB, 2/1943.
REEL 6 Continues: Aspects of period as NCO and officer with No 2 Special Boat Section in GB, 1943-1944: changes on arrival in GB; joining unit at Hill Head, 4/1943; training with unit; his commissioning; parachute training at No 1 Parachute Training School, RAF at RAF Ringway. Recollections of operations as officer with C and A Groups, No 2 Special Boat Section in Far East, 1944-1945: voyage from GB to India; move to Ceylon; disbandment of unit, 1945; character of abortive operation against Sumatra, Dutch East Indies, 1944; submarine HMS Trenchant's attack on German submarine U-859 off Penang, Malaya, 23/9/1944.
REEL 7 Continues: frustration about length of time spent on submarine patrol; move of unit to Cox's Bazaar, India, late 1944; participation in first reconnaissance operation with A Group on Arakan coast, late 1944; technique for getting canoes through surf; dealing with Burmese coast watcher in employ of Japanese; escape of Japanese NCO from hut; problems of achieving complete success during Special Boat Section operations; progress of the Arakan campaign, Burma, 1944-1945; character of reconnaissance operation on Ramree Island, Burma, early 1945; return to motor gun boat with Burmese civilians; importance of intelligence given by Burmese civilian.
REEL 8 Continues: further reconnaissance operations on Burma mainland; operation to block Japanese escape from Ramree Island, Burma; capture of Rangoon, Burma, 5/1945; preparations for invasion of Malaya, 8/1945; plan to capture lighthouse at Port Swettenham, Malaya, 8/1945; nature of military service.