Description
Object description
British private served with 11th Bn Royal Fusiliers on Western Front, 1917-1918; served with 2nd Bn Suffolk Regt in Shanghai, China, 1927-1928; served as NCO with 5th Bn Suffolk Regt in Singapore, Malaya, 1941; POW in Thailand, 1942-1945 including work on Burma Railway
Content description
REEL 1 Background in Essex. GB, 1898-1914: family; education; reaction to outbreak of war, 8/1914; enlistment with Riyal Fusiliers, Suffolk, 1/1916.Aspects of training with Royal Fusiliers in GB, 1916-1917: posted to 7th Training Bn; description of basic training in Falmouth and Dover; attitude to discipline; training for trench warfare; gas training; transferred to Class Z Army Reserve due to being underage; recalled and drafted to 11th Bn Royal Fusiliers in France, 6/1917. Recollections of operations as private with 11th Bn Royal Fusiliers on Western Front, 1917-1918: relations between officers and other ranks; opinion of warrant officers; description of further training; living conditions; posted to Le Havre, for further training, summer 1917; posted into line at Ypres, Belgium, 7/1917; description of operations during Third Battle of Ypres; story of panorama; preparations for attack; creeping barrage; description of going over the top and casualties; opinion of German defences; question of maintaining advance according to plan; casualties and treatment of wounded
REEL 2 Continues: problem of mud and wet conditions in Ypres sector; gas masks; opinion of rations; problem of cold weather; posted to Somme area, France, 1917; comparison of Somme and Ypres sectors; sniping; description of barbed wire and question of being cut by shelling; role as sniper with 11th Bn; use of telescopic sights; description of German offensive, 3/1918; story of being wounded by shrapnel near Albert, 6/1918; description of medical treatment and convalescence in France and Ireland; reaction to news of Armistice, 11/1918; memories of flu epidemic, 1918; problem of maintaining trenches in Ypres sector; description of conditions at Passchendaele; reaction to dead and wounded; story of picture of gas attack; attitude to war; opinion of conscientious objectors.
REEL 3 Continues: problem of water supplies at front; question of drinking water from shell holes; rum ration; cigarettes; parcels from home; problem of lice and rats; attitude to destruction of countryside; opinion of Australian and Canadian troops; attitude to Military Police; opinion of Royal Army Medical Corps; opinion of senior generals; description of demobilisation, 2/1919; reflections on period of military service on Western Front; comparison of conditions on Western Front with period as POW on Burma Railway. Aspects of period with 2nd Bn Suffolk Regt in China, 1927-1928: description of security duties in Shanghai including international settlement; story of razors. Aspect of operations as NCO with 5th Bn Suffolk Regt in Singapore, 1941: description of voyage to Singapore via Nova Scotia, 10/1941; memory of lecture by General Smuts in Cape Town, South Africa; convoy escorted by US Navy.
REEL 4 Continues: description of situation in Singapore and opinion of defences; tightening of security following Japanese advance through Malaya ; story of being awarded Military Medal, 1/1942; description of Japanese occupation of Singapore; story of inspection by Japanese officer; attitude to Japanese. Recollections of period as POW in Thailand including working on Burma Railway, 1942-1945: description of journey in cattle trucks to Bangkok,Thailand; opinion of treatment by Japanese guards:opinion of food; question of supplementing diet from jungle; description of Bangkok to Rangoon section of railway; nature of work and living conditions; problem of shelters; daily routine; breaks; injuries caused by bamboo and problem of lack of medical treatment; use of banana leaves as bandages; question of sick POWs being forced to work; treatment by guards including beatings; question of attempting to escape and punishments; attitude to Japanese treatment of POWs; problem of depression; description of obtaining news on clandestine radio sets; methods of sabotaging work on railway; question of age compared to other POWs; casualties.
REEL 5 Continues: question of some Indian troops joining Japanese; climate and weather conditions in jungle; problem of mosquitoes and malaria; story of obtaining news of end of war from radio; description of liberation and reaction of Japanese; question of reprisals against Japanese; description of journey to Rangoon via Bangkok; provided with food and medical treatment; story of meeting son in Rangoon; state of health; attitude to Japanese; comparison of experiences in First and Second World Wars.
