Fussell, Peter Lincoln (Oral history)

British private served with F Troop, No 4 Commando during Operation Jubilee, the raid on Dieppe, France, 19/8/1942; served with Headquarters, 1st Special Service Bde in GB and Normandy, France, 9/1942-12/1944; served with Headquarters, 1st Commando Bde in North West Europe, 12/1944-5/1945

REEL 1 Recollections of operations as private with No 4 Commando during Operation Jubilee, the raid on Dieppe, France, 19/8/1942: prior recollection of joining commandos in 1940; preparations for raid; briefing; crossing English Channel; nature of target site; results of attacks on German artillery positions; contact with French civilians; character of No 4 Commando's landing; his section's task; question of breaches of security before raid. Recollections of period of training with Headquarters, 1st Special Service Bde in GB, 9/1942-6/1944: reorganisation of commando units after Dieppe Raid, 8/1942; character of Exercise Harlequin, 9/1943. REEL 2 Continues: training on Sussex coast; move to transit camp in Southampton area; D-Day briefing; stand down because of weather conditions, 5/6/1944. Recollections of operations as private with Headquarters, 1st Special Service Bde during landings on Sword Beach, Normandy, France, D-Day, 6/6/1944: assembling of armada in Solent; seasickness crossing English Channel; impressions made by ships firing; rumours prior to landing; landing on Sword Beach; German opposition; importance of getting off beaches quickly; reasons why he did not have a dry landing; armoured support; capture of first German prisoners of war; link-up with airborne troops on Benouville Bridge; elimination of machine gun by commando. Recollections of operations as private with Headquarters, 1st Special Service Bde in Normandy, France, 6/1944-8/1944: taking up positions at Le Plein; use of code words; German infiltration attempts. REEL 3 Continues: use of German nationals as interpreters and translators; wounding of Lord Lovat; changes in command of brigade; use of captured weapons to deceive Germans; German use of Eastern Europeans; opinion of German troops; Allied air superiority; attitude towards Hitler Youth troops; nature of static warfare, 6/1944-8/1944; resumption of advance; penetration behind German lines; crossing River Seine; re-grouping on return to GB, 9/1944. Recollections of operations as private with Headquarters, 1st Commando Bde in North West Europe, 12/1944-5/1945: crossing River Maas, Netherlands, 1/1945; crossing River Rhine, Germany, 3/1945. REEL 4 Continues: prioximity of Allied bombing during crossing of River Rhine, Germany, 3/1945; devastation of Wesel, Germany; killing of senior German officer; capture of V weapon site; capture of bridge over River Aller, Germany; bayonet attack by No 6 Commando near Belsen, Germany; crossing of River Elbe, Germany, 4/1945; behaviour of liberated Soviet prisoners of war in Neustadt area, Germany; story of breaking of Field Marshal Erhard Milch's baton; restraining of commandos by Royal Artillery personnel from killing Waffen-SS troops; withdrawal of 1st Commando Bde from Germany, 5/1945.