Description
Object description
British NCO served with 6th Royal Tank Regt, 7th Armoured Bde in North Africa, 11/1941; served as driver with Tank Protection Troop, General Headquarters, Eighth Army in North Africa, 8/1942-10/1942
Content description
REEL 1 Recollections of period as NCO driver with Tank Protection Troop, General Headquaters, Eighth Army in Egypt, 8/1942-10/1942: wounding in Knightsbridge Box, Libya, 6/1942; selection as tank driver of General Bernard Montgomery's personal M3 Grant Tank 'Monty'; briefing by General Bernard Montgomery's Aide-de-Camp John Postern; description command tank 'Monty'; initial impressions of General Bernard Montgomery and reaction to his confidence; opinion of Generals Claude Auchinleck and Archibald Wavell; story of method by which General Bernard Montgomery acquired his trademark black beret; fate of Fraser's beret; naming of tank; General Bernard Montgomery's technique of establishing contact with troops.
REEL 2 Continues: General Bernard Montgomery's treatment of officers; lack of reaction from officers to this treatment; style of leadership prior to General Bernard Montgomery's arrival; General Bernard Montgomery's behaviour on first night of Battle of El Alamein, 23/10/1942; General Bernard Montgomery's policy of giving information to troops, breaking down of class system and behaviour as caring commander.
REEL 3 Continues: opinion of General Bernard Montgomery's common touch and his behaviour towards troops and individuals; question of how General Bernard Montgomery's achievements matched up to his words; importance of Battle of El Alamein to outcome of Desert War; General Bernard Montgomery's behaviour to his tank protection crew; effect of General Bernard Montgomery's flamboyance; duties with Tank Protection Troop.
REEL 4 Continues: Reflections on service with General Bernard Montgomery: subsequent history of M3 Grant Tank 'Monty'; question of what he personally owes to General Bernard Montgomery; post-war contact with General Bernard Montgomery; memories of the eve of El Alamein, 22/10/1942. Story of winning Military Medal with 6th Royal Tank Regt, 7th Armoured Bde at Sidi Rezegh, Libya, 22/11/1941.
REEL 5 Continues: Story of winning Military Medal with 6th Royal Tank Regt, 7th Armoured Bde at Sidi Rezegh, Libya, 22/11/1941.