Smiley, David de Crespigny (Oral history)

British officer served with 1st Household Cavalry Regt, 4th Cavalry Bde, 1st Cavalry Div in GB and Palestine, 1939-1940; served with 52 (Middle East) Commando in Egygt and Sudan, 1940-1941; served with 1st Household Cavalry Regt, 4th Cavalry Bde, 1st Cavalry Div in Iraq, Syria and Persia, 1941; served with 1st Household Cavalry Regt, 7th Armoured Div in North Africa, 1942; served with Special Operations Executive in Albania, 1943-1944; served with Force 136, Special Operations Executive in Thailand, 3/1945-8/1945

REEL 1 Aspects of period as officer with 1st Household Cavalry in London, GB, 1939: ceremonial duties; mobilisation of Life Guards and Royal Horse Guards into 1st and 2nd Household Cavalry Regts, 9/1939; reaction to Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain's declaration of war speech, 3/9/1939; story of sleeping through first air raid warning, 3/9/1939; question of regiment's preparedness for war; pistol training. Recollections of period as officer with 1st Household Cavalry Regt, 4th Cavalry Bde, 1st Cavalry Div in Palestine, 1939-1941: background to cavalry's deployment to Palestine, 2/1940; journey with entrained trucks of horses to France en route to Palestine, 2/1940; conditions at camp near Marseilles, France; voyage from Marseilles, France to Haifa, Palestine; nature of 'surround and search' duties; intelligence role of unit, working with Palestine Police; attitudes towards Arabs and Jews; memories of Orde Wingate in Cairo, Egypt; sight of Italian Air Force raids on oil refineries in Haifa. REEL 2: Continues: hashish smuggling; question of sense of personal danger. Aspects of period as officer with No 52 (Middle East) Commando in Egypt and Sudan, 1940-1941: joining unit; training in Egypt; unit's posting in infantry role to Gallabat, Sudan; opinion of calibre of Italian Army; materiel captured; setting up ambushes; casualties from malaria at Kassala, Sudan; guard duties at Alexandria docks, Egypt; law and order problems with British and Australian troops evacuated from Crete, Greece; transfer back to 1st Household Cavalry; fate of No 52 (Middle East) Commando. Recollections of period as officer with 1st Household Cavalry, 4th Cavalry Bde, 1st Cavalry Div in Iraq, Syria and Persia, 1941: relieving siege of Habbaniyah, Iraq, 1941; use of trucks; capture of railway station; help from Arab Legion; John Glubb's recruitment of men to Arab Legion. REEL 3: Continues: impressions of John Glubb; relieving siege of Habbaniyah; aim to cut Mosul-Turkey road; advance into Syria; action against Vichy French; opinion of tactics used against Vichy French; sight of Royal Australian Air Force in action; contracting malaria; Vichy French Air Force attack on ambulances; uncomfortable journey to hospital in Palestine with Trooper 'Flood' Paddock; conditions in hospital in Nazareth, Palestine; locating whereabouts of unit with help of barman at Shepherd's Hotel, Cairo, Egypt, rejoining unit at Aleppo, Syria, 8/1941; nature of campaign in Persia, 1941; joint parade and socialising with Soviet Army troops in Tehran, Persia; use of war correspondent Richard Dimbleby's bath; appearance of civilians and Persian Army in Tehran, Persia. Aspects of period as officer with 1st Household Cavalry Regt, 7th Armoured Div in North Africa, 1942: deception duties; use of trucks as dummy tanks; regiment's change to armoured car unit. REEL 4: Continues: opinion of Marmon Harrington Armoured Car and Daimler Armoured Car used by unit; casualties in dummy tanks; retreat from German advance, 6/1942; positions holding line south of Qattara Depression, Egypt; casualties; story of receiving talk from General Bernard Montgomery; opinion of General Erwin Rommel; rehearsal for El Alamein offensive; unit's role during Battle of El Alamein, 10/1942-11/1942; coping with mass of Italian POWS. Aspects of period as officer with Special Operations Executive in Albania, 1943-1944: assignment to organise partisans; opinion of partisan leader Enver Hoxha; opinion of Communist infiltration of Special Operations Executive; impressions of Albania including religions. REEL 5 Continues: assignment to Albania; use of gold and bribery in Albania. Aspects of operations as officer with Force 136, Special Operations Executive in Thailand, 3/1945-8/1945: background to transfer to Siam Section, Special Operations Executive; attending School of Jungle Warfare; parachute drop into Thailand, 3/1945; accident with exploding briefcase, extent of burns; evacuation from Thailand; story of staying with Field Marshal Archibald Wavell during convalescence in Simla, India; story of reaction of guests Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharial Nehru and Muhammad Jinnah to film of liberation of concentration camps in Germany; liberation of POW camp at Ubon; efforts to release hostages in Laos; American Office of Strategic Services assistance to Communist Annamites in south east Asia; story of capture of Peter Kemp and Francois Klotz by Annamites, execution of Francois Klotz. REEL 6 Continues: question of revenge against Japanese guards at Ubon POW camp; territory covered by Special Operations Executive in Thailand; role of Office of Strategic Services; military awards. Reflections on military service, 1945-1967: period at Staff College, Camberley in GB; story of surveillance by government agents in Warsaw, Poland, 1947; period with MI6 in Albania, 1949; recollections of Lord Archibald Wavell; memories of George VI's funeral in London, GB, 2/1952; diplomatic work as military attaché in Stockholm, Sweden, 1955-1958; secondment to Oman Armed Forces, 1958-1961; drafting report for Royalists as Military Advisor to Yemen, 1962-1967; recruitment of mercenaries. REEL 7 Continues: aspects of civil war in Yemen, reputation of Egyptian forces.