Douglas-Home, William (Oral history)

Sound: © IWM (10354)

381128474
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540837162
Order this sound recording under fair dealing

All Rights Reserved except for Fair Dealing exceptions otherwise permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, as amended and revised.

Accepted Non-commercial Use

Permitted use for these purposes:
Personal use for non-commercial research and private study and other uses under the UK’s exceptions to copyright and those exceptions to copyright in place where the user is located.
Use on websites that are primarily information-led, research-oriented and not behind a paywall.
Use on personal social media accounts, provided the individuals are not promoting themselves commercially.
Non-Commercial educational use for the purpose of teaching and instruction, including internal training.
Downloading audio-visual for non-commercial offline listening or viewing.
Free exhibitions held in venues, which do not charge an entry fee.

If you would like to use IWM collections materials in a way that is not covered above, require a commercial licence, high-resolution copies, or have manipulation requests, please contact the Image and Film Licensing Team. Digital files of films and sound recordings are available at cost depending on intended use.
1178815921
Order this sound recording under fair dealing

All Rights Reserved except for Fair Dealing exceptions otherwise permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, as amended and revised.

Accepted Non-commercial Use

Permitted use for these purposes:
Personal use for non-commercial research and private study and other uses under the UK’s exceptions to copyright and those exceptions to copyright in place where the user is located.
Use on websites that are primarily information-led, research-oriented and not behind a paywall.
Use on personal social media accounts, provided the individuals are not promoting themselves commercially.
Non-Commercial educational use for the purpose of teaching and instruction, including internal training.
Downloading audio-visual for non-commercial offline listening or viewing.
Free exhibitions held in venues, which do not charge an entry fee.

If you would like to use IWM collections materials in a way that is not covered above, require a commercial licence, high-resolution copies, or have manipulation requests, please contact the Image and Film Licensing Team. Digital files of films and sound recordings are available at cost depending on intended use.
1696330008
Order this sound recording under fair dealing

All Rights Reserved except for Fair Dealing exceptions otherwise permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, as amended and revised.

Accepted Non-commercial Use

Permitted use for these purposes:
Personal use for non-commercial research and private study and other uses under the UK’s exceptions to copyright and those exceptions to copyright in place where the user is located.
Use on websites that are primarily information-led, research-oriented and not behind a paywall.
Use on personal social media accounts, provided the individuals are not promoting themselves commercially.
Non-Commercial educational use for the purpose of teaching and instruction, including internal training.
Downloading audio-visual for non-commercial offline listening or viewing.
Free exhibitions held in venues, which do not charge an entry fee.

If you would like to use IWM collections materials in a way that is not covered above, require a commercial licence, high-resolution copies, or have manipulation requests, please contact the Image and Film Licensing Team. Digital files of films and sound recordings are available at cost depending on intended use.

Description

Object description

British officer served with 7th Bn Buffs (Royal East Kent Regt) and 141st Regt, Royal Armoured Corps in GB, 1940-1944; served with 141st Regt, Royal Armoured Corps, I Corps in France, 6/1944-10/1944; court martialled and imprisoned in Wormwood Scrubs Prison, London and Wakefield Prison, Wakefield, GB, 11/1944-6/1945.

Content description

REEL 1 Background in GB and Italy, 1912-1940: family background in border country; education; father's military service at Gallipoli, Turkey, 1915; story of being asked to leave the Officer Training Corps at Eton College; awareness of international events while at New College, University of Oxford; career as actor and playwright; writing letters about the European situation to The Scotsman Newspapers during 1930s; working for Sir Edward Drummond in Italy, 1938; role of brother Alec Douglas-Home in Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain's government; opinion of appeasement policy and attitude to pre-war negotiations with German military; attitude to alleged pro-Nazi stance of Cliveden set; friendship with the Astor family; meeting Adam von Trott; political views and activities including standing for by-election at Glasgow Cathcart, 4/1942; story of brother Alec Douglas-Home borrowing shirt for meeting in Munich, 9/1938; volunteering for Lanarkshire Yeomanry following breakdown of peace talks; call- up for military service, 7/1940; reasons for not registering as a conscientious objector; experiences with Auxiliary Fire Service, autumn 1939; attitude to anti-war movement. REEL 2 Continues: reaction to Church's stance over war; further details of not registering as a conscientious objector; opinion of Winston Churchill; connections with Imperial Policy Group; story of flight in German aircraft from Rome, Italy to Yugoslavia, winter 1939-1940. Recollections of period as officer with 7th Bn Buffs (Royal East Kent Regt) and 141st Regt, Royal Armoured Corps in GB, 7/1940-6/1944: initial training as private at Maidenhead; posted to No 161 Officer Cadet Training Unit, Sandhurst; relations with private soldiers; further details of standing for by-election at Glasgow Cathcart, 4/1942; army regulations on standing for parliament; standing in by-election at Windsor, 6/1942; opinion of Allied unconditional surrender policy; story about Rudolf Hess's flight from Germany to GB, 5/1941; loss deposit at Claycross by-election. 4/1944; battalion's conversion to armoured role and equipping with Churchill Tank. REEL 3 Continues: conversion of Churchill Tank into Churchhill Crocodile Flame-Thrower Tank. Recollectons of operations with 141st Regt, Royal Armoured Corps, I Corps in France, 6/1944-10/1944: sailing from Gosport, GB to Normandy, 16/6/1944; attitude to prospect of active service; further comments on policy of unconditional surrender; story about clergyman W. H. Elliott; reaction to news of July Bomb Plot in Germany, 7/1944; writing to Maidenhead Advertiser criticising course of war and offering to resign commission; refusal to take part in assault on Le Havre, 9/1944; subsequent detention, court martial and cashiering, 10/1944; sentencing to one year's hard labour; question of junior officer's report on location of Germans and civilians in Le Havre being supressed; description of poem written at time; two sergeants who also refused to take part in attack on Le Havre being reduced to the ranks; reaction to being cashiered; how civilians were allowed to leave Calais before bombardment; question of case being reopened and applying to Queen Elizabeth II for pardon. Recollections period as inmate in Wormwood Scrubs Prison, London and Wakefield Prison, Wakefield, GB, 11/1944-6/1945: comparison of living conditions in Wormwood Scrubs and Wakefield Prisons; writing play 'Now Barabbas' about experiences in Wakefield Prison; further details of conditions in Wormwood Scrubs Prison. REEL 4 Continues: reaction of family and friends to sentence; further comments on play 'Now Barabbas'; assistance from Governor of Wakefield Prison; further details of conditions inside Wormwood Scrubs and Wakefield Prisons; reflections on period of imprisonment and effect on career as playwright; problem of readjustment after being released from prison; further comments on writing play 'Now Barabbas'; opinion of current prison system; role sitting on prison reform platforms and parole boards. Reflections on wartime experiences and military service: attitude to pacifism; story of requesting enquiry into court martial and cashiering, 1988; attitude to applying to Queen Elizabeth II for pardon; further comments on being cashiered; comparison of German and British military codes; story of receiving letters of support from public including money from old age pensioner; relations with British Army; opinion of lack of opposition to British Government during Second World War; effects of war and imprisonment on life; further comments on policy of unconditional surrender.

Object Details

Category: Sound
Related period: 1945-1989 (production), Second World War (content), Second World War (association)
Creator: IWM (Production Company)
Smith, Lyn E (Recorder)
Douglas-Home, William (Interviewee/Speaker)
Production date: 1988-08-09
Dimensions: whole: Duration 120, Number Of Items 4
Catalogue number: 10354

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Douglas-Home, William (Oral history)

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