Palmer, William Henry (Oral history)

Sound: © IWM

492673878
Use this audio under Non-Commercial licence

Embed this sound recording for online use under the IWM Non-Commercial Licence
By embedding this audio file you agree to the terms and conditions of the IWM Non-Commercial Licence, including your use of the attribution statement specified by IWM. For this item, that is:

Sound: © IWM

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.

Embed

<iframe src="https://www.iwm.org.uk/embed/?id=80010238&media_id=355671" height="430" width="480" frameborder="no" scrolling="no"></iframe>
642198785
Use this audio under Non-Commercial licence

Embed this sound recording for online use under the IWM Non-Commercial Licence
By embedding this audio file you agree to the terms and conditions of the IWM Non-Commercial Licence, including your use of the attribution statement specified by IWM. For this item, that is:

Sound: © IWM

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.

Embed

<iframe src="https://www.iwm.org.uk/embed/?id=80010238&media_id=355672" height="430" width="480" frameborder="no" scrolling="no"></iframe>
1299671386
Use this audio under Non-Commercial licence

Embed this sound recording for online use under the IWM Non-Commercial Licence
By embedding this audio file you agree to the terms and conditions of the IWM Non-Commercial Licence, including your use of the attribution statement specified by IWM. For this item, that is:

Sound: © IWM

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.

Embed

<iframe src="https://www.iwm.org.uk/embed/?id=80010238&media_id=355673" height="430" width="480" frameborder="no" scrolling="no"></iframe>
1083299505
Use this audio under Non-Commercial licence

Embed this sound recording for online use under the IWM Non-Commercial Licence
By embedding this audio file you agree to the terms and conditions of the IWM Non-Commercial Licence, including your use of the attribution statement specified by IWM. For this item, that is:

Sound: © IWM

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.

Embed

<iframe src="https://www.iwm.org.uk/embed/?id=80010238&media_id=355674" height="430" width="480" frameborder="no" scrolling="no"></iframe>
999757562
Use this audio under Non-Commercial licence

Embed this sound recording for online use under the IWM Non-Commercial Licence
By embedding this audio file you agree to the terms and conditions of the IWM Non-Commercial Licence, including your use of the attribution statement specified by IWM. For this item, that is:

Sound: © IWM

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.

Embed

<iframe src="https://www.iwm.org.uk/embed/?id=80010238&media_id=355675" height="430" width="480" frameborder="no" scrolling="no"></iframe>

Description

Object description

British private served with 20th Coy, Auxiliary Military Pioneer Corps attached to Royal Army Ordnance Corps in France, 9/1939-6/1940; served with 2nd Bn Devonshire Regt, 1st (Malta) Infantry Bde in Malta, 1940-1943; served with 2nd Bn Devonshire Regt, 231st Independent Infantry Bde in Egypt and on Sicily, Italy, 1943; served with 2nd Bn Devonshire Regt, 231st Infantry Bde, 50th (Northumbrian) Infantry Div in Italy, GB and North West Europe, 1943-1944; served with 2nd Devonshire Regt, 131st Lorried Infantry Bde, 7th Armoured Div in North West Europe, 1944-1945

Content description

REEL 1 Background in Topsham and Exeter, GB, 1911-1932: family; education; employment. Aspects of enlistment and training with Devonshire Regt in GB, 1932: reasons for enlistment; attitude towards basic training. Aspects of period as private with 20th Coy, Auxiliary Military Pioneer Corps, attached to Royal Army Ordnance Corps in France, 1939-1940: recall to British Army reserve, 8/1939; rapid move to France, 9/1939; relations with French civilians; escape to Saint-Nazaire; problems of getting away from Saint-Nazaire, 6/1940; how he had been reported missing. Recollections of period as private with 2nd Bn Devonshire Regt, 1st (Malta) Bde on Malta, 1940-1943: voyage from GB to Egypt, 7/1940-8/1940; attack on convoy from Egypt to Malta by Italian aircraft in eastern Mediterranean; allocation of duties and quarters, 9/1940; relations with Maltese. REEL 2 Continues: contrast between Italian and German bombing; character of rations; effects of malnutrition; defence of the island; occasion of singing 'Hold the Tiger' to Lord Gort on leaving island. Aspects of period as private with 2nd Bn Devonshire Regt, 231st Infantry Bde in Egypt, 1943: overfeeding; training in preparations for landings on Sicily, Italy. Recollections of operations as private with 2nd Bn Devonshire Regt, 231st Independent Infantry Bde on Sicily, Italy, 7/1943: waiting to land; what he carried during assault. REEL 3 Continues: company organisation; voyage in assault craft; nature of landing on Sicily, 10/7/1943; sight of Italian prisoners of war; in action against Germans at Vizzini; prior recollection of narrow escape from bombing on Malta; reception from civilian. Aspects of operations as private with 2nd Bn Devonshire Regt, 231st Infantry Bde, 50th (Northumbrian) Infantry Div in Italy, 1943: participation in diversionary landings at Porto Santa Venere, 9/1943; batman responsibilities; precautions against malaria; attachment to 50th (Northumbrian) Infantry Div. REEL 4 Continues: first use of scrambling net. Aspects of period as private with 2nd Bn Devonshire Regt, 231st Infantry Bde, 50th (Northumbrian) Infantry Div in GB, 1943-1944: return to GB; relations with American troops; training with armour at Thetford; amphibious training in Scotland; camouflage training in New Forest, 1944; opinion of United States Army administration; rehearsal for D-Day. Aspects of operations as private with 2nd Bn Devonshire Regt, 231st Infantry Bde, 50th (Northumbrian) Infantry Div, Gold Beach, Normandy, France, D-Day, 6/6/1944: embarkation at Southampton; malaria problems during landing; conditions on landing craft; landing on Gold Beach; moving inland. REEL 5 Continues: Aspects of operations as private with 2nd Bn Devonshire Regt, 231st Infantry Bde, 50th (Northumbrian) Infantry Div and 131st Lorried Infantry Bde, 7th Armoured Div in North West Europe, 6/1944-5/1945: hospitalisation for malaria bout in Normandy, France; contact with civilians; sight of Allied airborne landings during Operation Market Garden, 9/1944; route taken into Germany, 1944-1945; smell on passing near concentration camp; move to and duties in Berlin, Germany from 7/1945; contact with Soviet Army troops in Berlin, Germany, 1945.

Object Details

Category: Sound
Related period: 1945-1989 (production), Second World War (content), Second World War (association)
Creator: IWM (Production company)
Wood, Conrad (Recorder)
Palmer, William Henry (Interviewee/Speaker)
Production date: 1988-10-23
Dimensions: whole: Duration 150, Number Of Items 5
Catalogue number: 10460

Object associations

Our collections information

We have over 1.7 million object records online, and we are adding to this all the time. Our records are never finished. Sometimes we discover new information that changes what we know about an object, such as who made it or used it. Sometimes we change how an object is interpreted. We sometimes make mistakes in our spelling, transcription or categorisation, or miss information out of our records.

Read more about our collections and the information we hold. Developing our collections information

If you have concerns about the language in this record, or you have information to improve it, please share your feedback.

We receive a lot of comments and can't respond to each one, but we do read them all and will respond where we can.

Palmer, William Henry (Oral history)

Description

Object description

Content description

Object Details

Object associations

Associated people and organisations

Associated places

Associated themes

Our collections information

Related content

HMS Belfast at 80