Description
Object description
British civilian academic on research undertaken as Hallsworth Research Fellow with University of Manchester in GB, Portuguese Mozambique, Portuguese Angola and South Vietnam, 1971-1974
Content description
REEL 1 Aspects of period as Hallsworth Research Fellow at University of Manchester, GB, 1971-1974: background to appointment at University of Manchester, 1971, including interviews; changes to position on his appointment; memories and opinions of Michael Elliott-Bateman, Head of Military Studies at university; settling into university life; memories of broadcaster Brian Redhead; relations with colleagues; political viewpoint; view of guerrilla warfare; story of teaching Special Air Service troops about opposition in Federation of Malaya; belief of others he was politically left wing; discussion of guerrilla warfare including discovery of malaria treatment; memories of John Stalker; lectures given to Swiss Army; request for travelling fees.
REEL 2 Continues: letter written to friend in Ministry of Defence; visits to union. Recollections of research undertaken as Hallsworth Research Fellow at University of Manchester in Portuguese Mozambique and Portuguese Angola, 1972: contact with captured guerrillas; People's Republic of China's use of western universities to spread support for own causes including Special Branch attendance at solidarity events; results of similar methods in Portugal; training of Mozambique guerrilla Basil Banda in Soviet Union; details of Mozambique Liberation Front (FRELIMO) guerrilla training; work and further training of Basil Banda with Mozambique Liberation Front (FRELIMO); action against Portuguese and wounding; route of weapons into Portuguese Mozambique; details of Portuguese Army Operation Gordian Knot; opinion of Portuguese Army troops; sickness in tropical warfare including importance of salt and story of advice given to army in Angola; method of fighting guerrillas Calvert used in Federation of Malaya and its replication in Portuguese Mozambique; propaganda broadcast on Radio Tanzania; help received from People's Republic of China.
REEL 3 Continues: period attached to Soviet Army troops; contact with British Communists in Portuguese Mozambique; accommodation in Portuguese Angola; relationship with members of Portuguese Army including Portuguese Military Attaché in Angola Colonel Renato Pinto and memories of interpreters; activities in Portuguese Angola; further details of Basil Banda including use of psychological warfare; story of edited television interview and subsequent complaints; opinion of continuing usefulness of research; stories of captured Mozambique guerrillas Fernando Bela and Januario Napulula; story of television appearance with Michael Foot and subsequent harassment; further details about Januario Napulula.
REEL 4 Continues: ease of forming relationship with guerrillas around the world; further details about Januario Napulula's guerrilla career including operations quota and discipline; work of Portuguese Fleche organisation; characteristics of Portuguese colonialism; Chinese and Soviet relations with Africans; story of African guerrillas becoming Portuguese Army officers; story of photographs sent to The Times Newspaper; use of mass media in west by People's Republic of China; influence of trade in southern Africa; guerrilla fear of mounted infantry; Portuguese Army's use of mounted infantry.
REEL 5 Continues: memories of General Jose Bettencourt Rodrigues; further details of Portuguese Army's use of mounted infantry and opinion such patrols should be used in Northern Ireland; suggestions for solving problems in Portuguese African territories; discussion of Portuguese uses of air power; problems faced by Portuguese in Portuguese Guinea including morale of Portuguese Army troops; defences erected around villages; Special Branch of Federation of Malaya Police's use of Surrendered Enemy Personnel (SEPs) in Federation of Malaya; advice given to General Jose Bettencourt Rodrigues; opinion of Anglo-Burmese and Anglo-Indians in Burma during Second World War; suggestion of forming a mixed race force in India; formation of mixed race force in Namibia; training of guerrillas; details of British Communists in Mozambique; memories of British Consul Frank Ide; details of photographs taken; use of Katyusha Rockets by guerrillas in Portuguese African territories and South Vietnam.
REEL 6 Continues: unwillingness of British Army to learn about guerrilla warfare; insurrections in Portuguese Angola and Portuguese toleration of National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA); lack of racial discrimination in Portuguese Angola; accommodation in Luanda, Portuguese Angola; memories of guides Manuel Enruiqes and Nicolao de Hanov; mode of travel; topography and other details of Portuguese Angola; development efforts of Portuguese including involvement of General Jose Bettencourt Rodrigues and details of village defence systems; Communist organisation within village systems; rivalry between denominations of Christianity and its results; warfare experts among Portuguese Army officers; details of Portuguese Angola provinces.
REEL 7 Continues: operation involved in against guerrillas at Luso, Portuguese Angola; details of railways running to and area around Luso, Portuguese Angola; Portuguese development efforts; role of engineers in guerrilla warfare and counter insurgency; contrast between government policies towards guerrillas in Portuguese Mozambique and Southern Rhodesia; details of coup by anti-establishment elements at Royal United Services Institute; technique of defeating guerrillas; terrain and history of Portuguese Mozambique; guerrilla area in the country; strength of The Mozambican National Resistance (RENAMO).
REEL 8 Continues: attribution of The Mozambican National Resistance (RENAMO) massacres to Samora Machel; story of correspondence to The Times about supposed Tete massacre, 1972, including leaning of union on the paper; result of experiences from television interviews. Recollections of research undertaken as Hallsworth Research Fellow with University of Manchester in South Vietnam, 1972-1973: background to first visit to South Vietnam; enlistment and background of Sir Robert Thompson; journey to South Vietnam; contact with British diplomatic staff in Saigon; weapons used by American forces and Vietcong; description of United States Army fire positions and their vulnerability.
REEL 9 Continues: opinion of American successes and failures in Vietnam including organisation of Ho Chi Minh trail; opinion of Da Nang landings; relations with United States Army; questioning of Vietcong sappers and tactics employed by them; protection of bridges; opinion of inability of United States Army to use conscripts properly; role of British national servicemen in Federation of Malaya; influence of Saigon night life on troops; question of influence of standard of living of Vietcong; opinion of American Secretary of State's failures.
REEL 10 Continues: details of Green Berets actions in South East Asia; request for administrative help from Great Britain; reflections on German rule in Soviet Union during Second World War; future of guerrilla warfare; American initial aversion to using French methods; belief in use of waterways; failure of United States forces to use armour in Mekong Delta; importance of road construction; discussion of bombing and shelling; opinion of Australian and South Korean Army tactics; United States Army bureaucracy; problems encouraging British trade in South Vietnam; destruction of French arms factories.
REEL 11 Continues: British reliance on American supplies; praise gained for visit to South Vietnam; summary of visit; visits to Cambodia and Laos including overworking of Laotian pilots; activities of Chinese in Laos; details of airfield in Thailand; proposal for long range penetration operations against Ho Chi Minh trail; Vietcong use of tunnels; description of sanctuaries built for Auxiliary Units in GB, 1940; underground positions used by Irish Republican Army; responses to research on return to GB including at University of Manchester; South Vietnamese motivation for war; American opinion of Vietnamese; question of United States forces' treatment of prisoners of war.
REEL 12 Continues: contact with Vietcong prisoners of war; contact with Wilfred Burchett during Second World War; contact with other journalists and embassy staff; transport around Vietnam; fire experienced in Saigon; opinion of trip; story of visit to a military school.