Description
Object description
British officer served with 9th Bn Durham Light Infantry in GB, 1936-1939; served with 9th Bn Durham Light Infantry, 151st Infantry Bde, 50th (Northumbrian) Motor Infantry Div in GB, France and Belgium, 9/1939-5/1940; prisoner of war in Oflag VII-C, Laufen, Oflag VII-D, Tittmoning and Oflag VII-B, Eichstätt, Germany, 1940-1945
Content description
REEL 1 Background in Wylam, GB, 1911-1936: family; education; employment with Barclays Bank. Recollections of period as officer with 9th Bn Durham Light Infantry in GB, 1936-1939: reasons for joining battalion in Territorial Army; black ball system; criteria looked for in potential officers; reasons to refuse someone; background of officers; drill hall; posting to C Coy at Felling; training on drill nights; Tactical Exercises Without Troops (TEWTS); rivalry with Northumberland Fusiliers; story of Duffers Drift; knowledge expected of an officer; weapons courses at Whitburn; memories of Cameron Sleight; relations with troops; summer camp at Marske-by-the-Sea; relations with 8th and 6th Bns; training at camp; opinion of life in Territorial Army; course at Royal Military College, Sandhurst to earn promotion to lieutenant; posting to D Coy at Blaydon; changes in training as war approached; formation of Tyneside Scottish.
REEL 2 Continues: signs of approaching war; company weapons. Aspects of period as officer with 9th Bn Durham Light Infantry, 151st Infantry Bde, 50th (Northumbrian) Motor Infantry Div in GB, 9/1939-1/1940: mobilisation; accommodation in Sunderland; move to South Shields; buildings requisitioned; activities; move to Cotswolds; division of battalion; accommodation in Shipston-on-Stour; leisure activities. Aspects of period as officer with 9th Bn Durham Light Infantry, 151st Infantry Bde, 50th (Northumbrian) Motor Infantry Div in France, 1/1940-5/1940: role during move to France, 1/1940; movement through France to Lille; visit of high-ranking officer to inspect construction of anti-tank trench; return of miners serving in battalion to GB; expectation of German attack through Maginot Line. Aspects of operations as officer with 9th Bn Durham Light Infantry, 151st Infantry Bde, 50th (Northumbrian) Motor Infantry Div in France and Belgium, 5/1940: positions on Vimy Ridge, France; march back from Belgium; chaos experienced in France; opinion of Belgian troops; reaction to Junkers Ju 87 Stuka attacks; retreat towards La Panne, Belgium; attitude towards refugees on road; position at Bullescamp, France; wounding during German attack and reaction of batman; capture by Germans. Aspects of period and prisoner of war in Belgium and Germany, 1940: initial treatment; medical treatment at Saint-John's Hospital, Bruges, Belgium; interpretation in hospital; nature of wound; staff in hospital; visits by Queen of Belgium and German Army to hospital.
REEL 3 Continues: time spent in barn outside Bruges, Belgium; move to Renaix, Belgium; journey by barge to Emmerich am Rhein, Germany; journey to transit camp at Kassel; treatment of Soviets; interrogations; conditions and attempts at escape; accommodation. Aspects of period as prisoner of war in Oflag VII-C, Laufen, Germany, 1940: journey to camp; removal of hair and photograph taken; cards sent home; how he had been reported as killed in action; reactions of family to his apparent death and resurrection; problems from issue of pension and will. Recollections of period as prisoner of war at Oflag VII-D, Tittmoning, Germany, 1940-1942: move to camp; description of camp; camp population; purchases from village; accommodation; rations; Red Cross parcels; drinks; ordering of items from village; camp money; memories of Major-General Victor Fortune; sleeping arrangements; washing facilities; presence of medical staff; dentistry treatment; latrines; cleaning of uniform.
REEL 4 Continues: exercise; parole walks and area around camp; roasted frogs; sports; memories of Eddie Vine and library; lectures and gramophone concerts; gambling; supply of cigarettes and bartering; chaplains and religious services; listening to Wagner classical music; orderlies; mail; lack of organisation among prisoners of war; relations amongst prisoners of war; opinion that period in captivity helped in later life; relations with guards and commandant. Recollections of period as prisoner of war in Oflag VII-B, Eichstätt, Germany, 1942-1945: transfer to camp; description of town; other officers who stayed there; description of camp; camp population; accommodation; contents of Red Cross parcels and their issue; library; character of camp buildings; construction of hockey pitch and skating rink; winter conditions; heating; sports; memories of David Brims.
REEL 5 Continues: education; examinations; gramophone concerts; involvement with camp magazine; live recitals; further details of education; ornithology; theatre; relations with guards; methods of obtaining and distributing war news; spot checks by guards; punishments; offences; escape committee; reasons for not wanting to escape; proportion of officers wanting to escape; problems in digging tunnels; role in big escape from camp; time in solitary confinement; camp punishments; maps hidden in records.
REEL 6 Continues: relations with fellow prisoners of war; issue of Red Cross parcels; rations; bartering in camp; Allied air activity; signs that war was ending. Aspects of march from Ofag VII-B, Eichstätt to Stalag VII-A, Moosburg, Germany, 4/1945: start of march, 14/4/1945; guards on march; sleeping arrangements; United States Army Air Force attack on prisoner of war column and treatment of wounded, 14/4/1945; liberation at Stalag VII-A, Moosburg, 29/4/1945; hot dogs; German surrender; flght in Avro Lancaster from Germany to GB via Rheims, France; arrival home and demobilisation; effects of Second World War on later life; attitude towards Germans; opinion of Maori officers; contact with veterans.