Harper, Harold (Oral history)

British NCO served with 426 and 520 Bty, 107th Regt, <South Notts Hussars> Royal Artillery in GB, Palestine and North Africa, 1939-1942; served with 107 Bty, <SNH> 7th Medium Regt, RA in North Africa, Sicily and GB, 1942-1944; served with 425 Bty, 426 Bty and Headquarters, 107th Medium Regt, <SNH> RA in GB and North West Europe, 1944-1946

REEL 1 Recollections of background in Nottingham, 1918-1939: education; work as accounts clerk. Recruitment and training with D Troop, 426 Bty, 107th Regt, <South Notts Hussars> Royal Artillery at Derby Road Drill Hall, Nottingham, 1/5/1939-1/9/1939: reasons for enlisting; training as driver; relationship with NCOs and officers; reactions to army lifestyle and role as driver at Redesdale Camp, 6/1939. Recollections of mobilisation and initial period at Hollins Lace Factory, Nottingham, 9/1939: circumstances of selection as specialist; reactions to call up, 1/9/1939; route marches; weeding out programme. REEL 2 Continues: weeding out programme; organisation of specialists; role of specialists. Recollections of periods with Headquarters, 426 Bty at Rillington and Wragby, 9/1939-1/1940: conditions of service; acclimatisation to army lifestyle and developing relationship with ORs; question of adequacy of training. Ill health during journey out to Palestine, 1/1940. Recollections of period at Sarafand, Gedera and Hadera camps, Palestine, 1/1940-6/1940: relationship with Arab and Jewish civilians; training and role as specialist gun position assistant including meteorological telegrams, developing speed in mathematics, use of artillery board, role of observation posts and question of mathematical inadequacies of some specialists. REEL 3 Continues: training and role as specialist including question of mathematical inadequacies of some specialists, status as specialist and question of checking of calculations; methods of estimating ranges and angles as specialist OP assistant; conditions of service at Asluj Firing Camp. Recollections of conditions of service, lifestyle and duties at Mersa Matruh, Egypt, 6/1940-2/1941: battery positions including gun pits, camouflage, slit trenches and Headquarters dugout; example set by Battery Sergeant Major Charles Beardall in maintaining standards of appearance and washing; food rations. REEL 4 Continues: latrines; fly problem; desert sores; waste disposal; recreations; OP duty; erasing footmarks in sand; duties as specialist gun position assistant including preparing gun programmes for barrages, role of aiming post in maintaining gun positions on zero line; water guard duty at rail head; question of boredom; reactions to Italian high level bombing raids and shell shocked NCO; promotion to lance bombardier, 9/1940; detachment to 4th Regt, RHA at Sollum, 9/1940, including experience of regulars; duties as loader on 25pdr gun team; Italian attack, retreat and rearguard actions. REEL 5 Continues: rear party duties, 1/1941-2/1941. Period at Tahag Camp, 2/1941-4/1941: mock Stuka raids; re-equipment with 25pdrs and 360 degree sights. Recollections of drive to Tobruk, Libya, 4/1941: situation; accident whilst driving due to fatigue; convoy discipline. Recollections of period with D Troop, 426 Bty at Tobruk, 4/1941-12/1941: initial gun positions and command post; shortage of officers; German tank attack and passing OP instructions to guns; problems maintaining signals wires; Stuka dive bombing attacks including story of close escape, effects on morale and absence of effective anti-aircraft defences. REEL 6 Continues: defensive improvements to gun positions and command post; digging in vehicles; question of effectiveness of German counter-battery fire; reactions to casualties; promotion to bombardier and lance sergeant; calibrating guns and replacing barrels of guns firing short; sea bathing; water shortages; food rations and distribution; raffle for cigarette ration; sandstorm problem including story of lost German coming into front line OP and story of gunner shot by Australian guard; acclimatisation to hot climate; mirages; camel tick problem. REEL 7 Continues: jerboas; relationship with and opinion of Australian troops; relationship with officers; relative role of NCOs and officers; policy of learning all aspects of battery work; recreations including gambling and 'stick and duck' game; radio broadcasts and reactions to German propaganda; impromptu concerts; letter and parcel contact with GB and question of censorship; duties as OP assistant in scaffolding tower OP including story of casualty, isolation, cold at night, visibility and target selection; use of captured Italian artillery; spelling bee competitions; church services. REEL 8 Continues: flash spotting at OP; absence of small arms fire; beneficial effect of example set by 1st Regt, RHA; surveying in guns brought forward to shoot at German traffic on El Adem road. Recollections of operations leading to breakout from Tobruk, 11/1941: plans and preparations; division of responsibilities between specialists at regimental, battery and troop levels; concentrated German counter-battery fire resulting in move of gun positions and story of being sent back to fetch equipment left behind; necessity of maintaining gun fire under shell fire; news of mother's death; adequate briefing; link up with relieving troops; evacuation with jaundice, 12/1941; effects of dysentery; special diet during period at 42nd General Hospital; lice problem. Rejoining unit and posting to D Troop of newly created 520 Bty at Beni Yusef camp, 1/1942. Effects of dilution of proportion of personnel of unit originating in Nottinghamshire, 1939-1941. Recollections of various officers including Lieutenant Colonel William Seely, Captains Gerry Birkin and Ivor Birkin. REEL 9 Recollections of move up to Knightsbridge sector, Gazala area, 4/1942-5/1942: prior stocking up with luxuries; self contained OP teams in armoured car; cooking arrangements; pride in efficiency achieved by D Troop. Account of surprise German tank attack, 27/5/1942: snake problem; problem in identifying dust cloud as approach of German forces; temporary nature of position; accompanying battery commander Captain Gerry Birkin to investigate dust cloud in OP armoured cars; surprise by German tanks and death of Captain Gerry Birkin and his crew; reaction of Captain Ivor Birkin; accidental collision with British tank and consequent disablement of armoured car; securing lift from British tank and ignorance of wounds received; circumstances of capture by advancing Germans whilst in field dressing station. Recollections of period as POW in FDS, ca 27/5/1942-1/6/1942: successful negotiations as German interpreter to retain use of water cart; treatment of German wounded; situation. REEL 10 Continues: situation; British shelling of area; visit by Rommel; continuation of work of FDS and absence of German guards; observing details of German forces; treatment for broken ribs; meeting German officer who had visited Nottingham. Recollections of escape, ca 1/6/1942-6/6/1942: plan; shortage of food and water; getting through German lines; death of fellow escapee from landmine; desperation for water and drinking urine; care in approaching British lines; problems in acclimatising to normal diet; debriefing and intelligence supplied from observation made as POW. Evacuation via Tobruk hospital to 42nd General Hospital, Ismailia, 6/1942: initial ignorance of Knightsbridge action, 5/6/1942-6/6/1942; discovery of leg wound; convalescence; reactions to news of Knightsbridge action; early discharge to return to unit. Recollections of training with B Troop, 107 Bty, <SNH> 7th Medium Regt, RA at Royal Artillery Base Depot, Almaza and Mena Camps, 6/1942-7/1942: makeshift nature of battery and reactions to incorporation into regular unit using 5.5in gun; posting as gun sergeant. REEL 11 Continues: difficulty in acclimatising to gun drill on 5.5in gun; unit morale; further reduction in Nottingham contingent in battery; gun routine including loading, role of gun sergeant and his team members; comparison of 5.5in and 25pdrs; gun towers; comparison of specialist and gun sergeant roles; relationship with officers, including Captain Eric Dobson, NCOs and ORs; question of SNH identity of battery; recreations; question of relative efficiency of battery; unit morale; absence of actual firing practice. Recollections of period in coastal positions in El Alamein area, 7/1942-10/1942: gun pits dug with assistance of bulldozer; bedding in of guns on firing; initial problems with firing and OP work; situation; night forward gun positions; experimental shoots in air burst ranging and story of problem with wrongly set fuse. REEL 12 Continues: sound and air burst ranging; introduction of 'stonk' firing technique; temporary move to positions in Quattara Depression to repel German attack and effect of Stuka dive bombing raid on B Troop, 9/1942; return to coastal position, 9/1942. Recollections of preparations for preliminary barrage of El Alamein offensive, 9/1942-10/1942: burying shells at forward gun positions and subsequent difficulty in finding them; introduction of detailed briefing; visits by Churchill and Montgomery and question of their popularity; assisting in preparation of gun programmes. Recollections of Battle of El Alamein, 23/10/1942-4/11/1942: occupying forward gun positions; nature of preliminary barrage; problems with guns caused by length of barrage required; threatening to shoot gunner who deserted his post; eventual seizing up of gun due to leak of buffer oil; harassing fire to keep German troops awake at night and assistance of gun position officer; story of naked gunner; story of accident whilst collecting rations from cookhouse; question of German counter-battery fire; effect of worn rifling in barrel and necessity of replacement. REEL 13 Recollections of advance to Tunisia, 11/1942-4/1943: difficulties experienced during detachment to workshops to replace gun barrel prior to rejoining unit at Marble Arch, 11/1942; duties on promotion to quartermaster sergeant at Headquarters, 107 Bty, 11/1942, including relationship with regimental quartermaster sergeant, staff under Harper's control, visits to NAAFI and priority given to ammunition over food supplies; return to unit of Captain Ivor Birkin and his role in securing Harper's promotion to B Troop sergeant major, 1/1943; question of Christmas celebrations, 25/12/1942; role as troop sergeant major including relationship with ORs; personal morale; mobile nature of operations; German nebelwerfer fire on exposed valley positions at Mareth, ca 2/1943; relationship with regulars of 27/28 Bty, 7th Medium Regt; capture of Tripoli, 1/1943; story of close escape from shell at Mareth, ca 2/1943. REEL 14 Continues: signs of battle fatigue amongst 151st Bde at Wadi Akarit, 4/1943; increasing prevalence of mechanical problems. Period of rest and re-equipment at Cheriba, Sfax area, 5/1943-6/1943: knowledge of future role in invasion of Sicily; recreations; problems with Arab civilians stealing uniforms. Period at Valletta, Malta, 6/1943-7/1943: practising embarkation procedures and successful demonstration by Driver Reg Cutter; recreations. Various aspects of operations in Sicily, 7/1943-10/1943: dry landing, 10/7/1943; minimal involvement in fighting; story of cookhouse truck's near escape from German tanks; musical recreations during visit to Palermo; reactions to Montgomery's announcement of unit's return to GB for participation in D Day whilst at Messina, 10/1943; ENSA concert. Return with advance party to GB and organising billets at Felixstowe, 10/1943-12/1943. REEL 15 Recollections of period at Felixstowe, 12/1943-3/1944: reasons for deterioration in quality of gun drill; question of reaction to proposals to reform unit by merger with 16th Medium Regt, RA, 2/1944. Aspects of periods with B Troop, 425 Bty, 107th Medium Regt, <SNH> RA at Brighton, Baildon, Dudsbury Camp and Tilbury Docks, London, 3/1944-7/1944: relationship with personnel from 16th Medium Regt; re-establishment of gunnery standards; parade in Nottingham, 13/5/1944; waterproofing vehicles; difficulty in organising moves at short notice. Crossing and landing at Arromanches, France, 13/7/1944-14/7/1944. Recollections of operations in Normandy, 7/1944-9/1944: situation; role assisting inexperienced NCOs; promotion to battery sergeant major, 426 Bty, 7/1944; correcting inadequate ammunition supply at gun positions; role of battery sergeant major; relationship with officers including Captain C J Lees Smith; nature of fighting in contrast to desert; accidental bombing of positions by Allied aircraft until intervention of Auster OP aircraft at Quesnay Woods, 14/8/1944. Var)ous aspects of operations in North West Europe, 9/1944-5/1945: machine gunning incident in Place de la Concorde during visit to Paris; situation in Nijmegen area, Netherlands, ca 11/1944; move into Germany; operations in Walcheren Island, Netherlands, 11/1944; personal morale as end of war approached; story of premature shell explosion, 5/1945; VE Day, 8/5/1945. Aspects of period in Cosfeldt sector, Munster area, Germany, 5/1945-1/1946: role running POW and refugee camps; spraying DDT on German refugees; r!pes committed by escaped Russian POWs; demobilisation parties; relationship with German civilians and their reaction to film of concentration camp atrocities; enforcement of curfew orders. REEL 17 Continues: enforcement of curfew orders; question of involvement in black market; stories of football and cricket activities; role on promotion to regimental quartermaster sergeant. Reac4ions to demobilisation and return to pre-war work as accounts clerk, 1/1946: reactions; effects of war service on physical and mental state of health; reason for not rejoining SNH on re-formation, 1947; recovery and absence of deafness; call up as part of Z Reserve and training with 69th Medium Regt during Korean War, 1951; rejoining SNH as battery sergeant major, 1952-1955; involvement with SNH Regimental Association.