Arnold, Ralph Hodby (Oral history)

British radio officer served with Merchant Navy aboard MV Daronia and SS Temple Pier in GB coastal waters and Mediterranean, 5/1940-6/1940; internee in Carnot Internment Camp, French Algeria, 6/1940-12/1940; radio operator served with Merchant Navy in GB coastal waters, 1/1941-6/1942 including sinking of SS Fowberry Tower in Humber Estuary, 12/5/1941; conscientious objector served with Friends' Ambulance Unit in GB, 8/1942-8/1943; served with Civilian Service Corps in GB, 8/1943-1/1945; served with Friends' Ambulance Unit in Germany, 1945-1946; peace activist in GB, 1946-1991

REEL 1 Background in Wood Green, GB, 1923-1939: family; childhood; story of father's imprisonment as conscientious objector during First World War; influence of Quaker beliefs; opinion of education at Quaker boarding school and problem of bullying; reason for development of pacifist beliefs including father's experience during First World War; story of refusal to wear gas mask during Munich Crisis, 9/1938; reaction to outbreak of Second World War, 3/9/1939; contact with Peace Pledge Union. Aspects of period training as radio officer with Merchant Navy in London, GB, 1939-1940: joining Merchant Navy, 1939. REEL 2 Continues: description of training as radio officer; opinion of training and other trainees; story of parents paying for training and reimbursing them from first wages; method of radio officers being assigned to ships; reason for joining International Marine Radio Organisation; attitude towards role as radio operator. Aspects of operations as second radio officer with Merchant Navy aboard MV Daronia and SS Temple Pier in GB coastal waters and Mediterranean, 5/1940-6/1942: first voyage aboard MV Daronia, 5/1940; reaction to fall of France, 6/1940; joining SS Temple Pier in Cardiff, GB; voyage aboard SS Temple Pier from Cardiff, GB to Alexandria, Egypt, 6/1940; opinion of crew and behaviour; how convoy was broken up and course altered following French surrender to Algiers, French Algeria, 6/1940; arrival at Oran, French Algeria, 17/6/1940; political situation. REEL 3 Continues: initial impressions of Algiers, French Algeria. Aspects of period as internee in Carnot Internment Camp, French Algeria, 6/1940-12/1940: problem of restriction on movements; how SS Temple Pier was immobilised and crew interned; opinion of conditions during initial confinement in barracks in Algiers, French Algeria; role of American Consul in getting interned Merchant Navy crews to Carnot Internment Camp; attitude to hostage status; opinion of accommodation and comparison with conditions for internees from Spanish Civil War; relations with guards; opinion of food; relations with Spanish internees and Vichy French civilians; recreational activities outside camp; lack of communication with family and low morale; move to French Foreign Legion barracks in Casablanca, French Morocco; voyage from French Morocco to GB via Gibraltar, 12/1940; contracting hepatitis. REEL 4 Continues: Aspects of period as second radio officer with Merchant Navy in GB coastal waters, 1/1941-6/1942 including sinking of SS Fowberry Tower in Humber Estuary, 12/5/1941: experiences during German Air Force bombing of London, 1941; German Air Force bombing and sinking of SS Fowberry Tower in Humber Estuary, 12/5/1941; casualties and rescuing survivors; attitude to protection of merchant ships; rescuing second mate and abortive search for secret papers aboard SS Fowberry Tower; armament aboard merchant ships and American system for mounting guns; problem of gunnery conflicting with pacifist beliefs; registering as conscientious objector and discharge from Merchant Navy, 6/1942; attending Tribunal and appeal process; joined Friends' Ambulance Unit, 8/1942; relations with former shipmates; opinion of Merchant Navy's role during Second World War; question of United States Navy support for Allied merchant ships prior to entry into Second World War on east coast of United States of America; attitude to use of long-range aircraft for convoy protection. REEL 5 Continues: Recollections of period as volunteer with Friends' Ambulance Unit in GB, 8/1942-8/1943: training at Friends' Ambulance Unit; attitude to drill; comparison of social and religious backgrounds in Friends' Ambulance Unit and Merchant Navy; attitude to classless nature of Friends' Ambulance Unit; reason for wanting to learn to drive; role in opening new Friends' Ambulance Unit section in Greenwich, 1942; influence of Sam Macilwain on decision to become a doctor; hospital work in Greenwich and Edinburgh; attitude to undertaking menial tasks; problem of receiving medical training during war and hostility towards Friends' Ambulance Unit personnel. Aspects of period as volunteer with Civilian Service Corps in GB, 8/1943-1/1945: background to leaving Friends' Ambulance Unit and joining Civilian Service Corps, 8/1943; role and organisation of Civilian Service Corps; description of hospital and land work; casualties caused by German long-range artillery on Ramsgate; background to rejoining Friends' Ambulance Unit, 1/1945; reaction to news of concentrations camps and effect on decision to volunteer for service in North West Europe. REEL 6 Continues: Aspects of period as volunteer with Friends' Ambulance Unit in Germany, 1945-1946: assembling of team to work in Bergen-Belsen Concentration Camp, 5/1945; work with Displaced Persons in Hamburg, 6/1945-7/1945; story of being in first Friends' Ambulance Unit team to enter Berlin, 8/1945; conditions in Berlin and nature of work with civilians; problem of missing persons; question of access to Soviet Zone of Occupation; role of Friends' Ambulance Unit in Germany; Operation Stork, the evacuation of children and pregnant women into British Zone of Occupation; return to GB and demobilisation, 1946. Aspects of post-war life and employment in GB, 1946-1991: question of stance as conscientious objector hindering attempts at university education and gaining place at medical school; attitude to effects of war on radicalisation; importance of wartime experiences to subsequent medical career; story of becoming involved with peace movement after receiving letter about civil defence, 1979; activities with Medical Association for the Prevention of War; International Physicians for Prevention of Nuclear War and Medical Campaign Against Nuclear Weapons. REEL 7 Continues: reaction to Chernobyl Disaster, 4/1986; attitude to environmental issues and pressure groups; opinion of medical campaigns against nuclear power; question of variations of support and funding for anti-nuclear war organisations; reaction to Gulf War and comparison with situation in 1939; opinion of Allied strategy and role of United Nations during Gulf War, 1990-1991; role of peace movement in ending Cold War; opinion of Mikhail Gorbachev. REEL 8 Continues: attitude to violence and methods of treating delinquent and violent behaviour; reaction to being labelled a pacifist; reflections on Second World War and role of Friends' Ambulance Unit in post-war Germany; further comments on Gulf War and Saddam Hussein; amusing story about Paul Cadbury in Berlin, Germany, 1945.