Watson, John Bernard Robert (Oral history)

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Description

Object description

British NCO served with 4/5th Bn Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry, 1940-1942; officer served with 2/4th Bn South Lancashire Regt (The Prince of Wales's Volunteers) in GB, 1942-1943; officer served with 13th Bn Parachute Regt, 5th Parachute Bde, 6th Airborne Div in GB and North West Europe, 1943-1945

Content description

REEL 1 Background in Scarborough, Putney and Merton, GB, 1917-1939: family; education; employment; worries as family man about situation in Europe, 1938-1939. Aspects of period as NCO with 4/5th Bn Duke of Cornwall Light Infantry in GB, 1939-1942: coastal defence duties at Polegate; belief that Germans could not invade; formation of motorcycle force. Recollections of period as officer with 13th Bn Parachute Regt in GB, 5/1943-6/1944: commissioning into 2/4th Bn South Lancashire Regt (The Prince of Wales's Volunteers) and announcement that battalion to become 13th Bn Parachute Regt at Dover, 5/1943; German shelling of Dover; fitness training at Airborne Forces Depot, Hardwick Hall; parachute training at No 1 Parachute Training School, RAF at RAF Ringway; fatality during training. REEL 2 Continues: jumping from Armstrong Whitworth Whitley; reaction to arrival of Douglas Dakota aircraft; attitude towards approach of D-Day operation; transit to RAF Brize Norton, 5/1944. Recollections of operations as officer with A Coy, 13th Bn Parachute Regt, 5th Parachute Bde, 6th Airborne Div in Normandy, France, D-Day, 6/6/1944: briefing for task on D-Day; flight to Normandy; recapitulation of unit's objective; his parachute jump; landing on drop zone north of Ranville; making way to rendezvous; confusion on drop zone. REEL 3 Continues: tasks needed to be achieved by daylight; preparation of drop zone for glider landings; arrival of glider force; dealing with German counter-attack using tanks; problems of parachute drops at night; fate of company commander on drop zone; use of sniffer dogs; arrival of reinforcements by glider. Recollections of operations as officer with 13th Bn Parachute Regt, 5th Parachute Bde 6th Airborne Div in Normandy, France, 6/1944-8/1944: German attack at Ranville from Bréville-les-Monts, 10/6/1944. REEL 4 Continues: counter-attacking Germans at Ranville, 10/6/1944; deployment in static positions, 6/1944-8/1944; problems with mosquitoes in flooded areas; reaction of French civilians to liberation; break out from Normandy, 8/1944; attack on high ground near Putot-en-Auge and German withdrawal, 18/8/1944; capture of Pont-l'Eveque and tenacity of German rearguard; into reserve at Honfleur then evacuation to GB; morale of battalion in Normandy and attitude towards Germans. REEL 5 Continues: perils of transferring from landing craft to liberty ship at Arromanches-les-Bains, 8/1944. Recollections of operations commanding A Coy, 13th Bn Parachute Regt, 5th Parachute Bde, 6th Airborne Div in North West Europe, 12/1944-5/1945: rapid move of 6th Airborne Div to Ardennes, Belgium, 12/1944; taking up defensive positions at Namur, Belgium, 12/1944; character of attack on Bure, Belgium, 4/1/1945; German counter-attack using Tiger Tanks at Bure, Belgium, 4/1/1945; decision to withdraw unit from Bure, Belgium, 5/1/1945; unit casualties at Bure, Belgium, 1/1945; how German offensive was stopped in sector at Bure, Belgium, 1/1945. REEL 6 Continues: award of Military Cross for actions at Bure, Belguim, 1/1945; taking up static positions on River Maas, near Maastricht, Netherlands, 1/1945; return to GB to prepare for Operation Varsity the airborne crossing River Rhine, Germany, 2/1945; his parachute drop during Operation Varsity, 24/3/1945; reasons for scale of glider casualties and success of parachute drops during Operation Varsity; equipment carried and wearing of red beret during Operation Varsity, 3/1945; keenness of Germans to surrender to British rather than Soviet forces; prior recollection of airborne deception aimed at German defences on D-Day, Normandy, France, 6/6/1944; sight of concentration camp near Celle, Germany, 4/1945; abortive plans for parachute drop over River Elbe, Germany. REEL 7 Continues: impressions of Soviet Army in Wismar, Germany, 5/1945; relations with civilians in Wismar, Germany; return to GB; reasons for missing move of 5th Parachute Bde to Java, Dutch East Indies, summer 1945.

Object Details

Category: Sound
Related period: 1990 to the present day (production), Second World War (content), Second World War (association)
Creator: IWM (Production company)
Wood, Conrad (Recorder)
Watson, John Bernard Robert (Interviewee/Speaker)
Production date: 1992-01-30
Dimensions: whole: Duration 210, Number Of Items 7
Catalogue number: 12417

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Watson, John Bernard Robert (Oral history)

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