Miller, John Francis (Oral history)

British officer served with Transjordan Frontier Force in Jordan and Palestine, 1935-1941; served with 6th Royal Tank Regt, 7th Armoured Bde in North Africa, 5/1941-11/1941; POW in Italy, 1941-1943, Oflag VIII-F, Mahrisch-Trubau and Oflag 79, Braunschweig in Germany, 1943-1945; served as Senior Scientific Officer with Fighting Vehicles Research and Development Establishment at Chertsey, GB and Northern Ireland, 1971-1973

REEL 1 Recollections of period as Senior Scientific Officer with Fighting Vehicles Research and Development Establishment at Chertsey, GB and Northern Ireland, 1971-1973: situation with bomb disposal in Northern Ireland, 1971-1972; his role in devising apparatus to deal with bombs at distance; acquiring equipment from garden centre in Sunningdale, 3/1972; experiments to get Wheelbarrow remote control devise to work; acceptance of Wheelbarrow prototype, 4/1972; first operational use of Wheelbarrow against car bomb, 6/1972; removal of Windbag devise as ineffective; development of Wheelbarrow Mk 2, summer 1972; development of device to break windows of cars carrying bombs; discussions leading to inclusion of closed circuit television system for dealing with car bombs; improvements to Wheelbarrow. REEL 2 Continues: an incident in which Wheelbarrow operator was injured, 11/1972; problem with Wheelbarrow Mk 3 in dealing with flight of steps; first demonstration of Wheelbarrow Mk 4, 2/1973; operation of 'Dixon Releases' on Wheelbarrow; reasons for failure of Wheelbarrow in Londonderry, 4/1973; further improvements to Wheelbarrow, 1973; introduction of wireless control for Wheelbarrow; use of former London bus to carry Wheelbarrow to trails, summer 1973. Aspects of period as officer with Transjordan Frontier Force in Jordan and Palestine, 1935-1941: background to secondment to unit from Royal Tank Corps, 1935; journey from London to Zirka, Transjordan, 1935; question of loyalty of troops; failure of Arab personnel to open fire on Arab insurgents; co-ordination with RAF; patrol in Jordan Valley in which Yousef Ali Bey was awarded Empire Gallantry Medal, 1938. REEL 3 Continues: change of Yousef Ali Bey's award to George Cross, 1940; character of Nablus-Jenin-Tulkarum Triangle in Palestine; occasions when he clashed with Arab bands; contact with Arab Legion. Recollections of operations commanding B Sqdn, 6th Royal Tank Regt, 7th Armoured Bde, in North Africa, 5/1941-11/1941: taking command of squadron, 5/1941; opinion of Crusader Tank; re-equipping and training squadron, 6/1941; move to wire for start of Operation Crusader, 18/11/1941; problems of losing way at night in desert; contrast between desert in Jordan and Western Desert; objectives of Operation Crusader, 11/1941; capture of airfield at Sidi Rezegh, Libya; advancing to Trigh Capuzzo, Libya and opening fire on German staff car; how his tank was knocked out in wadi, 11/1941. REEL 4 Continues: his capture by Germans. Aspects of period as POW in Italy, 12/1941-9/1943: RAF attack on Italian ship carrying POWs from North Africa to Italy; treatment as POW in Italy; memories of Admiral Walter Cowan; move out of camp after Italian collapse, 9/1943; period evading capture and recapture by Germans near Aquila. Aspects of period as POW in Germany, 1943-4/1945: removal to Oflag VIII-F, Mahrisch-Trubau; removal of POWs in face of Soviet advance, 1945; liberation by Americans at Oflag 79, Braunschweig, 12/4/1945.