Stacpoole, Alberic John (Oral history)

British officer served with Support Coy, 1st Bn Duke of Wellington's Regt, 29th British Infantry Bde, 1st Commonwealth Div in Korea, 1952-1953; served with 2nd Bn Parachute Regt in Canal Zone, Egypt, 1954, Cyprus, 1956-1957 and Suez, Egypt, 1956; served as ADC to general commanding troops in West Africa, 1957-1959; entered Ampleforth Abbey as monk, 9/1960

REEL 1 Background in Northern Ireland and Yorkshire, 1931-1949: family; education; reasons for joining army, 1949; opinion of British Empire. Period with Royal Military College, Sandhurst, 1950. Opinion of Yorkshire men and regiments. Posting to Korea, spring 1952. Recollections of posting to Korea, 1952: voyage from GB to Korea aboard Empire Fowey; reaction to posting to Korea; nature of voyage; effect of posting on Chindit veterans of unit as ship neared Korea; question of reputation of Chinese soldiers. REEL 2 Continues: question of failure to brief soldiers about what situation they would facing with reference to service in Cyprus. Recollections of operations with 1st Bn Duke of Wellington Regt, 29th British Infantry Bde, 1st Commonwealth Div in Korea, 1952-1953: reception in Pusan; move to Seoul; initial impressions of Korea; positions on The Hook; Chinese attack and United Nations' counter-attack on The Hook, 5/1953; reaction to use of napalm; construction of barbed wire defences; repelling of Chinese attack on The Hook, 5/1953; wounding and evacuation to Seoul, 6/1953; events of last few hours before ceasefire, 7/1953; attitude of ROK troops towards Communist troops; contrast between US Marines and US Army personnel; attitude towards Chinese troops; effect of Chinese psychological warfare on British troops; layout of barbed wire on The Hook. REEL 3 Continues: nature of wire-laying; effects of United Nations' psychological warfare; patrolling; coping with cold in trenches; effects of monsoon rains on conditions in trenches; rats; use of parkas; opinion of equipment used; physical demands of digging in; dealing with mortar casualties in dugouts; role of conscripts in unit; work of South Wales miners in unit. REEL 4 Continues: comforts received by troops from GB; alcohol ration; rest and recreation in Tokyo and Kure; contrast in motivation between regulars and conscripts; award of Military Cross; singing songs in reserve; Chinese 'human wave' tactics; Chinese prisoners taken and their will to die; treatment of Chinese POWs; clearing up after cease-fire, 6/1953. Training for Parachute Regt, 1953. Period with 2nd Bn Parachute Regt, Canal Zone, Egypt, 1954: situation in Canal Zone; unit casualties; Egyptian hostility as unit left. REEL 5 Continues: attitude to service in Canal Zone; return to Talavera Barracks, Aldershot, GB, 1955. Period on survival course at Bardufoss, Norway, winter 1955-1956. Recollections of operations with 2nd Bn Parachute Regt in Cyprus, 1956: move to Cyprus; discovery of EOKA personnel in Kyrenia Mountains; attitude of Greek Cypriot civilians to unit; theft by troops from civilians and how thieves were dealt with. Recollections of Suez operation with 2nd Bn Parachute Regt, Suez, Egypt, 10/1956: contact with French paratroopers; shortage of aircraft for parachute drop; move to Suez by sea from Famagusta, Cyprus. REEL 6 Continues: effect on unit of Hugh Gaitskill's speech attacking Suez operation; sight of Port Said landing zone; his role on disembarking; push inland from Port Said. Return with 2nd Bn Parachute Regt to Cyprus, 1956-1957 including degree of personal danger. Period of leave in GB, 2/1957-4/1957. Recollections of period as ADC to General commanding troops in West Africa, 1957-1959: securing post as ADC, 5/1957; preparing structures for independence; accommodation in Lagos; visits he made to Sierra Leone and the Cameroons. REEL 7 Continues: social life and activities; Kaduna durbar, 1959; character of commanding general; Major John Ironse's predictions of sweeping away of British forms of government on independence; character of soldiers in the Nigeria Regt, Royal West African Frontier Force; attitude of Nigerian politicians to British presence; record of West Africans troops in Burma in 1944; effects of British rule in Nigeria; factors of change in Nigeria after 1945. REEL 8 Continues: Aspects of family history especially in relation to Imperial service: nature of life in Empire, 1930-1960; history of mother's family the McGonigalls. Reasons for leaving army and becoming a monk in Ampleforth Abbey, 9/60. Memories of German Air Force attacks on Belfast, Northern Ireland, 1941. Question of his experience of violence on his decision to become a monk. REEL 9 Continues: Opinion of army's provision of medical facilities for troops. Further family history. Decision to become monk.