Bramall, Edwin Noel Westby (Oral history)

British officer served with 2nd Bn King's Royal Rifle Corps, 4th Armoured Bde in GB and North West Europe, 5/1943-5/1945; served as staff officer with British Indian Division (BRINDIV) in Japan, 1946-1947; served as staff officer with Military Operations Directorate for Middle East in War Office, London, GB, 1947-1948; served as instructor with School of Infantry in Warminster, GB, 1949-1951; served with 2nd Bn King's Royal Rifle Corps in GB, 1951; student at Staff College, Camberley in GB, 1952; served as staff officer with Headquarters, 3rd Infantry Div in Canal Zone, Egypt, 1953-1954; officer served with 2nd Bn King's Royal Rifle Corps, Middle East Land Forces in Libya, 1955-1957; served as instructor with Staff College, Camberley in GB, 1958-1961; served with 2nd Bn Green Jackets (King's Royal Rifle Corps), Berlin Infantry Bde in West Berlin, Germany, 1962-1963; served as staff officer with Ministry of Defence in London, GB, 1963-1964; commanded 2nd Bn Green Jackets (King's Royal Rifle Corps) during Indonesian Confrontation in Borneo, Malaysia, 1965-1966; instructor with Staff College, Camberley in GB, 1967; commanded 5th (Airportable) Infantry Bde, 3rd Infantry Div in GB, Denmark and Norway, 1967-1969; student at Imperial Defence College in GB, 1970-1971; commanded 1st Infantry Div, British Army of the Rhine in West Germany, 1/1972-11/1973; commanded British Forces in Hong Kong, 12/1973-4/1976; served as Commander-in-Chief United Kingdom Land Forces in GB, 5/1976-3/1978; served as Vice-Chief of the Defence Staff in Ministry of Defence, London, GB, 3/1978-6/1979; served as Chief of the General Staff in Ministry of Defence, London, GB, 7/1979-9/1982; served as Chief of Defence Staff in Ministry of Defence, London, GB, 10/1982-11/1985

REEL 1 Aspects of period as member of Officer Training Corps at Eton College in GB, 1939-1942: early interest in military life; character of Officer Training Corps; opinion of training; expectations of war; following progress of Second World War. Recollections of enlistment and training as private, NCO and officer with King's Royal Rifle Corps in GB, 1942-1943: reasons for choosing regiment; selection process; regimental 'approach'; basic and specialist training; emphasis on shooting; importance of platoon sergeant; training briefing on Battle of El Alamein; motor transport training; signals officer training at York; Tactical Exercises Without Troops (TEWTS); introduction of battle drills; attending Battle School; accident on grenade range. REEL 2 Continues: dangers of training; lack of training in close air support. Aspects of period as officer with 2nd Bn King's Royal Rifle Corps, 4th Armoured Bde in GB, 5/1943-6/1944: posting to regiment on commissioning, 5/1943; state of battalion morale; visits by Generals Bernard Montgomery and Richard O'Connor; other units in 4th Armoured Bde. Recollections of operations as officer with 2nd Bn King's Royal Rifle Corps, 4th Armourd Bde in Normandy, France, 6/1944-8/1944: landing in Normandy; nature of initial deployment; deployments during Operation Epsom, 26/6/1944-30/6/1944; organisation of brigade; close protection at night; duties during Operation Epsom, 26/6/1944-30/6/1944; unit casualties including effects of heavy artillery shelling; impressions of Waffen-SS troops. REEL 3 Continues: nature of bocage; lack of training for fighting in bocage; participation in Operation Greenline, 17/7/1944; wounding by German 88mm artillery shellfire; medical evacuation to Edinburgh, GB; return to battalion in Falaise area; rapid advance from Normandy into Belgium; attitude of civilians in Normandy; selection of defensive positions; weather conditions; fatigue; rations; organisation of platoon; acquisition of heavy machine gun; dismounting for attack; opinion of International M5 Half-Track. REEL 4 Continues: speed of International M5 Half-Track; resupply of fuel; transmission of orders; visits by senior officers. Recollections of operations as officer with 2nd Bn King's Royal Rifle Corps, 4th Armoured Bde in North West Europe, 9/1944-5/1945: crossing River Seine and advance into Belgium, 9/1944; engagements with German stragglers; effect of speed of advance on Germans; reception in Sint-Niklaas, Belgium, 9/1944; defence of village; opinion of Canadian and American troops; move to Weert and onto River Maas, Netherlands; ambush party on Albert Canal, Belgium; incident of being caught in minefield during patrol; advance into Netherlands, 9/1944; threat of mines; attachment to 11th Armoured Div for Operation Veritable, 2/1945; nature of fighting during Battle of Reichswald, 2/1945-3/1945. REEL 5 Continues: role as intelligence officer during crossing of River Rhine, Germany, 3/1945; German defence after crossing of River Rhine; sources of intelligence; contact with brigade headquarters; advance towards Hamburg, Germany; character of German resistance; conditions in Hamburg, Germany in contrast with Hiroshima, Japan; move to Denmark; evacuation of German Army troops from Denmark; volunteering for service in South East Asia; decision to pursue a military career. Aspects of period as staff officer with British Indian Division (BRINDIV) in Japan, 1946-1947: journey from GB to Japan via India; duties as staff officer; disciplinary problems with small mutiny; behaviour of Australian Army troops and Japanese civilians; work of force. REEL 6 Continues: Aspects of period as staff officer with Military Operations Directorate for Middle East, War Office in London, GB, 1947-1948: role and duties; departmental division of responsibilities; liaison with Foreign Office; question of solution to Palestine problem; Anglo-Egyptian Treaty negotiations; strategic value of Suez Canal; later disorder experienced in Egypt; opinion of Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery as Chief of the General Staff. Aspects of period as instructor with School of Infantry at Warminster, GB, 1949-1951: posting to Warminster; passing for staff college; pattern of service, 1951-1953. REEL 7 Continues: Aspects of period as staff officer with Headquarters, 3rd Infantry Div in Canal Zone, Egypt, 1953-1954: situation in Canal Zone; duties; planning for Operation Musketeer the later landings at Suez, 1956; assessment of Egyptian Army; political attitudes in Egypt; concern over Imperial communications; divisional commanders; character of division. Aspects of period as officer with 2nd Bn King's Royal Rifle Corps, Middle East Land Forces in Libya, 1955-1957: role as company commander; training; how local population turned hostile after landings at Suez, Egypt, 11/1956; relations between Egypt and Libya; American attitudes at time of landings at Suez, Egypt, 11/1956. REEL 8 Continues: Recollections of period as instructor with Staff College, Camberley in GB, 1958-1961: pattern of period as instructor; syllabus; question of military thinking on effects of nuclear weapons; plans for forward defence and use of bastions; length of staff college course; methods of instruction; assessment of students; qualities required by commanders and staff officers; qualities required by instructors; formulation of new ideas and development in tactics; impact of new technology; work rewriting tactical manuals; influence of battlefield tours with reference to campaign in Normandy. REEL 9 Continues: discussion of Operations Epsom and Goodwood in Normandy, France, 1944; importance of use of reversed slopes during Battle of Waterloo, 1815; German defence in Normandy, France; benefit of battlefield tours to students; discussion of role of artillery and night operations; vetting of his pamphlet by Field Marshal Michael Carver. Aspects of period as officer with 2nd Bn Green Jackets, British Infantry Bde in West Berlin, Germany, 1961-1963: posting to battalion and duties; posting to Ministry of Defence, 1963; effects of Cuban Missile Crisis on West Berlin, 10/1962; restrictions on access; inability to prepare for defence; character of troops. REEL 10 Continues: Aspects of period as staff officer with Ministry of Defence in London, GB, 1963-1964: character of Lord Louis Mountbatten; Lord Louis Mountbatten's conflicts with Chiefs of Staff; issue of centralisation; how Chiefs of Staff outmanoeuvred by Prime Minister Harold Macmillan; further details of character of Lord Louis Mountbatten; political activity of Royal Air Force. Recollections of operations commanding 2nd Bn Green Jackets during Indonesian Confrontation in Borneo, 1965-1966: taking command of battalion; training in Penang, Malaysia; use of patrol bases and patrolling; intelligence; opinion of Indonesian forces; use of artillery. REEL 11 Continues: patrol with New Zealand Special Air Service; communications in jungle; character of local civilians; use of Border Scouts; tracking skills; impressions of Malaysian forces; character of the Ibans; attitude of Malaysian brigade commander; deployment to border by helicopter from HMS Albion; nature of border posts; threats to health; lack of prisoners of war taken and unit casualties; background to posting as instructor at Staff College, Camberley, 1967. Aspects of period commanding 5th (Airportable) Bde, 3rd Infantry Div in GB, Denmark and Norway, 1967-1969: promotion to brigadier, 31/12/1967; presence of Soviet attaché on major exercise; use of helicopters; exercises in Denmark. REEL 12 Continues: contrasts in Danish terrain; opinion of Danish forces; purposes of deployment to Denmark; exercises in Norway; opinion of West German forces. Aspects of period as student with Imperial Staff College in GB, 1970: character of commandant Alastair Buchan; method of instruction; syllabus; thesis; character of Alastair Buchan; ideas on leadership. Recollections of period commanding 1st Infantry Div, British Army of the Rhine in West Germany, 1/1971-11/1973: his corps commander; view on role of division in Germany; plans for mobile defence. REEL 13 Continues: equipment available; advantage of 'square defence'; opinion of 'tactical regiment'; plans for mobile defence; dependence on reserves; importance of clear tactical terms; opinion of other divisional and corps commanders; terrain and technology; degree of realist training and exercises; restrictions and shortages; effects on divisional strength of Northern Ireland commitment; stage management of exercises; opinion of West German Army; ideas on tank gunnery; coping with threat of massed Soviet armour. REEL 14 Continues: rates of fire; guns and guided weapons; anti-tank warfare; deficiency of close air defence; liaison with and role of Royal Air Force; relations with West German, Dutch, Danish and Belgium forces; relations between British Army and Royal Air Force; organisation of headquarters and use of 'radio village'; story of communication cables being cut by lunatic with axe; German civilian attitude to presence of North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) forces; degree of awareness of espionage. Aspects of period commanding British Forces in Hong Kong, 12/1973-4/1976: posting to Hong Kong; role and duties; threats to security; aid to the civil power; view of intentions of People's Republic of China. REEL 15 Continues: Chinese means of exacting pressure; degree of knowledge of Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA); refugee question; dealing with fugitives from China; Triad activities in Hong Kong; character of Macao; social changes in Hong Kong; treatment of Vietnamese refugees; members of the Executive Council; the Hong Kong Police Force; corruption; value of political experience. Aspects of period as Commander-in-Chief UK Land Forces in GB, 5/1976-3/1978: role and duties; career prospects; background to being appointed Vice-Chief of Defence Staff. REEL 16 Continues: Recollection of period as Vice-Chief of the Defence Staff in Ministry of Defence, London, GB, 3/1978-6/1979: opinion of role of Territorial Army; issue of forces' pay; loss of key personnel; use of lobbying and press briefings; power of Treasury bureaucracy; focus of loyalty and responsibility; question of service housing; clash of defence and monetarism; attitude towards defence of Conservative and Labour Parties; logistic issues; rationalisation of resources; personnel management in the different armed services; limitations on service in integration. REEL 17 Continues: Aspects of period as Chief of the General Staff in Ministry of Defence, London, GB, 7/1979-9/1982: financial pressures and adverse effects on defence; use of North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) commitments to defend budgets; relations with politicians; Secretary of State for Defence John Nott's clash with Royal Navy; start of the Falklands War, 4/1982; attitude of Foreign Office to 'Options for Change'; question of late arrival of Commander Land Forces Major-General Jeremy Moore in the Falkland Islands, 1982; question of command in Falklands War, 4/1982-6/1982; the Bluff Cove disaster, 8/6/1982; opinion of Task Force; no plan to attack Argentinean mainland; Admiral Terence Lewin's reform of defence staff; question of avoidablity of Falklands War, 1982. REEL 18 Continues: effects of Falklands War on Argentina. Aspects of period as Chief of Defence Staff in Ministry of Defence in London, GB, 10/1982-11/1985: appointment to role; planning process and future studies; impressions of secretaries of state; anticipation of conflict in Middle East; plans for intervention force; American 'Central Command'; aid to Gulf States; assessment of situation in Central Europe; concern with Soviet Navy submarine threat; defence of northern flank; view of Cruise Missile; problems with Challenger Tank; opinion of time in role; lack of desire for post with North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO); post-military career.