Walter, Arthur Edward Mervyn (Oral history)

British officer served with Royal Engineers, Royal Engineer Bde, Fortress Singapore Div in Singapore, Malaya, 1936-1939 and 1941; served as miliary intelligence officer with Royal Engineers in Norway and Turkey, 1940-1941; served as Director of Ports and Inland Water Transport, 21st Army Group in GB and North West Europe, 1944-1945

REEL 1 Background in Burma and GB, 1907-1936: family; education; enlistment in Royal Engineers. Recollections of period as officer with Royal Engineers, Royal Engineer Bde, Fortress Singapore Div in Singapore, Malaya, 1936-1939 and 1941: job building power stations for 15 Inch Guns of the Johore Bty; reconnaissance of bridges in Malaya for potential demolition; anticipation of possible attack from sea; reaction in Singapore to 1st Bn Middlesex Regt (Duke of Cambridge's Own) jungle training; question of myth of 15 Inch Guns not being able to shoot inland; question of Singapore's impregnability; return to Singapore, 1941; duties obtaining cranes from Suez, Egypt and open railway wagons from China; Japanese air raid on Kunming, China; story of being posting missing, 12/1941; social contact with Lieutenant-Colonel Arthur Percival, 1936-1939; lack of change in Singapore between 1939 and 1941. REEL 2 Continues: Recollections of period as Director of Ports and Inland Water Transport, Royal Engineers, 21st Army Group in GB and North West Europe, 1944-1945: appointment to role; main tasks in setting up construction of Mulberry Harbours and their operation; initial reaction to idea of Mulberry Harbours; code words used regarding Mulberry; involvement in detailed planning prior to D-Day; General Bernard Montgomery's briefing to senior staff; security alert on leaving plans in club by mistake; question of threat of German commando raid on Selsey, GB where Mulberry Harbour model kept; crossing English Channel to Normandy, France aboard HMS Aristocrat, 6/6/1944; use of DUKW in which Americans had been wiped out to land, 7/6/1944; narrow escape from mining at Courselles-sur-Mer, Normandy, France; reaction to sight of dead and wounded at Arromanches-sur-Bains, Normandy, France; under German sniper fire on canal in Normandy, France, 11/6/1944; difference between Mulberry A and Mulberry B; bet made with American opposite number responsible for Mulberry A. REEL 3 Continues: precautions he took to ensure that Mulberry B was not washed away in storm, 19/6/1944; aftermath of storm and visit by Prime Minister Winston Churchill; necessity for artificial harbours; success of Mulberry B in giving shelter to shipping during storm period; conditions during storm; work in reopening continental ports and waterways, 1944-1945; repairing ports and canals after German withdrawal. Aspects of intelligence gathering missions as intelligence officer with Royal Engineers in Norway and Turkey, 1940-1941: reconnaissance of Norwegian ports and railways with Andrew Croft and Malcolm Munthe, 1/1940; crossing into Finland. REEL 4 Continues: method of return from Stockholm, Sweden; division of labour between group in Norway; reconnaissance of Turkish railways with knowledge of Turkish authorities, 7/1941.