Description
Object description
British gunner served with 59th Anti-Tank Regt, Royal Artillery in GB, 1938-1939; served with 530th (The Princess Beatrice's Isle of Wight Rifles) Coastal Regt, Royal Artillery in GB, 9/1939-4/1940; served with 175th Bty, Thames and Medway Heavy Regt, Royal Artillery at Deadman's Point, Canvey Island, GB, 4/1940-10/1940; served with 214th Bty, 57th Heavy Anti-Aircraft Regt, Royal Artillery, 65th Anti-Aircraft Bde, 5th Anti-Aircraft Div in GB, 7/1940-7/1942; served with 214th Bty, 57th Heavy Anti-Aircraft Regt, Royal Artillery, 12th Anti-Aircraft Bde, Eighth Army in North Africa and Italy, 10/1943-5/1945; NCO served with 80th Light Anti-Aircraft Regt, Royal Artillery in GB, Egypt, Malta and Jordan, 1949-1958; gunner and NCO served with Royal Australian Artillery in Australia, 1960-1966
Content description
REEL 1 Background on Isle of Wight and Portsmouth, GB, 1922-1938: family; education; father's opposition to joining Royal Navy because of birching. Aspects of period as gunner with 59th Anti-Tank Regt, Royal Artillery in GB, 1938-1939: background to joining 6th Bn Hampshire Regt in Territorial Army, 1/1938; conversion from infantry to anti-tank role, 11/1938; effect of conscription of militiamen on unit, 4/1939; how he narrowly missed going into Royal Navy, 1939. Aspects of period as gunner with 530rd (The Princess Beatrice's Isle of Wight Rifles) Coastal Regt, Royal Artillery in GB, 9/1939-4/1940: disposition of unit for defence of Isle of Wight; practising on dummy loader. Aspects of period as gunner with 175th Bty, Thames and Medway Heavy Regt, Royal Artillery at Deadman's Point, Canvey Island, GB, 4/1940-10/1940: posting to coastal batteries on Canvey Island, 4/1940; sight of ships returning from Dunkirk Evacuation, 6/1940; sight of German Air Force attacks on London, 9/1940; living conditions in unit. Recollections of operations as gunner with 214th Bty, 57th Heavy Anti-Aircraft Regt, 65th Anti-Aircraft Bde, 5th Anti-Aircraft Div in Southsea, GB, 10/1940-7/1941: background to joining regiment; use of 4.5 inch naval guns for defence of Portsmouth.
REEL 2 Continues: degree of effectiveness of 4.5 Inch Gun against aircraft; use of sound locators to detect aircraft; bomb damage to Portsmouth, 1940-1941; German Air Force use of landmines; public morale; attitude to use of shelters; attitude towards German Air Force; opinion of Prime Minister Winston Churchill; opinion of performance of emergency services; volunteering to become Defensively Equipped Merchant Ship (DEMS) gunner; degree of wear to gun barrels; degree of pressure on gun crews; transfer to RAF Tangmere, 7/1941; preparations to mobile role; movements and training in GB, 1941-1942.
REEL 3 Continues: presecne of female personnel on anti-aircraft sites in GB, 1941-1942. Recollections of operations as gunner with 214th Bty, 57th Heavy Anti-Aircraft Regt, 12th Anti-Aircraft Bde, Eighth Army in North Africa, 10/1942-8/1943: voyage aboard HMT Duchess of York from GB to Egypt 7/1942-9/1942; arrival in Egypt and taking over 3 Inch Guns from Egyptian Army; painting guns khaki at Alexandria, Egypt, 10/1942; contingency plan to take on Vichy French Fleet at time of Operation Torch, the landings in North Africa, 11/1942; move to Western Desert; coping with dust when towing guns to Tobruk, Libya; role of Advance Group, Royal Artillery during pursuit of Deutsches Afrika Korps, 1943; deploying in minefield in Mareth Line, 1943; blowing up of his officer on mine in Mareth Line, Tunisia, 3/1943; behaviour of Deutsches Afrika Korps prisoners of war in Tunisia; success against German Air Force fighter at Wadi Akarit, 7/4/1943; training for amphibious landings at Tripoli, Libya, 7/1943-8/1943. Recollections of operations as gunner with 214th Bty, 57th Heavy Anti-Aircraft Regt, 12th Anti-Aircraft Bde, Eighth Army in Italy, 9/1943-5/1945: embarking into landing craft; role as Bren Gunner.
REEL 4 Continues: German Air Force attacks on convoy; memories of Brigadier Mortimer Wheeler during crossing to Salerno; engine problems of Landing Ship Tank (LST) and breakdown during run into beaches at Salerno, 9/9/1943; shelling of German 88mm Artillery Guns by HMS Orion at Salerno, 9/9/1943; opening fire on German aircraft without orders from Royal Navy officer; thwarting of plan to defend airstrip at Salerno; use of 3.7 Inch Gun against German positions at Salerno, 9/1943; different proportions of tracer used in Bren Gun in anti-aircraft and counter-infantry roles; abortive plan to support 2/5th Bn Leicestershire Regt at Salerno; hopes that Salerno beachhead would be relieved by Eighth Army.
REEL 5 Continues: move of unit to Naples; first contact with American troops at Naples; contact with civilian population in Naples; Neapolitans' selling of sexual favours for tins of bully beef; his handling of spaghetti; hospitality in Naples; opinion of United States Army personnel; apology by 'Stars and Stripes' paper for misrepresenting landings at Salerno; return to field role to support guards during River Garigliano; nature of Italian campaign; support of 201st Guards Bde on Gustav Line, 1944; German stripping of Liri Valley to assist in defence of Gustav Line; difficulty of avoiding German counter-battery fire; opinion of destruction of Monte Cassino Monastery, 2/1944; rapid passage through Rome; hope that Italian campaign would not take too long; division of labour in detachment in order for gun crew to receive proper rest.
REEL 6 Continues: relative isolation of unit; problems of arranging leave, 1944; leave in Florence, Italy; attitude in unit about visit by King George VI; impressions of Field Marshal Jan Smuts; reaction to how King George VI's affected unit's free time; rejoining main body of Eighth Army on Adriatic Coast; use of United States Army shower facilities; rumours that unit would be returning to GB, 11/1943; improvement in troops' diet; impact of arrival of 48 hour compo packs and opinion of American hash in K-rations; German skill at defending river valleys; attitude of British troops towards General Mark Clark; knee injury received on 3.7 Inch Gun; hospitalisation for knee injury in Canadian hospital; generosity of Americans to British troops.
REEL 7 Continues: loss of gun in ravine during move to Adriatic Coast; supporting Canadian Army troops; behaviour of Greek military personnel towards Italian civilians in Rimini area; Christmas at Faenza, 12/1944; anticipations of German offensive in Italy at time of German Ardennes Offensive, 12/1944-1/1945; liberation of Vermouth supply, 1/1945; arrangements by 8th Indian Infantry Div to cross River Senio, 4/1945; accidental bombing of Indian troops by United States Army Air Force; arrival of Bechuana troops to replace British gunners; ignoring advice to behave in a superior way towards Bechuana troops; problems of Bechuanas had in keeping up with offensive warfare; advance to Ferrara; infiltration patrols by German Jewish troops of Jewish Infantry Bde Group dressed in German uniforms; crossing River Po and sense of anti-climax, 4/1945.
REEL 8 Continues: attitude of Jewish Infantry Bde group towards Germans; deployment of unit on River Adige; receiving news of VE Day, 8/5/1945; traffic control duties as dispatch rider, 6/1945; qualifying for leave in advance of 'Python', 7/1945; welfare provisions for troops travelling home for leave; marriage, 8/1945; period as garrison policeman in Venice, 1945-1946. Recollections of period as NCO with 80th Light Anti-Aircraft Regt, Royal Artillery in GB, Egypt, Malta and Jordan, 1949-1958: rejoining regular army after three year period with Territorial Army, 1949; posting to Egypt, 1953; security details at Moascar in Canal Zone, Egypt.
REEL 9 Continues: posting to Malta, 1955; objection he raised to unfavourable personal report; unpopularity of posting to Egypt, 1953-1954; incidents when members of his unit were wounded in shooting incidents; deployment at Aqaba, Jordan near Israeli border; reasons for deployment to Aqaba, Jordan; pro-Israeli sympathies of National Servicemen; sight of Israeli paratroopers practising for airborne landings at Mitla Pass, 8/1956; British casualty in Jordan during Operation Musketeer, the landings at Suez, Egypt, 11/1956; relations with Jordanians; Jordanian demand for British evacuation after Operation Musketeer; attitude towards Suez Crisis, 1956.
REEL 10 Continues: winding down of British garrison at Aqaba, Jordan, 1956-1957; discharge from Royal Artillery and disbandment of regiment at Southsea, GB, 1956; attitude to working with light anti-aircraft systems; frustrations of training short service conscripts. Recollections of period as gunner and NCO with Royal Australian Artillery, Australian Army in Australia, 1960-1967: emigration to Australia to enlist in Australian Army, 28/2/1960; requirement for him to do basic training again; posting to School of Artillery, Sydney; contrast between Australian and British artillery; realisation that promotion was a slow process in Australian armed forces; question of myth of Australian fieldcraft; domestic arrangements.
REEL 11 Continues: posting to Proof and Experimental Range at Port Wakefield, South Australia, 1961; duties as Assistant Master Gunner; background to promotion to sergeant, 1965; memories of Frank Adlam; reasons for leaving Royal Australian Artillery after posting to South Vietnam, 1966; reasons he objected to western intervention in South Vietnam; types of employment he obtained in Australia after leaving Australian Army.
