Green, Gilbert Charles (Oral history)

British sapper served with 35th Searchlight Bn, Royal Engineers, 27th (Home Counties) Anti-Aircraft Bde, 1st Anti-Aircraft Div in GB, 1938-1939; gunner served with 35th (1st Surrey Rifles) Searchlight Regt, Royal Artillery, 35th Searchlight Regt, Royal Artillery, 27th (Home Counties), Anti-Aircraft Bde, 5th Anti-Aircraft Div in GB, 1940-1941; officer served with 46th Light Anti-Aircraft Regt, Royal Artillery in GB and Middle East, 4/1942-11/1944; served with 2nd Bn Somerset Light Infantry, 28th Infantry Bde, 4th Infantry Div in Greece, 1945; served as staff officer with Headquarters, 4th Infantry Div in Greece, 1945-1946

REEL 1 Background in Dulwich, London, GB, 1918-1938: family; education. Aspects of period as sapper with 35th Searchlight Bn, Royal Engineers, 27th (Home Counties), Anti-Aircraft Bde, 1st Anti-Aircraft Div in GB, 1938-1939: reasons for joining Territorial Army, 1938; generation of electricity on searchlight sites; problems with strength of searchlights; question of co-ordination of anti-aircraft batteries and searchlights; use of sound locators; opinion of training received; mobilisation of unit during Munich Crisis, 9/1938; mobilisation, 8/1939; deployment of unit to Staines, 9/1939; use of Lewis Gun for defence at Staines. Recollections of operations as sapper with 35th (1st Surrey Rifles) Searchlight Regt, Royal Artillery, 27th (Home Counties), Anti-Aircraft Bde, 5th Anti-Aircraft Div in GB, 1940-1941: move to Nettlebed; escorting prisoner accused of being Absence Without Official Leave (AWOL) from Chelsea Barracks, London, 1940. REEL 2 Continues: catching German Heinkel He III in searchlights near Nettlebed, 1940; German Air Force use of Eastbourne as a turning point, 1940; ability to recognise different aircraft by their sound; Royal Air Force use of daily Very Light codes; German Air Force tactics to bomb airfields at night; move to Knebworth Park, 8/1940; condition of American lend lease rifle ammunition and use of lead pipes to substitute rifles, autumn 1940; treatment for broken leg, 1940; return to unit near Ruislip, winter 1940-1941; formation of 'flying squad' in Ruislip area; incident of mistaking Vickers Wellington crew for German paratroopers; commissioning into Royal Artillery after officer training, 4/1942. Recollections of operations as officer with 46th Light Anti-Aircraft Regt, Royal Artillery, 5th Anti-Aircraft Div in GB, 4/1942-1/1943: joining regiment, 4/1942. REEL 3 Continues: role defending air space along Hampshire/Dorsetshire coast; orders to RAF aircraft returning to south coast not to fly below five hundred feet; defence of Poole Harbour, 1942-1943; German Air Force raid on Poole Harbour, summer 1942; move to Gourock, 2/1943. Aspects of voyages from GB to Egypt via South Africa and India, 2/1943-3/1943: voyage aboard SS California from Gourock, GB to Cape Town, South Africa including stormy weather; activities ashore in Cape Town, South Africa; convoy crossing to Bombay, India; sight of USS West Point at Bombay India, 3/1943. REEL 4 Continues: voyage aboard SS Salween from Bombay, India to Suez, Egypt, 3/1943. Aspects of period as officer with 46th Light Anti-Aircraft Regt in Middle East, 3/1943-11/1944; defence duties at Ras Gharib Oilfield in Egypt; move to French Syria and Palestine, 1943; use in infantry role to protect oil installations near Haifa, Palestine, 1943; discovery of Ordnance QF 25 Pounder Gun buried in Arab village in Palestine; move into tented accommodation at Tel-el-Kebir Camp, Egypt, 5/1943; thefts of equipment by Egyptians from Tel-el-Kebir Camp, Egypt; boot polish swindle ran by Egyptians in Cairo, Egypt; reasons for move to Homs, French Syria; theft of artillery piece during transit in Palestine, 1943; decision to convert anti-aircraft units to infantry, 1944. REEL 5 Continues: infantry training in Egypt, 1944; instruction in German ground spike anti-personnel laid by Germans; move to Naples, Italy, 12/1944. Aspects of operations as officer with 2nd Bn Somerset Light Infantry, 28th Infantry Bde, 4th Infantry Div in Greece, 1945: posting to unit, 1/1945; reasons for delaying British Army Christmas celebrations in Athens until 1/1945. Aspects of period as staff officer with Headquarters, 4th Infantry Div in Greece, 1945-1946: posting to headquarters; work re-establishing civilian infrastructure including organisation of bus services; work at staging post at Limia; attitude of Greek civilians to presence of British forces, 1945-1946; his work with United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration (UNRRA) team in Greece.