Reddaway, George Frank Norman (Oral history)

British officer served with No 3 British Military and Air Mission (Phantom) in France, Belgium and GB, 1/1940-6/1940 including sinking of SS Abukir in English Channel, 28/5/1940; served with No 1 GHQ Reconnaissance Unit and GHQ Liaison Regt (Phantom) in GB, 6/1940-1/1943; served with K Sqdn, GHQ Liaison Regt (Phantom) in Tunisia and Italy, 2/1943-11/1943; served with British Military Government in Germany, 1945-1946; civilian servant with Department of Information and Research, Foreign Office, London, GB, 1947-1977

REEL 1 Reaction to declaration of Second World War, 9/1939. Recollections of operations as officer No 3 British Military and Air Mission (Phantom) in France and Belgium, 1/1940-5/1940: background to being asked to join unit, 1/1940; role of unit; character of training at Valenciennes, France; insignia worn; move into Belgium with headquarters party, 10/5/1940; reception received by Belgian civilians; nervousness about presence of Fifth Column, 5/1940; observing demolition work in Antwerp, Belgium, 22/5/1940; presence of Belgian refugees on roads and German Air Force attacks; work of mission in Belgium and its expansion on return to GB; degree of chaos/order in Belgium, 5/1940; embarkation aboard SS Abukir at Ostend, Belgium, 27/5/1940; torpedoing by German E-boat S-24 and sinking of SS Abukir in North Sea, 28/5/1940; period in sea and rescue by Royal Navy destroyers. REEL 2 Continues: debriefing by Royal Air Force on return to GB, 6/1940. Aspects of period as officer with No 1 GHQ Reconnaissance Unit and GHQ Liaison Regt (Phantom) in GB, 6/1940-1/1943: reorganisation of unit at Lechlade-on-Thames, 1940; move to headquarters at Richmond; renaming of unit, 1/1941; unit personnel; development of one-time cipher pads; German Air Force attacks on Richmond; public morale during German bombing; sense of social solidarity during Second World War. Aspects of operations as officer with K Sqdn, GHQ Liaison Regt (Phantom) in Tunisia and Italy, 2/1943-11/1943: move to Tunisia, 2/1943; loss of former commanding officer Major-General George Hopkinson at Castellaneta, Italy, 12/9/1943; pattern of operations in Italy, 9/1943-11/1943; reasons for return of unit to GB, 11/1943; role later played by unit in the campaign in North West Europe. Aspects of period as officer with British Military Government in Germany, 1945-1946: background to application to join military administration, 2/1945; period in Westphalia. REEL 3 Continues: amusing story of application from civic dignitaries in Hanover petitioning to become part of GB, 5/1945; division of Berlin between four occupying powers; change in relations between western occupying powers and Soviets in Berlin; denazification programme; loss of German professionals to United States of America; leaving Germany, 1946. Aspects of period as civilian servant with Information and Research Department, Foreign Office in London, GB, 1947-1977: initial duties as Private Secretary to Lord Pakenham, 1946-1947; setting up Information and Research Department after experience with United Nations, 1947; call for department to 'do something about President Gamal Abdel Nasser of Egypt' during 1956; demise of department, 1977; role of department during Hungary Uprising, 10/1956-11/1956; role of department during Indonesian Confrontation in Borneo, Malaysia, 1962-1966; question of failure to exploit Foreign Office research facilities over Falklands Crisis, 1982. REEL 4 Continues: question of failure to exploit Foreign Office research facilities over Falklands Crisis, 1982