Description
Object description
British gunner served as gunner/driver with A Troop, 155th Bty, 52nd Light Anti-Aircraft Regt, Royal Artillery, 1st Anti-Aircraft Bde, I Corps in France and Belgium, 3/1940-5/1940; served with A Troop, 155th Bty, 52nd Light Anti-Aircraft Regt, Royal Artillery, 4th Anti-Aircraft Bde in North Africa, 9/1940-2/1941; served with A Troop, 155th Bty, 52nd Light Anti-Aircraft Regt, Royal Artillery, British Expeditionary Force to Greece in Greece, 3/1941-4/1941; prisoner of war in Dulag 183, Salonika, Greece and Stalag XVIII-A, Wolfsberg, Austria, 6/1941-5/1945
Content description
REEL 1 Background in Willesden, GB, 1918-1939: family; education; various types of employment; degree of awareness of coming war. Aspects of enlistment and training with Royal Artillery in GB, 11/1939-12/1939: call-up to Royal Artillery at Arborfield, 11/1939; accommodation during basic training; drill and degree of physical fitness; arms training; behaviour of NCO instructors. Aspects of period as gunner with A Troop, 155th Bty, 52nd Light Anti-Aircraft Regt, Royal Artillery in GB, 1/1940-3/1940: joining troop after basic training; composition of Bofors Gun crew and their duties; attending driving course; method of towing Bofors Gun.
REEL 2 Continues: deploying Bofors Gun; training to fire Bofors Gun. Recollections of operations as gunner/driver with A Troop, 155th Bty, 52nd Light Anti-Aircraft Regt, Royal Artillery, 1st Anti-Aircraft Bde, I Corps in France and Belgium, 3/1940-5/1940: move to France, 3/1940; daily and maintenance routine; socialising with unit; degree of contact with French civilians; start of German offensive, 10/5/1940; move into Belgium, 10/5/1940; reaction to first action against German Junkers Ju 87 Stukas; withdrawal in vehicles; firing on German Dornier Do 17; orders to make way to Dunkirk, France.
REEL 3 Continues: destruction of vehicles and Bofors Guns; personal morale; march towards Dunkirk, France; situation on beach; evacuation by HMS Scimitar, 5/1940; arrival in Dover, GB, 5/1940. Aspects of period as gunner with A Troop, 155th Bty, 52nd Light Anti-Aircraft Regt, Royal Artillery in GB, 6/1940-8/1940: reorganisation of unit on return to GB; move to Bagshot area; unit casualty during Dunkirk Evacuation. Aspects of operations as gunner/driver with A Troop, 155th Bty, 52nd Light Anti-Aircraft Regt, Royal Artillery, 4th Anti-Aircraft Bde in North Africa, 9/1940-2/1941: voyage from GB to Egypt, 9/1940; move to Mena, Egypt; impressions of Egypt and Egyptians; start of advance in Western Desert, 30/11/1940; shooting down of Italian aircraft; Italian Air Force use of Canister Bombs; daily routine during advance; description of column; low-level German Air Force attacks, 2/1941; driving in desert; contrast between Ford and Guy trucks used.
REEL 4 Continues: Aspects of operations as gunner/driver with A Troop, 155th Bty, 52nd Light Anti-Aircraft Regt, Royal Artillery, British Expeditionary Force to Greece in Greece, 3/1941-4/1941: move to Greece, 3/1941; impressions of Greece; retreat southwards to Larissa; German Air Force hedge hopping tactics; handling German prisoners of war; withdrawal to Corinth Canal, 4/1941; German airborne attack on Corinth Canal, 25/4/1941; capture by German forces, 25/4/1941. Aspects of period as prisoner of war in Dulag 183, Salonika, Greece, 6/1941-7/1941: march to Thebes; removal to Dulag 183, Salonika; treatment by Germans; outbreak of dysentery in camp. Recollections of period as prisoner of war in Stalag XVIII-A, Wolfsberg, Austria, 7/1941-5/1945: layout of camp; delousing; rations; Red Cross parcels.
REEL 5 Continues: employment with Arbeitskommando working party during construction of dam; presence of Yugoslav and Soviet prisoners of war; treatment; character of rations issued; weekly routine; recreational activities including football and boxing; organisation of camp; story illustrating camp discipline; sabotaging work at dam; singing in evening; relations between prisoners in hut; work on dam, 1941-1943.
REEL 6 Continues: move to Arbeitskommando work camp in mountains; railway work; recreational activities; relations with Austrians; rations; sight of German pet talk; United States Army Air Force attack on railway; change in attitude of guards as war progressed; reaction to Germans leaving camp, 5/1945. Aspects of liberation and return to GB, 1945-1946: move to Linz, Austria; physical state; reception in GB and subsequent leave; duties during remaining army service; in rehabilitation camp at Seahouses, GB; demobilisation, 3/1946; effects of captivity and return to civilian life.