Description
Object description
British officer cadet at Royal Military College Sandhurst, Camberley in GB, 1938-1939; officer served with 1st Bn Suffolk Regt in Raglan Barracks, Devonport in GB, 1939; served as messing officer with Regimental Depot, Suffolk Regiment at Gibraltar Barracks, Bury St Edmunds, GB, 1939-1940; served with 8th Bn Suffolk Regt in GB, 1/1941-1/1944; served with 1st Bn Suffolk Regt, 8th Infantry Bde, 3rd Infantry Div in GB and Normandy, France, 2/1944-6/1944; hospitalisation for wounds in GB, 1944-1945; served as staff officer with Headquarters, Kent District in GB, 1945-1946; served as staff officer with Headquarters, British Troops in the Sudan in Sudan, 1946-1947; served as officer with 1st Bn Suffolk Regt, 2nd Infantry Bde in Palestine and Greece, 1948; student at Staff College, Camberley in GB, 1948-1949; served as staff officer with War Office, London, GB, 1950-1951; served with 1st Bn Suffolk Regt in Federation of Malaya and Trieste, Italy, 1952-1954; served as staff officer with 161st Bde at Colchester in GB, 1954-1956; served with 1st Bn Suffolk Regt in Cyprus, 1956-1958; served as staff officer with War Office, London, GB, 1958-1960; served as movement officer for Royal Visit to Sierra Leone, 1960; served as staff officer with Chiefs of the General Staff at War Office, London, GB, 1961-1963; served as staff officer at Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE) in Fontainebleau, France, 1963-1967
Content description
REEL 1 Background in GB and India, 1920-1938: family; father's military career; memories of troopship journey from India to GB; move to Ipswich; attending military parades at Colchester; education at the Ipswich School; membership of Officer Cadet Corps including camps; membership of Scout Movement; taking Royal Military College Sandhurst entrance examination and selection interview, 1937. Aspects of period as cadet at Royal Military College, Sandhurst in GB, 1938-1939: terms.
REEL 2 Continues: responsibilities for cleaning equipment; daily routine; instruction in military history, law, command and driving; sporting activities; uniform worn during initial weeks of course; mess life; awareness of approaching war; activities during Munich Crisis, 9/1938; tactical exercises, 5/1939-6/1939; background to commissioning into Suffolk Regiment, 6/1939. Aspects of period as officer with 1st Bn Suffolk Regt at Raglan Barracks, Plymouth, GB, 1939: reception on arrival; opinion of training undertaken; training on Bren Gun.
REEL 3 Continues: opinion of Bren Gun and Boys Anti-Tank Rifle; opinion of unrealistic training; standard of fitness of reservists; relations with fellow officers; officers' mess and protocol; pay; mess games; mess bill; calling off of camp on Dartmoor due to weather; celebration of Minden Day, 1/8/1939; duties as runner to adjutant. Aspects of period as officer with Regimental Depot, Suffolk Regiment, Gibraltar Barracks, Bury St Edmunds in GB, 1939-1940: duties as messing officer; attitude to being detached from battalion; visits to Royal Air Force stations.
REEL 4 Continues: attending signals course at Catterick Camp. Recollections of period as officer with 8th Bn Suffolk Regt in GB, 1/1941-1/1944: posting to battalion, 1/1941; character of battalion; exercises; officers' mess; in civilian billets at Frinton-on-Sea; patrolling; move to Epping, summer 1941; duties as adjutant; orderly room organisation; security over drafts; relations with commanding officer; dealing with defaulters; attitude towards role as adjutant; role of unit as draft battalion.
REEL 5 Continues: exercises; influence of battle schools on training; move to Hill Hall, Epping; move to Nackton, summer 1942; joining Carrier Platoon; role of Universal Carriers; lack of battalion communications; exercise near Thetford; move to Beaconsfield; attending Ordnance QF 2 Pounder Anti-Tank Gun course; rejoining battalion at Spilsby; battalion's joining 48th Infantry Div and role as draft training battalion; attending Ordnance QF6 Pounder anti-tank course and training; composition of Headquarters Coy. Aspects of period as officer with 1st Bn Suffolk Regt, 8th Infantry Bde, 3rd Infantry Div in GB, 2/1944-6/1944: background to joining battalion in Scotland, 2/1944.
REEL 6 Continues: move to Nairn; state of battalion; opinion of Lieutenant-Colonel Colonel Dick Goodman; attending course at 3rd Division Battle School at Moffat; amphibious landing training; large scale amphibious landing exercise, 20/3/1944; question of suitability of training for Normandy landings; role of reinforcement company; clearing up airfield at Inverness; move to reinforcement camp at Aldershot, 4/1944; arrival of non-Suffolk Regt draft; marshalling Exercise Fabius on south coast; in reinforcement camp at Newhaven; character of Canadian Loan Programme (CANLOAN) officers; desertion of soldier prior to embarkation.
REEL 7 Continues: briefing; embarkation at Newhaven, 5/6/1944. Recollections of operations as officer with Reinforcement Coy, 1st Bn Suffolk Regt, 8th Infantry Bde, 3rd Infantry Div on Gold Beach, Normandy, France, D-Day, 6/6/1944: crossing English Channel; initial impressions of Queen White Sector; beach landing and advance inland; reception from French civilians; lack of fire during move inland; arrival with main battalion; encounters with French civilians; casualties from shelling of Headquarters, 9th Infantry Bde; lack of communication with main battalion; activities during D-Day; orders from brigadier to join battalion; finding battalion at Collville-sur-Mer and taking over A Coy.
REEL 8 Continues: composition of 'O' (Officer) group. Recollections of operations as officer with A Coy, 1st Bn Suffolk Regt, 8th Infantry Bde, 3rd Infantry Div in Normandy, France, 6/1944: night march; discovery of German equipment and supplies in farmyard; orders to attack French villages; issuing orders for attack to company officers; attitude towards participation in first action; move into assembly area at farm; nature of attack and taking up defensive positions on farm; ration situation; nature of the terrain around farm; taking up positions at Le Mesnil Wood.
REEL 9 Continues: duration of battalion stay in positions; degree of German artillery shelling; daily routine, 6/6/1944-7/6/1944; problems with supplies; arrival of single cook; wounding by artillery fire; evacuation to regimental aid post. Aspects of hospitalisation in Normandy, France and GB, 1944-1945: move to casualty clearing station; operation on wounds; evacuation by Douglas Dakota to GB; fellow patients; move to Chester Royal Infirmary; nature of wounds; leave; further medical treatment and medical regarding, 5/1945. Aspects of period as staff officer with Headquarters, Kent District in GB, 1945-1946: nature of staff duties; areas of responsibility; question of demobilisation and wish to stay in army.
REEL 10 Continues: Aspects of period as staff officer with Headquarters, British Troops in the Sudan in Sudan, 1946-1948: background to posting; voyage from GB to Egypt; move to Khartoum; duties; daily routine; question of not travelling enough; recreational and social activities; awareness of drinking problems; relations with Sudanese civilians; climate and effect on British personnel; dealing with military courts; presence of Danes doing National Service; Python leave; attending staff course. Aspects of operations as officer with 1st Bn Suffolk Regt, 2nd Infantry Bde in Palestine, 1948: posting to B Coy; battalion officers; character of camp in Jerusalem; road convoy from Haifa to Jerusalem; situation for battalion in Jerusalem.
REEL 11 Continues: move into and deployment of battalion in central Jerusalem; desertion of unit officer; provision of cover party for Governor General on his leaving mandate; move in convoy to Egypt. Aspects of period as officer with 1st Bn Suffolk Regt, 2nd Infantry Bde in Greece, 1948: move to Greece, 6/1948; character of murals in former German Army barracks; duties; training; secondment to Greek Staff College. Aspects of period as student at Staff College, Camberley in GB, 1948-1949: explanation of 'appreciations'; pattern of course; participation in battlefield tour to Normandy; instruction in military writing; cancellation of posting to Greece. Aspects of period as staff officer with War Office, London, GB, 1950-1951: role with SD 7 Department.
REEL 12 Continues: mobilisation planning role; question of meeting requirements for overseas operations. Recollections of operations as officer with 1st Bn Suffolk Regt in Federation of Malaya, 1952-1953: posting to battalion after attending Company Commanders Course at Warminster, GB; situation in Malaya on arrival; attending jungle training course at Kuala Kubu Bharu; taking command of D Coy; co-operation with Federation of Malaya Police Force in ambush of insurgents; outcome of ambush; arms used by insurgents; organisation of patrols.
REEL 13 Continues: operating in secondary and primary jungle; use of Iban trackers; ambush of company patrol; successful nature of patrolling; use of air reconnaissance; contents of Compo Rations; accommodation; daily routine as company commander; lack of insurgent attacks on company base at Kajang; success of battalion in Federation of Malaya; attitude to leaving Federation of Malaya, 20/1/1953; state of health of troops; return to Colchester, GB, 2/1953. Aspects of period as officer with 1st Bn Suffolk Regt, 24th Infantry Bde in Trieste, Free Territory of Trieste, 5/1953-8/1954: situation in Trieste; role in support of civil power during riots; evacuation of Trieste.
REEL 14 Continues: Aspects of period as brigade major with 161st Bde at Colchester in GB, 1954-1956: posting to brigade, 5/1954; role and duties. Aspects of operations as officer with 1st Bn Suffolk Regt in Cyprus, 1956-1958: background to posting of battalion to Cyprus, 8/1956; area of deployment; contrast between operating in Cyprus and Federation of Malaya; success of patrol in killing Markos Drakos, 18/1/1957; house searches; relations with civilians; ambush on unit convoy; relations with media; start of Green Line; opinion of Governor Generals Sir John Harding and Sir Hugh Foot; effects of ceasefire. Aspects of period as staff officer with War Office, London, GB, 1958-1960: duties; ordnance depot inspections; dealing with trade unions; inspection of Royal Army Service Corps depot in Portsmouth. Aspects of period as movement officer for Royal Visit to Sierra Leone, 1960: posting to Sierra Leone; command structure.
REEL 15 Continues: provision of aircraft for visit; reconnaissance and planning for visit. Aspects of period as staff officer with Chiefs of the General Staff at War Office in London, GB, 1961-1963: role and duties; question of age. Aspects of Period staff officer at Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE) in Fontainebleau, France, 1963-1967: posting to headquarters; international character of headquarters; manpower reduction duties at various headquarters; attitude towards end of military career; return to civilian life.