Description
Object description
British officer served with Headquarters, Royal Artillery, 6th Armoured Div, First Army in North Africa, 1942-1943; served as air liaison office with 321st Bombardment Group, Twelfth Air Force, United States Army Air Force on Corsica, France, 1944 and with No 244 Wing, Desert Air Force, RAF in Italy, 1944; served with Counter-Espionage Section, Military Intelligence, Headquarters, Allied Military Government in Caserta, Italy, 1945
Content description
REEL 1 Recollections of operations as officer with Headquarters, Royal Artillery, 6th Armoured Div, First Army in North Africa, 11/1942-5/1943: background to joining division; military items stolen by Liverpool dockers; voyage from GB to Algiers, French Algeria; disembarkation at Algiers, Algeria; accommodation in botanical gardens in Algiers, French Algeria; drive towards Tunis, Tunisia; loss of his bedroll; threat of German Air Force attacks; character of American units; deployment of division; actions around Medjez-el-Bab area, Tunisia; move southwards; direction of artillery fire onto German lines; interrogating German prisoners of war; behaviour of captured German medical orderly; opinion of German intelligence and security; contrast between British and German equipment.
REEL 2 Continues: behaviour of captured German and Allied personnel; watching advance through binoculars; use of Y Service intelligence to deceive Germans into attacking own lines; shooting down of Messerschmitt Me 126; effects of German night-time tank attack; armoured composition of division; nature of terrain; lack of Allied troops in northern Tunisia; inexperience of American troops; knocking out of first German Tiger Tank; strength of German defences and British artillery; loss of bedroll; move of division towards Kasserine Pass; weather conditions; night-time tank battle in gun lines; arrival of regiment of American heavy guns; withdrawal of Axis forces.
REEL 3 Continues: mine problem in Tunisia; sight of burnt out tanks and anti-tank positions at Kasserine Pass; move back northwards; reaction to re-equipping with M4 Sherman Tanks; use of American M3 Half-Track as command vehicle; German attack on Steamroller Farm; attempt to cut off Deutsches Afrika Korps line of retreat; German Air Force attacks during advance; behaviour of German prisoners of war; camping in Roman ruins; method of alerting gun line of presence of German aircraft; driving back German attack on plain; shelling of retreating Germans; shooting at low-level German aircraft; accidental bombing of unit by United States Army Air Force; attack on Tunis, Tunisia.
REEL 4 Continues: accidental firing on Allied column by Supermarine Spitfire; advance into Tunis and onto Hammamet on coast; mass surrender of German forces. Aspects of period as liaison officer with 321st Bombardment Group, Twelfth Air Force, United States Army Air Force on Corsica, France, 1944: background to becoming air liaison officer; loss of personal kit in Cairo, Egypt; attending air liaison course in Palestine, 2/1944; posting to unit in Corsica; character of unit and method of bombing; unit facilities; restrictions on air liaison officers flying; bombing operations prior to landings in south of France, 8/1944. Aspects of period as air liaison officer with No 244 Wing, Desert Air Force, RAF in Italy, 1944: posting to wing; nature of wing and operations; role of air liaison officers; problems with terrain.
REEL 5 Continues: incident of pilot who accidentally jettisoned his bombs on anti-aircraft gunners after problems with engine filters; loss of pilots due to faulty fuses on bombs. Recollections of period as officer with Counter-Espionage Section, Military Intelligence, Headquarters, Allied Military Government in Caserta, Italy, 1945: background to applying for role; counter-espionage work; opinion of German espionage efforts; defection of German recruited agents; methods employed by Germans to recruit Italian agents; technique of interrogating German agents; execution of German agents; running of double agents by Military Intelligence; German plan to attack Allied senior officers in Anzio bridgehead.
REEL 6 Continues: capture of female agent; incidents of German lack of intelligence on Allied documentation; German use of female agents; sea landing of saboteur teams; shooting of American sabotage team; opinion of German intelligence gathering operations in Italy; his role and duties; work in Austria from 5/1945; opinion of Soviets, summer 1945.
