Description
Object description
British schoolchild evacuee from Kingston upon Hull to Bridlington in GB, 1939-1940; schoolchild and bicycle messenger for Air Raid Precautions and Civil Defence Service n Kingston upon Hull, GB, 1941-1943; private served with No 188 Detail Issue Depot, Royal Army Service Corps in GB and North West Europe, 1944-1947
Content description
REEL 1 Background in Leven and Kingston upon Hull, GB, 1925-1939: family; education. Recollections of period as evacuee from Kingston upon Hull to Bridlington, GB, 9/1939-1/1940: evacuation arrangements for Park Street Technical College; evacuation to Bridlington, 1/9/1939; initial lodgings in café; character of lodgings with landlady Mrs Roebuck; fever scare amongst evacuees; sight of low flying Avro Anson; sea mine incidents, late 1939; winter conditions, 1/1940; conduct of education from 4/9/1939; return of school to Kingston upon Hull, 1/1940. Recollections of period as schoolchild and cycle messenger with Air Raid Precautions and Civil Defence Service in Kingston upon Hull, GB, 1/1940-10/1943: sight of German Air Force reconnaissance aircraft under anti-aircraft fire, 5/1940; interruptions to education by air raid warnings, 6/1940-7/1940; location of anti-aircraft sites in Kingston upon Hull area; first minor air raid on Kelvin Street, 6/1940; effect of bombing on his grandmother.
REEL 2 Continues: first heavy raid on city, 2/1941; nature of German Air Force raids, 3/1941 and 5/1941; public morale; incident when his uncle knocked out his hysterical daughter to prevent spread of panic; civilians who spent night in countryside during air raids; bombs in Newland Avenue area; incident when he calmed his mother down with 23rd Psalm; joining messenger service of Air Raid Precautions, 1941; sight of punctured barrage balloon which came down on house roofs; role of cycle messengers; attitude towards Germans; occasion when barrage balloons was hit by lightening; degree of respite in air raids after German invasion of Soviet Union, 6/1941; early morning German Air Force raids on city, 1943; reaction to British Broadcasting Corporation's reference to Kingston upon Hull as a 'North East Town'; reaction to potential conscription into coalmines. Aspects of enlistment and training as private with Green Howards (Alexandra Princess of Wales's Own Yorkshire Regiment) and Royal Army Service Corps in GB, 1943-1944: call-up for military service, 11/1943; basic training with Green Howards (Alexandra Princess of Wales's Own Yorkshire Regiment) Regimental Depot at Richmond Barracks, Richmond, 12/1943-1/1944; transfer to Royal Army Service Corps, 2/1944.
REEL 3 Continues: move to Chester; occasion when American officer treating him and his friends to cinema seats in Chester, early 1944; lectures from officers from Western Command at Backford Camp near Chester, 1944; hearing rumours of Pipe Line Under The Ocean (PLUTO); discipline at Barry Island; how he helped his comrade avoid drafting to regimental police; question of wearing and removal of insignia. Recollections of period as private with No 188 Detail Issue Depot, Royal Army Service Corps in GB, 1944: posting to unit; uniform and equipment issued for overseas service; nomination as Bren Gun operator; introduction to Projector Infantry Anti-Tank (PIAT); story of false alarm over possible 'Werewolf' attack in Cologne, Germany, 5/1946; role providing security for 2nd Infantry Div, United States Army in Newport area, 5/1944-6/1944; enjoyment of American rations; American troops' reaction to sight of British short bayonet; example of American generosity.
REEL 4 Continues: sight of Sherman Duplex Drive Amphibious Tanks leaving from Barry, 6/1944; sight of air armada returning from operations over France at Barry, D-Day, 6/6/1944; receiving news of D-Day; story of casualties from No 186 Detail Issue Depot, Royal Army Service Corps on D-Day, 6/6/1944; move to Southend-on-Sea, 6/1944; swimming instruction; sight of first V1 at Southend-on-Sea, 6/1944; in embarkation camp at Wanstead Flats; evening in public house in Bow, London, 7/1944; embarking aboard SS Sammont; organisation of convoys, across English Channel. Aspects of period as private with No 188 Detail Issue Depot, Royal Army Service Corps in Normandy, France, 7/1944-8/1944: crossing English Channel aboard SS Sammont; attempt to disembark in Mulberry Harbour in rough weather; method of disembarking from SS Sammont into landing craft.
REEL 5 Continues: reasons for joining front of queue to climb down rope ladder; impressions on disembarkation onto Mulberry Harbour; in camp at Ryes; accommodation in tented camp; supply of rations; attachment to headquarters company; accommodation in haunted Bishop's palace in Bayeux; incident of mistaking dispatch rider for German at Bayeux; role escorting German prisoners of war. Recollections of period as private with No 188 Detail Issue Depot, Royal Army Service Corps in North West Europe, 8/1944-5/1945: leave in Paris, France; move into Belgium; meeting with brother in Brussels, Belgium; sorting out German sacks for airborne operation, 9/1944; billeting with family in village near Antwerp, Belgium, early 1945; gratitude of Belgian civilians towards British Army; reaction to nightly German V1 Flying Bomb attacks; narrow escape from V weapons attacks in Antwerp, Belgium; orders to move into Germany, 1945.
REEL 6 Continues: impression he made on young Belgian boy with his arms and ammunition; amusing sight of washing on crossing Siegfried Line, 1945; route taken to Ibbenbüren. Aspects of period as private with 188 Detail Issue Depot, Royal Army Service Corps in Germany, 1945-1947: behaviour of former Soviet prisoners of war; role guarding cart of meat issued to former Soviet prisoners of war; attitude of Soviet officer at camp in Bocholt; attitude of former Soviet prisoners of war at Bocholt; story illustrating attitude towards Provost Corps and Corps of Military Police; attitude of Germans to occupying British forces; ignoring non-fraternisation order; preference of Germans for British rather than American troops; German interpreter who had served in French Foreign Legion.