Giles, Kenneth (Oral history)

British NCO served with 107 Bty, <South Notts Hussars> 7th Medium Regt, Royal Artillery in North Africa, Sicily and GB, 1942-1944; served with 425 Bty, 426 Bty and Headquarters, 107th Medium Regt, <SNH> RA in GB and North West Europe, 1944-1946; attended American University at Biarritz, France; served with various RA units in Germany, 1946

REEL 1 Background in Great Yarmouth area, 1915-1936: father's death, 1917; education; visits to aunt in Paris, France; rheumatic fever and effect on mathematical progress; musical education and doubts over possibility of career as concert pianist; interest in linguistics; private music education, 1928-1931; work as opticians apprentice, 1933-1936; ending musical education; hobbies; mother's death, 1933; marriage, 1936. Period in London, ca 1936-1941: work at various opticians; question of approach of war; signs of wife's long-term heart problems; reaction to outbreak of war, 3/9/1939; feelings of conscientious objection to war. REEL 2 Continues: delayed conscription due to optician examinations, 1941; duties as fire watcher in Stockwell area including effects of direct bomb hit on neighbour's house and role in alerting ARP warden; effects of landmine dropped near Brixton opticians; blackout precautions; delays and air attacks on rail services between Brixton and Bromley; personal morale and erosion of conscientious objection to war; fear of being maimed during war service, 1941-1945; lack of impact of food rationing as man; question of fatigue; successful application to tribunal to delay conscription to pass optician's examination, 6/1941. Conscription, 6/1941: medical; initial posting to searchlight unit. REEL 3 Continues: cancellation of initial posting. Period at School of Artillery, Larkhill, 6/1941-1/1942: reactions; mathematical training; selecting pure survey specialisation; lectures; practical map reading, orienteering and theodolite exercises; drill and rifle training; guard duty and preparing kit for inspection; relationship with ORs and example of Welsh nationalism; activities playing piano in canteen and with dance orchestra; ability to give improvised classical recitals. REEL 4 Continues: passing trade test as 3rd Class surveyor; news of disappearance of aunt in Paris. Period with holding unit at Watford, 1/1942-2/1942. Attending course in use of Tetley Fan system of interpretation of aerial photography at RAF Boscombe Down, ca 12/1941. Journey aboard HMT Volandam to Port Tewfik, Egypt, 2/1942-4/1942: seasickness; submarine warnings; awareness of apartheid during visit ashore at Durban, South Africa. Period re-classified as gunner at Royal Artillery Base Depot, Almaza, ca 4/1942-7/1942: first impressions of Egypt during journey from Port Tewfik; reaction to change in status; use of term 'bluey' for Western Desert; dysentery caused by overnight temperature changes. REEL 5 Continues: ignorance of gunnery; fatigues; reactions to change in status; relationship with NCOs; system of artillery ranks; period acting as guard at Military Detention Centre, Citadel Barracks, Cairo, including reason for volunteering, 24 hour shifts, prisoners' punishment fatigues, relationship with prisoners and recreational visits around Cairo. Initial period on posting as gunner to A Troop, 107 Bty, <South Notts Hussars> 7th Medium Regt, RA at RABD, Almaza, ca 7/1942: 5.5in guns; state of unit; accident whilst acting as rammer during gun drill with Sergeant David Tickle; posting as specialist gun position officer's assistant; training as specialist gunner including method of using director to place guns on zero lines. REEL 6 Continues: training as specialist gunner including method of using director to place guns on zero lines, daily checks of zero lines, method of using artillery board to work out range and angle of fire from guns to nominated target, corrections made from RAF meteorological telegrams, corrections made to get all divisional guns on common zero line in accordance with divisional calculations, tannoy system and duties as command post officer's assistant; opinion of various NCOs and officers. Move via Mena Camp to El Alamein area, 7/1942. Recollection of conditions of service and lifestyle during period in coastal positions at El Alamein, 7/1942-10/1942: personal morale; digging gun position command post; chameleon pet; preparation of counter battery firing co-ordinates lists; command post personnel and equipment. REEL 7 Continues: question of mathematical aids; sleeping on ground and problem with spider crabs when sleeping in slit trench; reaction to sleeping near German grave; use of megaphone when tannoy broke down; initial inexperience of unit; attending specialist gunner course at RABD, Almaza; posting as battery command post officer's assistant; opinion of various officers including Captain Norris and Major Lewis-Jones; sandstorm during reconnaissance patrol with Lieutenant Dobson into Quattara Depression area; food and water rations; sea bathing and informal truce with bathing German troops; washing clothes in petrol; latrines; fly problem; desert sores; uniform worn; effects of heat; command post duties; development of 'stonk' technique of concentrated fire. REEL 8 Continues: air burst ranging technique; visit to 'Nuts' observation post; fly whisks; use of compass to get approximate zero line when firing from forward positions; reconnaissance patrol into Quattara Depression area; method of covering windscreens to prevent them flashing; German shell fire; Gunner Smith; return to A Troop gun position command post duties. Recollections of offensive at El Alamein and subsequent advance through Libya and Tunisia, 10/1942-4/1943: opening bombardment, 22/10/1942; state of German POWs; role at command post in receiving fire orders from OP; preparation of gun programme; question of fatigue; relationship with ORs, NCOs and officers; territorial nature of unit and wearing SNH cap badge. REEL 9 Continues: reaction to crossing battlefield, 5/11/1942; effects of rain; advance, 11/1942; question of travel sickness; story of getting lost in desert and walking into minefield; attack of jaundice and special diet on evacuation to hospital at El Kantara, 11/1942-12/1942; periods in convalescent camps in Palestine, 12/1942; period at RABD, Almaza; return by sea to Benghazi; rejoining unit near Tripoli, ca 2/1943; promotion to lance bombardier on posting as OP specialist assistant with Captain Ivor Birkin, B Troop, 107 Bty, 7th Medium Regt; duties as orderly lance bombardier. REEL 10 Continues: mounting guard parade as orderly lance bombardier in front of Churchill and Montgomery; relationship with ORs; role as OP officer's assistant including composition of OP party, setting up OP, method of identifying co-ordinates of target, moral attitude to war and sending fire orders and corrections to gun position; mobile role of medium artillery; role of OP team when at gun positions; story of isolation on troop traffic control duty illustrating unfamiliarity with regimental truck insignia whilst moving into positions near Medenine, ca 5/3/1943; reconnaissance patrol ahead of B Troop to discover route round German positions at Mareth through Matmata Mountains to Gabes, ca 25/3/1943-27/3/1943; German 88mm shelling at Wadi Akarit, ca 6/4/1943. REEL 11 Continues: reaction to arrival of Major James Martin; opinion of Captain Ivor Birkin and question of sharing duties with him as his assistant at OP; OP signals communications; care needed in using binoculars; care taken in accurately transmitting fire orders back to gun position; relationship with Birkin; acting as interpreter in French with Tunisian civilians; opinion of German troops. Recollections of period at Cheriba, 4/1943-6/1943: Birkin's driving; camp; role as troop clerk; account of writing, construction of stage, producing and performing play, 'Death in Daventry Square'; giving educational lectures. REEL 12 Continues: giving educational lectures; question of playing piano; using pre-war experiences as basis for lectures including childhood pranks in France and membership of expedition up Amazon, ca 1936; problem with Arab civilians stealing from camp, negotiating with Arab chief over punishment of those caught and searching Arab houses for stolen goods; question of anonymous letter about unit's treatment of Arabs and chairing subsequent troop debate; attitude to racism; story of meeting homesick US soldier during visit to Sfax; drinking habits; opinion of SNH band. REEL 13 Continues: story of wearing Birkin's uniform to organise dance with Tunisian civilians in Sfax; background to membership of expedition up Amazon, ca 1936; question of writing good conduct reference for local Arab chief. Move to Sousse, 6/1943; varied troops in transit camp; skill of drivers in loading guns on to tank landing craft; crossing to Malta. Recollections of period at Malta, 6/1943-7/1943: waterproofing equipment; swimming practice; playing piano in cafes; concealing sun burn; loading of tank landing craft. Recollections of operations in Sicily, Italy, 7/1943-8/1943: landing; posting as GPO assistant; story of getting drunk whilst visiting gun teams. REEL 14 Continues: nature of terrain; duties as GPO assistant; story of breaking down and directing traffic in dusty area; anti-malaria precautions and problem with mosquitoes; reaction to sight of dead civilians at Chentaripa; traffic problems approaching Messina. Recollections of period at Pesterino, 8/1943-10/1943: gun positions; lecture in triangulation using director; damage to buildings whilst firing in support of landing in Italy, 3/9/1943. REEL 15 Continues: story of accidentally firing guns on wrong bearing; playing church organ; relationship with Sergeant Albert Swinton; billets and rest room; playing piano at band concerts; writing farce; composition and performance of piano piece for B Troop, 'Island Rhapsody'; period of local leave in Palermo with Harold Harper including unusual beef steaks, dispute with US officer and impromptu piano recital with Italian opera singer; story of buying fake gin for officers; drinking marsala wine. REEL 16 Continues: story of compulsory shooting of Gunner Paddy Swift's dog due to imminent embarkation for GB, his reaction and subsequent desertion on leave in GB; production and editing with Gunner Winters of B Troop newsletter, 'The Acorn'; initiation into motor transport, 'Black Gang'; examples of contents of 'The Acorn'; reasons for rejecting opportunities of becoming officer or brigade surveyor; send off. Period at Forest of Ferdinand, Algeria, 11/1942: wet conditions; tents; relationship with Colonel Stansfield and his St Crispin's Day speech prior to Battle of Mareth, 1943. REEL 17 Continues: mobile bath unit. Voyage aboard Franconia to Liverpool, 12/1943: story of earlier close escape from drowning in Sicily; changing currency to sterling; train journey to Felixstowe. Recollections of period at Felixstowe, 12/1943-3/1944: billets; reception from son during leave period at Stockwell, 12/1943-1/1944; calibration of 5.5" guns at Hunstanton range; recreations and piano recital; question of proposals to reform 107th Regt. Period with B Troop, 425 Bty, 107th Regt, <South Notts Hussars> Medium Regt, RA at Brighton, 3/1944-4/1944: relationship with personnel from 16th Medium Regt, RA. REEL 18 Continues: living in lodgings with family; setting guns out during training exercises. Period at Baildon, 4/1944-6/1944: question of breaking secrecy concerning movements by moving family into lodgings; success in securing exact accuracy in accordance with divisional survey readings during training exercises on Ilkley Moor; parade in Nottingham and pride in unit; relationships with various officers, NCOs and ORs; duties as troop clerk. Period at Dudsbury Camp, 6/1944-7/1944: church service; personal morale. Period at Tilbury Docks, London, 7/1944. REEL 19 Aspects of operations in North West Europe, 7/1944-5/1945: Channel crossing and landing; reactions of French civilians; story illustrating differing reactions to German shelling of Demouville gun positions, 7/1944; accidental bombing of positions by Allied aircraft and intervention of OP aircraft at Quesnay Woods, 14/8/1944; situation, frequent movements and working out counter-battery lists; state of Caen on capture, 7/1944; composition rations; capture and escape of Colonel Marshall St John Oswald; decision not to visit Paris. REEL 20 Continues: move into Pas de Calais area, 9/1944; relationship with French civilians; rumours of Fifth Columnists; eating roast pig; daily routine duties as gun position officer's assistant; opinion of Captain Bob Foulds; move into Belgium, 10/1944; relationship with Belgian civilians; effects of wet and cold weather; crossing Leopold Canal; move to South Beveland area; wet and cold conditions; move to Eclue area; playing piano in restaurant during visits to Ghent; visits to Brussels. REEL 21 Continues: casualty from premature misfire; move into Netherlands, 11/1944; wet and cold conditions; reports of two gunners blown up in minefield in Maasbury sector; fear of anti-personnel mines when setting up director to put guns on zero line; V1 bombs; shelling from railway gun on swimming pool positions at Sittard, 12/1944; attack of Reynaud's circulatory disease due to cold weather; temporary light duties at 425 Bty office; Christmas celebrations, 25/12/1944; difficulty digging gunpits; attack of Reynaud's circulatory disease after snowball fight and medical checks at Brussels Hospital. REEL 22 Continues: medical checks at Brussels Hospital; reports of accidental bombing by Allied aircraft at Gennep, 6/2/1945; improving weather; view of crossing of Rhine; advance into Germany, 3/1945; question of non-fraternisation rule; finding German band instruments; convent billets; cancelling fire orders which would have shelled US occupied area, 5/1945. Recollections of period at Gescher and in Cosfeldt sector, 5/1945-1/1946: billets; reactions to news of end of war, 5/1945; promotion to lance sergeant and duties in 425 Bty office; leave with family living in Baildon, GB. REEL 23 Continues: duties in 425 Bty office; disposal of waste food; organising and typical acts at joint concert parties at Russian and Polish POW camp; question of escaped Russian POWs; piano rehearsals in local hall; relationship with German civilians; shooting game to supplement food rations; comedy concert party acts of Gunners Holt and Rabbits. REEL 24 Continues: dances; treatment of Sergeant David Tickle's fibrositis; rest centre at Winterswjk; leave rotas; sporting activities; examples of role as 'The Nark' writing gossip column for regimental magazine 'The Oak Leaves'; story of accident with Sergeant Major Albert Swinton's jeep; sergeants' mess including drinking habits and visits to and from officers' mess; question of post-war career; reaction to disbandment of unit; application to take Chinese interpreter's course. REEL 25 Continues: application to be guest student at American University at Biarritz, France; Christmas celebrations, 25/12/1945. Recollections of attending American University, Biarritz, ca 1/1946-3/1946: meeting fellow British students during period at transit camp in Paris during journey to Biarritz; search for French aunt; accommodation at Hotel du Palais; blackmarket activities; review of musical theory courses and lecturers. REEL 26 Continues: daily routine; US attitude to rank; piano recital in hotel; plays and films; orchestration exercise; recreations; relationship with Americans and various nationalities of students; journey to Krefeld Barracks, Germany and news of disbandment of unit. Posting to artillery units in Rhede area, ca 4/1946: journey; role in charge of battery office; supervising troops' conduct at night club; German servant in sergeants' mess; role dealing with documentation of SNH demobilisation. Posting to 2/11 Medium Bty, RA at Bockum, ca 4/1946-6/1946: responsibility for displaced persons' camps; stories of searching huts in DPC. REEL 27 Continues: stories of searching huts in DPC; question of treatment of inmates of DPCs; playing at dances; question of Giles' accent; demobilisation party and subsequent hangover. Journey back and demobilisation at York, GB, 6/1946. Post-war career, 1946-1986: return to Baildon; application for teaching training course; question of effects of war; return to work as optician in Streatham, London, 1946; difficulty in finding accommodation; effects of introduction of National Health Service, 1947; move to optician's practice in Littlehampton, 1950. REEL 28 Continues: question of effect of war service on relationship with son; wife's declining health and death, 1954; return to work at opticians in Great Yarmouth, 1955; remarriage, 1956; reasons for abandoning music, 1956; return to work at opticians at Littlehampton, 1956; regaining interest in music, 1986; contacts with SNH Association. REEL 29 Explanation of musical structure of own composition, 'Island Rhapsody'. Giles performing 'Island Rhapsody' on piano. Sings and plays main refrain from own composition, 'Lady in Blue' on piano. Giles performing 'Lady in Blue' on piano.