Description
Object description
British officer served with 2nd Field Regt, Royal Artillery, 1st Infantry Div in GB, Tunisia, Italy and Palestine, 1941-1946
Content description
REEL 1 Background in Wigan and at University of Oxford, GB, 1919-1940: family; education; background to call-up for military service, 1940; reaction to declaration of Second World War, 3/9/1939. Aspects of period as officer with 2nd Field Regt, Royal Artillery, 1st Infantry Div in GB, 3/1941-2/1943: joining unit, 3/1941; coastal defence duties; memories of German Air Force Baedeker Raid in Norwich, 30/4/1942; duties. Aspects of voyage from GB to French Algeria, 2/1943-3/1943: embarkation; reasons for calling off of attack on Tangier, French Morocco; false alarm caused by officer training on Morse Code; damage to ship on landing at Algiers, French Algeria; move to Bône, French Algeria; reasons for delay in disembarking equipment at Bône, French Algeria. Recollections of operations as officer with 2nd Field Regt, Royal Artillery 1st Infantry Div in Tunisia, 3/1943-5/1943: German Air Force superiority, 3/1943; first action supporting French troops at Bouarada.
REEL 2 Continues: failure of French Foreign Legion to inform his unit about their movements; liasing with French infantry including lending of automatic weapons; attempt to use Fondouk Gap to cut off Deutsches Afrika Korps at Kairouan; advance to Pichon in Fondouk Gap by 6th Armoured Div through minefield to Kairouan; opinion of American performance in Tunisia; move northwards to Medjez el Bab; taking up positions in Grenadier Hill-Banana Ridge area, 4/1943; start of 1st Parachute Division Hermann Göring attack at Medjez-el-Bab; demands on unit resources during action in Medjez-el-Bab area; break up of German attack by artillery fire at Medjez-el-Bab; plan to attack from Medjez-el-Bab to Tunis.
REEL 3 Continues: in action at Gab Gab Gap area, 5/1943 including accidental shooting down of Supermarine Spitfire; heavy artillery barrage prior to breakthrough to Tunis; artillery barrage at Peter's Corner; passing through Gab Gab Gap; massive surrender of German forces on fall of Tunis, 5/1943. Recollections of operations as officer with 2nd Field Regt, Royal Artillery, 1st Infantry Div on Pantelleria Island, Italy, 11/6/1943: reasons for naming operation Operation Corkscrew; use of Landing Craft Infantry (LCI); nature of attack and landing on Pantelleria Island; setting up first gun position and capture of Italian prisoners of war; his capture of company of Italian Army machine gunners; question of effectiveness of air power; return to Tunisia and loss of vehicular transport to 51st (Highland) Infantry Div. Recollections of operations as officer with 2nd Field Regt, Royal Artillery 1st Infantry Div at Anzio, Italy, 1/1944-5/1944: strategy for Anzio landings, 1/1944; transferring from Landing Ship Tank (LST) to Landing Craft Tank (LCT) during landings, 22/1/1944.
REEL 4 Continues: ease of landing, 22/1/1944; effects of caution of American Major-General John P Lucas and German's rapid response; 3rd Infantry Bde attack towards Campoleone; wiping out of American 6615th Ranger Force at Cisterna; taking over F Troop; his role as Forward Observation Officer (FOO) attached to 2nd Bn Sherwood Foresters during attack on Campoleone Station; wounding in right arm, 28/1/1944; evacuation of wounded and shelling by British artillery; heavy casualties amongst 2nd Bn Sherwood Foresters; evacuation from beachhead for medical treatment; question of need for armoured support during attack on Campoleone Station; professionalism of Germans at Anzio; convalescence in Italy and return to Anzio beachhead, 3/1944; change in Anzio beachhead, 3/1944; role as troop commander of C Troop; character of beachhead; German artillery fire at Anzio.
REEL 5 Continues: German use of Krupp K 5 Railway Gun; Allied anti-aircraft barrage over port; pairing off with German artillery batteries; German use of SD 2 Butterfly Bomb; overhead covering of slit trenches; similarity of fighting at Anzio to First World War trench warfare; problems of supplying troops; condition of roads in bridgehead; losses of guns; location of observation posts; how 2/7th (Machine Gun) Bn Middlesex Regt's firing of Vickers Machine Gun attracted German artillery fire; evening and night time activities in bridgehead; German propaganda and lack of effect on Allied morale; destruction of German position with American M10 Tank Destroyer; shelling of German headquarters prior to breakout; conditions in The Factory after capture; amusing incident of commanding officer under artillery fire; effects of General Mark Clark's wish to capture Rome; normality of life behind former German front line at Anzio; discovery of German slogan; under German machine gun fire on route from Anzio to River Tiber, 6/1944; reception from civilians in Rome and hearing news of D-Day, 6/6/1944.
REEL 6 Continues: Recollections of operations as officer with 2nd Field Regt, Royal Artillery 1st Infantry Div in Italy, 1944-1945: rest period, 6/1944-8/1944; move to banks of River Arno; attitude towards no-fire areas; General Harold Alexander's attempt to bluff Germans that any attack would occur on west coast of Italy; fighting on outskirts of Florence; German resistance on Gothic Line; advance to and crossing of River Sieve, 10/9/1944; start of attack on Gothic Line along Arrow Route, 13/9/1944-14/9/1944; opinion of performance of 8th Indian Infantry Div, 24/9/1944; terrain in River Senio Valley; mule problems at Monte Quercione, 30/9/1944; German resistance at Monte Ceco in River Senio Valley; effect of weather conditions on operations, 10/1944; firing on Monte Ceco.
REEL 7 Continues: foraging for food in River Senio Valley, 10/1944; relations with civilians in River Senio Valley, 10/1944; improvising charcoal braziers, 10/1944; use of overhead tramway to cross River Senio, 10/1944; reaction to General Mark Clark's decision to withdraw American units out for rest and replace them with British units in Apennine Mountains, 10/1944; positions in River Sillaro Valley; artillery work at Monte Grande, 11/1944; attempt to dislodge Germans from observation post under knocked out American tank; discovery of German heavy artillery piece in wood; need to negotiate dead frozen American corpse on route to church, 11/1944; incident of Indian sepoy's rigidity over demand for password; German failed counter-attack on Monte Cerere, 11/1944; winter conditions in River Sillaro Valley, 12/1944-1/1945; withdrawal to Lake Trasimero, 16/1/1945. Recollections of period with 2nd Field Regt, Royal Artillery, 1st Infantry Div in Palestine, 1945-1946: move to Palestine; training on ranges.
REEL 8 Continues: start of Jewish insurrection; dispatch to Damascus, French Syria after clashes between French and Syrians; orders in case of need to fire on civilian mob in Beirut, Lebanon; theft of rifles by herdsmen; return to Palestine; work as education officer; attack by Zionist insurgents on 35th Bty at Lydda; accident caused by Bren Gun operator with 42nd Bty at Lydda, 11/1945; story of awaiting demobilisation in Canal Zone, Egypt and taking advantage of Leave in Advance of Python (LIAP); increase in tension in Palestine, 1946; memories of victory celebrations, 1945; attitude towards need for counselling after war service.