Mitchell, Gordon Ross (Oral history)

British private served with 1st Bn Parachute Regt in Tunisia and Sicily, 1943; trooper served with C Sqdn, 1st Special Air Service in GB and North West Europe, 1944-1945; NCO served with 1st Bn Parachute Regt in Palestine, 1945-1948

REEL 1 Background in Buckie, GB, 1923-1941: family; employment; reaction to declaration of Second World War, 9/1939. Aspects of period as private with 70th Bn Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders in GB, 1941-1942: volunteering for military service, 1941; airfield defence duties; targeting of his unit by special forces. Aspects of training with Parachute Regt in GB, 1942: parachute training; trainee who dreamt of flying coffins and was returned to unit; esprit de corps in Parachute Regt. Aspects of operations as private with 1st Bn Parachute Regt in Tunisia, 1943: voyage from GB to North Africa aboard Samaria; joining unit at Tamara; quality of leadership of unit; infantry role of paratroopers; quality of German opposition and tactics in Tunisia; German opinion of Parachute Regt; advancing against Germans and question of accepting surrender; readiness of Italians to surrender; incidents of troops falling into trenches with fatigue; withdrawal to Morocco. Recollections of operations as private with 1st Bn Parachute Regt in Sicily, 1943: preparations and training for invasion in Morocco; effect of US rations on fitness. REEL 2 Continues: move to staging area in Tunisia; his platoons objective at Primasole Bridge; Alastair Pearson's claim of overwhelming air support; flight to Sicily; over reaction of US air crew to accidental firing on aircraft by Royal Navy ships; his parachute jump; arrival at Primasole Bridge; problems trying to hold Primasole Bridge; withdrawal from bridge; how unit marksmen missed running Italian at Primasole Bridge; reaction to arrival of 51st Highland Div; loss of glider in river at Primasole Bridge; inquest by Major General Hopkinson into why Primasole Bridge operation went wrong; kindness shown by American liaison officer at Syracuse; German Air Force bombing of ship in Syracuse harbour; story of captured German officer aboard ship during voyage from Syracuse to Tripoli; reasons why he started thinking about transferring to Special Air Service, 7/1943. REEL 3 Continues: contracting malaria; his anxiety not to miss unit's invasion of Italy; unopposed landing at Taranto and advance northwards. Aspects of period as trooper with Special Air Service in GB, 1943-1944: transfer to unit; nature of discipline in unit; exercise crossing central Scotland and how Padre Fraser McCluskie got his group into target area; memories of Paddy Mayne. Recollections of operations as trooper with C Sqdn, 1st Special Air Service in France, 7/1944- 9/1944: parachuting into Dijon area; role of team to train and equip French Resistance unit; use of armoured jeeps; effectiveness of French Communist Resistance; effectiveness of his group; German reprisals against village; messages received via BBC; supply drops; shooting of Special Air Service personnel by Germans; how Padre Fraser McCluskie went through German lines to post letters. Aspects of operations as trooper with Special Air Service in North West Europe, 1944- 1945: refitting in Brussels; aiding Field Security Police to apprehend Allied deserters. REEL 4 Continues: attitude to job hunting deserters; attempts to round up German paratroopers dropped during Ardennes offensive, 12/1944-1/1945; handling of German POWs at Bergen, Norway, 5/1945; contrast in discipline between German and British troops; observational work prior to crossing of River Rhine, 3/1945; sight of V2 launching near Sittard, 12/1944. Aspects of operations as NCO with 1st Bn Parachute Regt in Palestine, 1945-1948: return to unit; internal security duties; how his attitude changed towards Jews; occasion when he was ordered to stop Roy Farran escaping from Palestine. Story of Operation Monkey patrolling border in Harz Mountains, 1948-1949.