Cryer, Ronald William (Oral history)

British trooper and NCO served with North Somerset Yeomanry, 4th and 5th Cavalry Bdes, 1st Cavalry Div in GB, Palestine and French Syria, 9/1939-8/1941; NCO served with Y1 Patrol, Long Range Desert Group in North Africa, 2/1942-5/1943; served with Y Patrol, Long Range Desert Group on Leros Island, Dodecanese Islands, Greece, 9/1943-11/1943; served with Boat Patrol, Long Range Desert Group in Yugoslavia, 8/1944-12/1944; served with 1st Special Air Service, Special Air Service Bde in GB, Germany and Norway, 2/1945-12/1945

REEL 1 Background in Bristol, GB, 1920-1939: family; education; employment; membership of North Somerset Yeomanry with Territorial Army; reaction to declaration of Second World War, 3/9/1939. Aspects of period as trooper and NCO with North Somerset Yeomanry, 4th and 5th Cavalry Bdes, 1st Cavalry Div in GB, Palestine and French Syria, 9/1939-8/1941: postings in GB, 1939-1940; prospects of use of cavalry in Second World War; general duties in Palestine; occasions of being under fire in French Syria, 6/1941-7/1941; becoming small arms specialist after break up of 1st Cavalry Div in Palestine, 8/1941; lack of sense of danger in Palestine. Recollections of operations as NCO with Y1 Patrol, Long Range Desert Group in North Africa, 2/1942-5/1943: reasons for volunteering for Long Range Desert Group, 2/1942; character of Siwa Oasis, Egypt; role as navigator; request to become gunner; pattern of active service in desert, 1942. REEL 2 Continues: how road watch was conducted at Marble Arch, Libya; final road watch on Marble Arch after Battle of El Alamein, 11/1942; wounding of Major David Lloyd-Owen during German Air Force attack on Kufra Oasis, Libya, 10/1942; plan for raid on Tobruk, Libya and proposed role of Y1 Patrol; outcome of raids on Tobruk, Benghazi and Barce, Libya, 9/1942; method of getting vehicle out of soft sand; reaction to lack of success of raids, 9/1942; raid on Italian Air Force at Homs; reasons for attacking Axis airfields; topographical reconnaissance to assist advance of Eighth Army in Libya and Tunisia. REEL 3 Continues: decision to use Long Range Desert Group in new role and retraining in Lebanon. Recollections of operations as trooper with Y Patrol, Long Range Desert Group on Leros Island, Dodecanese Islands, Greece, 9/1943-11/1943: his role during campaign; German Air Force attacks on island, 9/1943; firing on German paratroopers landing on island, 12/11/1943; withdrawal to Partini Bay to contest anticipated German landing; news of Allied surrender and escape from Partini Bay to Turkey in motor boat, 16/11/1943; refusal of Turkish authorities to allow escapers to land at Bodrum, Republic of Turkey; escape in minesweeper to Haifa, Palestine; loss of New Zealand contingent of Long Range Desert Group after campaign. Aspects of period as NCO with Boat Patrol, Long Range Desert Group in Yugoslavia, 8/1944-12/1944: conversion of Y Patrol into Boat Patrol for operations in Yugoslavia from 12/1943; role at forward base on Dugi Otok Island; sinking of boat off Vis Island; length of service and return to GB, 12/1944. REEL 4 Continues: attack on German merchantman off Dalmatian Coast; contact with Yugoslav Partisans. Recollections of operations as trooper with 1st Special Air Service in GB, Germany and Norway, 2/1945-11/1945: background to joining unit; memories of Paddy Mayne, 2/1945; contrast between Long Range Desert Group and Special Air Service; retraining on Browning Automatic; posting to B Sqdn for crossing of River Rhine, Germany, 3/1945; saving German Navy archives from destruction at Kiel, Germany, 5/1945; crossing River Rhine, Germany, 3/1945; German resistance; sight of German jet aircraft and V2 Rockets; participation in liberation of Norway, 5/1945; disbanding of Special Air Service in GB, 11/1945.