Crampton, Arthur Edward Sean (Oral history)

British sapper served with 27th (London Electrical Engineers) Anti-Aircraft Bn Royal Engineers in London, GB, 1937-1940; gunner and NCO served with 27th (London Electrical Engineers) Searchlight Regiment, Royal Artillery, 47th Anti-Aircraft Bde, 5th Anti-Aircraft Div in GB and 2nd Anti-Aircraft Bde, Middle East Forces in Egypt, 1940-1942; officer served with 1st Bn London Irish Rifles, 168th Infantry Bde, 50th (Northumbrian) Infantry Div on Sicily, Italy, 7/1943; served with 1st Bn London Irish Rifles, 168th (London) Infantry Bde, 56th (London) Infantry Div in Italy, 9/1943-1/1944

REEL 1 Background in Manchester, Birmingham and London, GB, 1918-1939: family; education; employment; visit to Hamburg, Germany, 1937. Aspects of period as sapper with 27th (London Electrical Engineers) Anti-Aircraft Bn Royal Engineers in London, GB, 1937-1940: reasons for joining Territorial Army; political outlook, 1937-1939; training on searchlights. Aspects of period as gunner and NCO with 27th (London Electrical Engineers) Searchlight Regiment, Royal Artillery, 47th Anti-Aircraft Bde, 5th Anti-Aircraft Div in GB and 2nd Anti-Aircraft Bde, Middle East Forces in Egypt, 1940-1942: use of sound locators; reaction to declaration of Second World War, 3/9/1939; move to Hatfield from Storrington, 9/1939; work in operations room; first German Air Force bombing raid, 1940; morale during German Air Force bombing; effect of Prime Minister Winston Churchill's speeches; voyage aboard HMT Orion from GB to Egypt, 2/1940; arrival in Port Tewfiq, Egypt; Axis bombing raid on Suez Canal; relations with Egyptians. REEL 2 Continues: impressions of situation during leave visit in Jerusalem, Palestine; encounter with different political opinions in Palestine; commissioning, 1943. Recollections of operations as officer with 1st Bn London Irish Rifles, 168th Infantry Bde, 50th (Northumbrian) Infantry Div in Sicily, 7/1943: landings in Sicily; advance inland; encountering stiff Axis resistance on Catania Plain; description of involvement in divisional attack across Catania Plain, 7/1943; loss of unit officers; discovery of mines during night patrol and their subsequent destruction; probing patrol on Catania Plain. REEL 3 Continues: attitude towards German opposition; attitude of soldier whose family had been in German Air Force bombing of Coventry, GB, 11/1940; award of Military Cross for operations on Catania Plain, 7/1943; reception from civilians in Catania, 7/1943; reaction to being left out of battle for rest of Sicilian Campaign; attitude of southern Irish in his unit towards Second World War; attitude to patrolling; question of communal tension in unit; use of ambulance to carry ammunition on Catania Plain; question of unit discipline; incident of officer shot through head; end of fighting in Sicily and General Bernard Montgomery's speech in Greek temple at Taormina; memories of General Bernard Montgomery; contrast between Generals Harold Alexander and Bernard Montgomery. Recollections of operations as officer with1st Bn London Irish Rifles, 168th (London) Infantry Bde, 56th (London) Infantry Div in Italy, 9/1943-1/1944: evacuation to North Africa for medical treatment for quinsy; return to Italy, 9/1943; train journey from Taranto to Naples, 10/1943. REEL 4 Continues: rejoining battalion on River Volturno, 10/1943; leave in Naples, 12/1944; question of source of antagonisation between American and British troops in Sicilian and Italian Campaigns; amusing story of mule used for transport on River Garigliano, 1/1944; capture of platoon by Germans on River Garigliano; crossing of River Garigliano; loss of foot on mine during patrol towards Castelforte in Garigliano Valley, 19/1/1944; opinion of hospital treatment received in Naples. Reflections on military service in Second World War: reaction to discipline during late 1940s and early 1950s; question of certainty of immortality after he was blown up, 1/1944. REEL 5 Continues: religious outlook after Second World War; pension received and contact with British Limbless Ex-Service Men's Association; long-term physical consequences of his wounds; attitude towards service in Second World War; post-war contact with Field Marshal Harold Alexander and Leonard Cheshire; influence of Second World War on his work; prior recollection of packed conditions on troopship voyage, 1942.