Description
Object description
British civilian in France, 5/1940-5/1941; internee in Spain, 5/1941-10/1941; officer trained with Special Operations Executive in GB, 11/1941-7/1942; served with F Section, Special Operations Executive in France, 7/1942-9/1944; served with Evaluation Mission, Headquarters, Special Operations Executive in GB, France and Germany, 9/1944-9/1945
Content description
REEL 1 Aspects of period as civilian in France, 9/1939-5/1941: story of how as child he set up a make believe secret service in Switzerland; reaction to outbreak of Second World War, 3/9/1939; helping British evaders to escape after Fall of France. Recollections of escape from France to GB via Spain, 5/1941-10/1941: reasons for escaping from France; difficulties of journey through Pyrenees Mountains; capture by Spanish police; removal by train to internment camp; how senior British officer in camp knew his grandmother; treatment for skin condition; removal to British Embassy in Madrid; move to Gibraltar; billeting with 4th Bn Devonshire Regt in Gibraltar; voyage aboard MV Leinster from Gibraltar to GB.
REEL 2 Continues: arrival in Liverpool during dockers' strike; reception recieved from grandparents. Aspects of enlistment with Special Operations Executive in GB, 11/1941: first interview with War Office in London; second interview; reporting to Headquarters, Baker Street and STS 5 Wanborough Manor; reasons for not joining MI9. Aspects of training with Special Operations Executive in GB, 11/1941-7/1942: preparations at STS 5 Wanborough Manor; training in Scotland; unarmed combat training; fieldcraft training; explosives training; assessment of suitability; opinion of others on course; benefits of living in France; parachute training; security training at STS 31 Beaulieu; opinion of French country gendarmes.
REEL 3 Continues: resistance to interrogation techniques; question of his ability to withstand torture; question of survival; attitude towards killing; personal motivation; father's military career; warning that as an agent he would not be protected by Geneva Convention; opinion that some colleagues did not take security training seriously; his character from early age; move to RAF Tempsford; preparation for parachute drop at RAF Tempsford.
REEL 4 Continues: refusal to take pistol and cyanide tablet; signing will. Recollections of operations as officer with F Section, Special Operations Executive in France, 7/1942-9/1944: flight to France; character of parachute drop at Saint-Leonard-de-Noblat near Limoges, 7/1942; landing in tree; reception from French farmer and his wife; curing his dislocated knee; realisation that he was off target; making way to Toulouse by bicycle and train; buying meal with forged food coupons; meeting contact he already knew from Montaubon; setting up headquarters in garage.
REEL 5 Continues: cover adopted of collecting spare parts from abandoned vehicles; meeting resistance contacts and building up Pimento Circuit; difficulties of smuggling explosives into Lyon; technique for derailing railway engines without injuring driver; dangers to engine drivers when engines blown up; memories of derailing his brother's toy train as child; need for awareness of railways; solidarity of railway workers; getting engine drivers to distribute explosives and have the knowledge to use them; description of sabotaging railway line; problems with fog signals.
REEL 6 Continues: description of how to derail a train; method of sending trains to wrong destinations; use of shunter driver 'Pegleg' to send waggons in wrong direction in marshalling yard; sabotaging French electric engines; lack of supply drops in the Toulouse/Montaubon area; orders to concentrate on Toulouse/Montaubon area, 1943; description of smuggling explosives into South Western France; arrest of courier travelling with explosives; reasons for survival; obtaining lodgings and secure address.
REEL 7 Continues: description of security precautions; importance of circuit members following strict security rules; use of German passes during curfew; question of lax security of wireless operator sent to him; meeting with Odette Sansom and George Starr in black market restaurant; reaction towards Special Operations Executive sending incompetent wireless operators; question of agents putting their personal needs first; opinion of George Starr; question of being sent an unsuitable female courier, 1944.
REEL 8 Continues: lack of practical understanding from Headquarters, Special Operations Executive, Baker Street, London; concern at fragmentation and size of Pimento Circuit; reasons for not wanting a wireless operator; difficulties with supply drops especially of American clothing; reaction to return to London, GB, 8/1943; eagerness to get back to France; return to France, 12/1943; capture by Germans; processing by German military personnel; questioning by German Military Intelligence and cover story used for having large amount of cash on his person.
REEL 9 Continues: apology received from Germans and release; taking new cover of working for civil service and receiving salary from Vichy Government; arrival of 2nd SS Panzer Div 'Das Reich' in Montaubon area, 2/1944-3/1944; dispersal of German vehicles in area; sabotage of hidden German vehicles; psychological state of German troops in area; description of how to sabotage waggons; question of reaction of 2nd SS Panzer Div 'Das Reich' personnel on learning that they would have to travel to Normandy by road, 6/1944.
REEL 10 Continues: opinion of success of operations against 2nd SS Panzer Division Das Reich; targets he was told not to attack; question of whether agents were exploited by Special Operations Executive; difficulties of adjusting to normal life after end of Second World War; story of stealing German uniforms; memories of colleagues who fell into crime after Second World War; how his wartime experience changed his personality; reasons for his success as agent; coping with loneliness; motivations as agent; question of keeping information in head; incident of Jewish colleague killing his family and self to avoid capture, 4/1944.
REEL 11 Continues: mistakes made in judging agents' effectiveness; opinion that French took more risks than he did; question of whether he would have walked out on circuit.