Description
Object description
Indian NCO served with Royal Indian Army Service Corps, 5th Indian Infantry Div in East Africa, 1940-1941; served with Royal Indian Army Service Corps 4th Indian Infantry Div in North Africa, Italy and Greece, 1941-1945; served with Royal Indian Army Service Corps, 5th Indian Infantry Div in Burma and Dutch East Indies, 1945-1946
Content description
REEL 1 Background in India, 1921-1939: family, religion. Aspects of enlistment and training with British Indian Army in India, 1939-1940: volunteering for military service in Bangalore, 1939; move to camp at Poona; question of lack of basic training; promotion to warrant officer. Recollections of operations as NCO with Royal Indian Army Service Corps, 5th Indian Infantry Div in East Africa, 1940-1941: Italian Navy attack on convoy during voyage from India to Sudan; arrival at Port Sudan, Sudan, 10/1940; story of being wounded in Italian Air Force raid on Port Sudan, Sudan; hospitalisation in Khartoum, Sudan; prior recollection of family background in British India; opinion of British; reaction to caste system; story illustrating relationship with British; basic training in Khartoum, Sudan, 10/1940-12/1940; move to Eritrea; opinion of Italian Army troops; advance into Eritrea from Sudan, including, duties during action at Kassala, Sudan; story of rejection from infantry service; sight of burning vehicles at Kassala, Sudan. Recollections of operations as NCO with Royal Indian Army Service Corps, 4th Indian Infantry Div in North Africa, 1941-1943: withdrawal to Suez , Egypt, 2/1941-3/1941; opinion of situation in Middle East, 1/1941-2/1941.
REEL 2 Continues: opinion of command structure in North African theatre; opinion of desert terrain; water allocations; lack of religious observance amongst British Indian Army troops; pre-action lectures; sight of Deutsches Afrika Korps self-propelled guns; opinion of German General Erwin Rommel; story about Admiral Sir Walter Cowan serving with British Indian Army troops at Tobruk, Libya; move with 5th Indian Infantry Bde to French Syria, 3/1941-4/1941; return to western desert after fall of Damascus, French Syria; link up with Australian Army troops at Tobruk, Libya; advancing towards Benghazi, Libya; situation in 1941-1942 and opinion of German tactics; Axis attack on division and breakout of 7th Indian Infantry Bde from Benghazi, Libya; visit by General Claude Auchinleck; reorganisation in Palestine, 3/1942-5/1942; story of capture of 11th Indian Infantry Bde at Tobruk, Libya; opinion of General Claude Auchinleck during retreat to Egypt, 6/1942; story of commanding officer of an British Indian Army regiment being taken prisoner and meeting German General Erwin Rommel; opinion relating to lack of racism in British Army; story illustrating South African forces racial segregation and attitude to British Indian Army troops; Battle of El Alamein, 10/1942-11/1942 including situation during battle.
REEL 3 Continues: role of division during Operation Supercharge; sight of armoured divisions advancing through lines, question of lack of a divisional role during advance to Tunisia, 1943, sight of artillery barrage during Battle of El Alamein, Egypt, 10/1943 and post-war reaction to battle; elements of Tunisian Campaign, 1943 including move to Tunisia, terrain, relations with French civilians, contrast between First and Eighth Armies and story of watching German General Von Antrim surrendering at Tunis, Tunisia, 1943; return to Egypt; story of Prime Minister Winston Churchill taking salute of Eighth Army in Tunis, Tunisia; reorganisation of division and attachment to 11th Indian Infantry Bde. Recollections of operations as NCO with Royal Indian Army Service Corps 4th Indian Infantry Div in Italy, 1943-1944: landing at Taranto, move to Monte Cassino; sight of Allied air attack on Monte Cassino Monastery, 2/1944; role during Italian Campaign; reaction to bombing of and casualties at Monte Cassino; question of effects of war; story relating to British Indian Army officer captured at Tobruk, Libya.
REEL 4 Continues: situation in Italy, 6/1944; advance of division to Gothic Line; reaction to burial of battlefield casualties; reaction to post-war visits to Cassino and Kohima cemeteries; prior recollection of journey through desert battlefields, 1943. Recollections of period as NCO with Royal Indian Army Service Corps 4th Indian Infantry Div in Greece, 1944-1945: move to Greece, 12/1944; story of sinking of troopship by magnetic mine; reaction to visiting Athens; move to Salonika; reaction to end of Second World War in Europe, 8/5/1945. Recollections of period as NCO with Royal Indian Army Service Corps, 5th Indian Infantry Div in India, Burma and Dutch East Indies, 1945-1946: return to India, 1945; prior recollection of father's reaction to his volunteering for military service; family's reaction to his return; volunteering for service in South East Asia; attachment to 9th Indian Infantry Bde in Burma; ambition to have longest war service record in British Indian Army; division's role during campaign; reaction to use of atom bomb on Japan, 8/1945; story of collecting a Japanese sword at surrender in Singapore, Malaya, 8/1945.
REEL 5 Continues: opinion of Japanese; move to Dutch East Indies; Indonesians attitude towards Dutch; contrast between Indian and British officers. Aspects of period as NCO with Royal Indian Army Service Corps in India, 1946-1947: return to India, 1946; volunteering for Parachute Supply Coy, Royal Indian Army Service Corps at Karachi, India; unit's role, training and equipment; evacuation duties during communal violence, 8/1947; condition of refugees; story of Hindus leaving shops alone; later service with Indian Army, 1947-1968; question of psychological effects of war.
REEL 6 Continues: opinion of GB, royalty and Commonwealth; prior recollection of threat of war, 1938 and question of future threats to peace; story relating to meeting British military attache in French Indochina, 1953; question of Indian/British relations.