Description
Object description
British gunner served in 68th (4th West Lancashire) Medium Regt, Royal Artillery, Middle East Forces in North Africa and Greece, 11/1940-4/1941; served with 68th (West Lancashire) Medium Regt, Royal Artillery, Creforce on Crete, Greece, 5/1942; served with 68th (West Lancashire) Medium Regt, Royal Artillery, British Troops in Egypt and Eighth Army in North Africa, 8/1941-6/1942 prisoner of war in Campo PG 161, Benghazi, Libya, 6/1942-8/1942; civilian diplomat with British Embassy in Havana, Cuba, 1958-1961 and British Embassy in Vientiane, Laos, 1964-1967
Content description
REEL 1 Background in Liverpool, GB, 1920-1939: family and education; employment. Aspects of period with 68th (4th West Lancashire) Medium Regt, Royal Artillery, GB, 1939-1940: joining Territorial Army, 1939; reaction to outbreak of Second World War, 3/9/1939; role as surveyor in unit; reasons for not being posted to France; airfield defence in GB, 1940; loss of evacuee sister Betty Unwin on board SS City of Benares on route to Canada in North Atlantic, 17/9/1940; how Corps of Military Police came looking for him when he went Absent Without Official Leave (AWOL) to visit parents after sister's death, Liverpool. Aspects of operations as gunner with 68th (4th West Lancashire) Medium Regt, Royal Artillery, Middle East Forces in Egypt and Western Desert, 11/1940-1/1941: arrival in Egypt and intention to send regiment to East Africa, 11/1940; strange camouflage used on regiment's guns; reasons for not being sent to East Africa; move to Western Desert; opinion of attack on Bardia, Libya; ease of advance against Italian forces, 1940-1941; reaction of some of unit to artillery barrage; impressions of sight of masses of Italian prisoners of war; return to Egypt; guns employed by unit. Recollection of period with 68th (4th West Lancashire) Medium Regt, Middle East Forces, Greece, 3/1941-4/1941: voyage to Piraeus, 3/1941; relations with Greek civilians.
REEL 2 Continues: story illustrating good relations between British troops and Greek civilians; taking up positions at Lake Vegoritida; how German Army's advance ouflanked defensive positions; accidental firing on 9th Bn King's Royal Rifle Corps; retreat from positions and use of horses supplied by Hellenic Army; German Air Force Junkers Ju 87 Stuka dive-bombing attacks on unit, orders to support Greeks, Kalabaka; German Air Force attack on unit during move to Kalabaka; collapse of Hellenic Army and orders to withdraw from Kalabaka; capture of Junkers Ju 87 Stuka crew; near miss during German Air Force strafing attack; positions near Thermopylae; destruction of equipment; retreat south to Athens; reception by civilians.
REEL 3 Continues: evacuation from beach near Athens. Recollection of operations as gunner with 68th (4th West Lancashire) Medium Regt, Creforce on Crete, Greece, 5/1941: arrival in Crete; reception by Cretan ladies; taking over ex-Italian 13 Pounder Guns; move of unit to Heraklion; calibrating unit guns; preparations for German seabourne landings; problems with Italian made guns; German Air Force attacks followed by parachute drop; Heraklion, 5/1941; attachment to Royal Army Service Corps; hearing News of sinking of German battleship Bismarck, 5/1941; period with 2nd Bn York and Lancaster Regt, 5/1941.
REEL 4 Continues: night operation and return to Royal Army Service Corps; incident of being under fire whist collecting petrol; story of two Australian soldiers opening fire on British brigadier; sight of British Army troops firing on German parachutists and troop transports; incident of British Army troops shooting German parachutist prisoner of war; orders to move to Heraklion. Aspects of evacuation from Crete, Greece to Alexandria, Egypt, 5/1941: embarkation aboard destroyer HMS Hotspur at Heraklion; transfer to cruiser HMS Orion; presence of Cretan civilians on board HMS Orion.
REEL 5 Continues: German Air Force attacks and conditions below decks; effect of German Air Force bombing on HMS Orion; condition of ship on arrival in Alexandria, Egypt. Recollections of operations as gunner with 68th (4th West Lancashire) Medium Regt, Royal Artillery, British Troops in Egypt and Eighth Army in North Africa 1941-1942: reforming of regiment under British Troops in Egypt command in Egypt, 1941; move into front line, 11/1941; question of medium artillery role and being constantly in action; state of unit morale; positions on Gazala Line, Libya, 5/1942; agreement with Germans to share well, Bir el Hamamat, Libya; withdrawal into Tobruk, Libya, 6/1942; defence of El Adem in southern part of Tobruk Perimeter, Libya; move to western sector of Tobruk Perimeter; attack of German armour on Tobruck, Perimeter; destruction of guns by unit.
REEL 6 Continues: Aspects of period as prisoner of war in North Africa, 6/1942-8/1942: capture by German Deutsches Afrika Corps troops at Tobruk, Libya 21/6/1942; Axis forces' handling of prisoners of war, 6/1942; story of Italian guard who exchanged a canteen of urine for a prisoner of war's ring; move to Benghazi, Libya; looting of prisoners of war valuables; morale of Royal Artillery personnel. Recollection of period as diplomat with British Embassy in Havana, Cuba, 1958-1961: posting to Havana, 1/12/1958; acquiring rented accommodation from civil servant planning to flee to Miami, United States of America, 12/1958; day of Castro take over, 1/1/1959; disorder in Havana involving action against President Fulgencio Batista supporters, 1/1959; drying up of food supplies; arrival of Fidel Castro on tank into Havana, 1/1959; antagonism of Fidel Castro supporters to British Embassy, 12/1958; contrast of living conditions of Cubans under Fulgencio Batista; question of result of Fidel Castro placing his comrades in charge of agriculture, 1959; throwing open private beaches and accessibility of island to diplomats; queues outside shops on 1992 visit similar to 1959.
REEL 7 Continues: aspects of visit to Cuba, 1992 and opinion of Fidel Castro's regime. Recollection of period as diplomat with British Embassy in Vientiane, Laos, 1964-1967: reaction to posting; faction fighting in Vientiane, 1965 including incident when artillery shells landed near British Embassy and attacks on police barracks; political situation in Laos; anti-Communist attitudes of Hong Kong Chinese, Vientiane; American aid programmes.
