Interview with Cornelius Joseph Tobin

British officer served with 3/2nd Bn Punjab Regt India, 1935-1939; served with Army Ordnance Corps, British Indian Army in India and Burma, 1939-1945; served with British Military Government in Burma, 1945-1946; served with Royal Army Ordnance Corps as Deputy Director of Ordnance, 1st Commonwealth Div in South Korea, 1953

REEL 1 Background in India and GB, 1910-1932: family; education; Merchant Navy service with Eagle Oil & Shipping Co Ltd, 1928-1932. Aspects of period as private and NCO with British Army in GB,1932-1935: reasons for joining British Army; enlistment, 2/1932; commissioning 1935. Aspects of period as officer with 3/2nd Bn Punjab Regt in India, 1935-1939: joining unit; opinion of Punjabis; role of unit; reaction to outbreak of Second World War, 3/9/1939; opinion of Brigadiers Harold Alexander and Richard O'Connor; voyage from GB to India, 10/1939. Recollections of period as officer with Army Ordnance Corps, British Indian Army in India, 1939-1944: posting as ordnance officer to Rawalpindi Arsenal; role in introducing mechanised transport to British Indian Army; directing services for 3rd and 43rd Indian Armoured Divs in India, 1941-1942; hasty move to Kohima and promotion to lieutenant-colonel. Recollections of operations as officer with Army Ordnance Corps, British Indian Army at Kohima and Imphal, India, 4/1944-6/1944: situation in Kohima; problems of dislodging Imperial Japanese Army troops from fox holes at Kohima. REEL 2 Continues: device concocted with Boys Anti-Tank Rifle and cup discharger to dislodge Imperial Japanese Army troops; use of tanks against Imperial Japanese Army positions, Kohima; smell of battlefield; contrast between Kohima and Imphal. Aspects of period with Indian Ordnance Corps, British Indian Army in Burma, 1944-1945: transporting Japanese prisoners of war taken at Kalewa; use of gliders in Kabaw Valley, 1944; liberation of Rangoon, 5/1945. Aspects of period as officer with Military Government in Rangoon, Burma, 1945-1946: role of director of supplies and industry in rehabilitating economy of Burma; circumstances of transfer of power in Burma, 1947. REEL 3 Continues: famine relief in Shan States; reasons for failure to get hold of surplus American supplies after end of Second World War; return to GB and transfer to Royal Army Ordnance Corps. Recollection of period as staff officer with Royal Army Ordnance Corps, 1st Commonwealth Div in South Korea, 1953: role as Deputy Director of Ordnance to British forces; supply of uniforms to forces to cope with extreme weather conditions; visits to front line, 1953. Aspects of career as officer with Royal Army Ordnance Corps, GB, 1954-1961: parliamentary question asked about his actions, 1958; prior recollection of false accusation made against him by British Member of Parliament regarding commercial dealing with Chinese during service in Burma.