Interview with Paul Eric Boxall

British bandboy served with 1st Bn Royal Norfolk Regt in GB and India, 10/1938-11/1940; private served with 70th Bn Royal Norfolk Regt in GB, 1941-1943; NCO served with 9th Bn Parachute Regt and Headquarters, 3rd Parachute Bde, 6th Airborne Div in GB, North West Europe and Palestine, 1943-1947; served with 1st Bn Royal Norfolk Regt, 29th British Infantry Bde, 1st Commonwealth Div in South Korea, 10/1951-9/1952

REEL 1 Background in Bromley, GB, 1922-1938: family; education; employment; parent's reaction to enlistment in British Army. Recollections of enlistment and training as bandboy with Royal Norfolk Regiment Regimental Depot at Britannia Barracks, Norwich, GB, 1938-1939: enlistment, 10/1938; basic training, question of segregating boys and men; role as bandboy. Recollections of period as bandboy with 1st Bn Royal Norfolk Regt in India, 3/1939-11/1940: conditions during voyage aboard HMT Dorsetshire from GB to India, 2/1939-3/1939; reception on arrival; living conditions in Nicolson Lines, Delhi; role of unit; summer hill station at Chakrata; move to Bangalore, organisation of military troop trains; reaction to declaration of Second World War, 3/9/1939; comparison between Delhi and Bangalore; sporting activities; voyage aboard HMT Orcades from India to GB, 11/1940. Aspects of period as private with 70th Bn Royal Norfolk Regt in GB, 1941-1943: airfield defence duties; nature of Young Soldier Battalions; promotion; German Air Force attack on RAF Bircham Newton decoy station, 1941; German Air Force raids on Bromley; application to join Parachute Regiment, 5/1943. Aspects of training as NCO with 9th Bn Parachute Regt, 3rd Parachute Bde, 6th Airborne Div in GB, 1943-1944: airborne training. REEL 2 Continues: question of difference between paratroopers and infantrymen; nature of physical training and injuries; parachute equipment and transport; awareness of destination in France; preparation for invasion. Recollections of operations as NCO with Headquarters, 3rd Parachute Bde, 6th Airborne Div in Normandy, France, 6/6/1945-12/6/1944: flight; parachute descent, 6/6/1944; absence of drink; equipment and aircraft recognition silk; rendezvous point at Château Varaville; sight of gliders landing at Le Mesnil, 6/6/1944; story of wounding in leg by shrapnel, 12/6/1944; medical treatment at Avranches, 12/6/1944; opinion of German opposition in Normandy; medical treatment in GB, 1944. Recollections of operations as NCO with Headquarters, 3rd Parachute Bde, 6th Airborne Div in North West Europe, 12/1944-5/1945: rejoining battalion after Ardennes Offensive in Belgium, 12/1944; move to River Maas, Netherlands, 1/1945; role of unit; opinion of German prisoners of war; nature of air armada and dropping zone during Operation Varsity, Germany, 3/1945; question of difference between daylight and night parachute drops; chances of being hit by fire during decent; reaction to casualties; wooded nature of drop zone; contrast in accuracy of parachute landings on River Rhine, Germany and Normandy, France; advance from River Rhine to Wismar, Germany, 3/1945-4/1945; opinion of Major-General Richard Gale. Aspects of period with advanced party of 6th Airborne Div in India, 7/1945-8/1945: reaction to use of atom bombs on Japan, 8/1945. Recollections of operations as NCO with 9th Bn Parachute Regt, 3rd Parachute Bde, 6th Airborne Div in Palestine, 1945-1947: arrival in Palestine, 9/1945; movements and promotions; security duties; organisation of road blocks in Haifa area; organisation of curfews in Tel Aviv; relations with Palestinian civilians; question of possibility of becoming casualty; attitude towards insurgents; move to Germany. Recollections of operations as NCO with 1st Bn Royal Norfolk Regt, 29th British Infantry Bde, 1st Commonwealth Div in South Korea, 10/1951-9/1952: voyage to aboard HMT Empress Orwell from GB and South Korea; role as company sergeant-major with A Coy; positions on Hill 355; move to positions on The Finger, below Hill 355; role of company sergeant-major in troops' welfare in Samichon Valley; temporary capture of comrades; nature of Korean War. REEL 4 Continues: question of lessons learnt in Korean War; opinion of officers including Major Michael Gunton; opinion of National Servicemen and Chinese People's Volunteer Army troops; casualties; unsuitable nature of terrain for sniper work; comparison of British and American positions; story of death of Chinese People's Volunteer Army prisoner of war; winter conditions; rat problem; state of health; role and opinion of Korean workers; rest periods in Tokyo, Japan; opinion of Japanese; leaving South Korea, 9/1952. Aspects of period as NCO with 1st Bn Royal Norfolk Regt in Hong Kong, 1952-1954: nature of posting; question of bullying; subsequent service and promotion to regimental sergeant-major, 1954-1960.