Interview with Ronald Horatio Winston Mott

British private and NCO served with 1/5th Bn Queen's Royal Regt (West Surrey), 131st Infantry Bde, 44th (Home Counties) Infantry Div in GB, France and Belgium, 9/1940-8/1941; hospitalisation in GB, 1942-1942; NCO attached to British Red Cross convalescent hospitals in GB, 1943-1945

REEL 1 Background in Claygate and Witley, GB, 1919-1938: family; education. Aspects of period as private with 1/5th Bn Queen's Royal Regt (West Surrey) in GB, 1938-1939: joining Territorial Army, 1938; degree of military training; mobilisation and attitude towards Germans after declaration of Second World War, 3/9/1939; attitude to Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain's appeasement policy towards Adolf Hitler, 1938; reaction to declaration of Second World War, 3/9/1939. Aspects of period as private and NCO with 1/5th Bn Queen's Royal Regt (West Surrey), 131st Infantry Bde, 44th (Home Counties) in GB and France, 9/1939-5/1940: story of presence of Spanish Civil War veteran in unit; move to Sherborne, GB; differences between Regular and Territorial Army personnel; relations with civilians at Sherbourne; memories of his .303 Lee-Enfield Rifle; move with division to France, 4/1940; train journey from Cherbourg, France, 4/1940; move to Armentières, France; attitude of farmer towards British Army troops; move to Nieppe, France and relations with French family; suspicions of Fifth Column activities and orders to destroy nun's doves. REEL 2 Continues: Recollections of operations as NCO with 1/5th Bn Queen's Royal Regt (West Surrey), 131st Infantry Bde, 44th (Home Counties) Infantry Div in France and Belgium, 5/1940: move from France into Belgium, 10/5/1940; welcome received from Belgian civilians shouting 'Berlin'; digging in Oudenaarde, Belgium, 5/1940; German artillery shelling Oudenaarde, Belgium; withdrawal towards Dunkirk, France; retreat through Passchendale, Belgium in flames; inaccurate German Air Force attacks; resting under German Army mortar fire; confiscation of lorry on Dunkirk Perimeter; separation from rest of unit on march to Dunkirk, France; arrival on beaches at La Panne, Belgium; German artillery shelling of beaches at La Panne, Belgium; opinion of Royal Air Force's role during Dunkirk Evacuation; discovery of red wine supply at Dunkirk, France; story of Royal Corps of Signals officer exchanging signals with Royal Air Force Westland Lysander aircraft; arrival of Royal Navy and embarkation of troops; move to East Mole at Dunkirk, France; scene on East Mole at Dunkirk, France; embarkation in Royal Air Force air-sea rescue launch; incident of firing on German Air Force Junkers Ju 87 Stuka pilot who hit sea; arrival and rail organisation at Dover, GB; story of how Corps of Military Police ordered him not to leave train, Guildford, GB; help from civilians in Guildford, GB. REEL 3 Continues: reception of Dunkirk Evacuation survivors at Bovington Camp and incident of answering officer who chided him for scruffiness. Aspects of period as NCO with 1/5th Bn Queen's Royal Regt (West Surrey), 131st Infantry Bde, 44th (Home Counties) Infantry Div in GB, 6/1940-8/1941: posting to battalion on coastal defence duties at Margate, 6/1940; situation in Margate; question of William Joyce 'Lord Haw Haw's' knowledge of time on clock in Margate; German E-Boat attacks on Margate; reckless action of officer during mortar shoot which caused devastating casualties; nature of wounds received from accident, 1/8/1941. Aspects of period of hospitalisation in GB, 1941-1942: medical treatment for wounds; suffering from anxiety neurosis; friendship with neurologist; role as battalion orderly sergeant at Colchester after recuperation from wounds, 1942. Aspects of period as NCO with Army Selection Centre, Portobello, Edinburgh, 1943: initial impressions of Army Selection Centre; question of lack of respect by NCOs. REEL 4 Continues: question of how those in charge made life a misery for those sent there. Aspects of period as NCO attached to British Red Cross convalescent hospitals in GB, 1943-1945: move to Bournemouth; posting to Drayton Manor Red Cross Hospital, Tring; role and duties; problems he had with British Red Cross 'commandant'; friendship with local British Red Cross officer and her husband; advantage of being able to allocate staff. Reflections on military service in Second World War: question of purpose of Army Selection Centre at Portobello, Edinburgh. REEL 5 Continues: attitude to having served in Second World War; admiration for Prime Minister Winston Churchill even though voting for Labour Party in General Election, 1945; question of reliability of oral history memories; meeting Frenchwomen who gave him refreshment, 1940; post-war attempt to contact relative of one of those killed in mortar accident, 1/8/1940.