Interview with John Duddle

British civilian in Manchester GB, 9/1939-6/1942; sapper served with 695th Artisan Works Coy and 239th Field Park Coy, Royal Engineers in GB, North Africa and Sicily, Italy, 3/1943-11/1943; served with 16th Bridging Platoon, Royal Engineers in GB and North West Europe, 1/1944-5/1945

REEL 1 Background in Gorton, Manchester, GB, 1921-1939: family; education; employment. Aspects of period as civilian in Manchester, GB, 9/1939-6/1942: reaction to declaration of Second World War 3/9/1939; German Air Force attacks on city when he was living in Ardwick area, 22/12/1940-23/12/1940; use of brick built surface air raid shelters; accuracy of German Air Force bombing on city centre; persistence of workers in getting to work; attitude towards German Air Force bomber crews; work of emergency services in averting panic; abortive attempt to join Royal Air Force, 1939. Aspects of enlistment and training as sapper with Royal Engineers in GB, 1942: call-up to Royal Engineers, 6/1942; basic training at Royal Engineers Training Depot, Blacon, Chester, 6/1942-8/1942; character of basic training and reception by training NCO; punishment for saluting incorrectly; later story of accident with hotel plumbing system in Belgium, 1944. REEL 2 Continues: Aspects of period as sapper with 695th Artisan Works Coy, Royal Engineers, GB, 1942-1943: posting to company at Honiton, 1942; volunteering for overseas posting, 1943; story of how friends tried to disguise his being Absent Without Official Leave (AWOL) in Halifax. Aspects of voyage aboard HMS Winchester Castle from GB to Egypt, 3/1943 including policing duties on board ship. Aspects of period as sapper with 239th Field Park Coy, Royal Engineers, 51st (Highland) Infantry Div in North Africa and Italy, 3/1943-11/1943: contacting malaria in Canal Zone, Egypt, 1943; joining company in Tunis, Tunisia; move to Sicily, Italy; injuries sustained in lorry accident and hospitalisation; move to Tripoli, Libya; voyage aboard HMT Monarch of Bermuda from Mediterranean to GB, 11/1943 including collision with HMT Duchess of Bedford and repairs in Gibraltar. REEL 3 Continues: reaction to return to Manchester, GB, Christmas 25/12/1943. Recollections of operations with 16th Bridging Platoon, Royal Engineers in GB and North West Europe, 1944-1945: joining unit in GB, 1/1944; sailing from River Thames to Normandy under fire of German coastal guns at Calais, France, 6/1944; landing under artillery fire in Normandy, France; building Bailey Bridge at Ouistreham, Normandy, France; problems of building Bailey Bridges over rivers; speed at which Bailey Bridge could be constructed; satisfaction with rations, summer 1944; sight of tank battle, Le Havre, France, 9/1944; construction of Bailey Bridges. REEL 4 Continues: refusal of French farmer to give British troops water, Normandy, France, 6/1944; unsuccessful attempt of British Army troops to purloin radios from Phillips factory in Eindhoven, Netherlands, 9/1944; rapid move to Liege, Belgium, 12/1944; German V1 Flying Bomb and V2 Rocket attacks on Liege and Antwerp, Belgium; relations with civilians in eastern Belgium, 1945; problems of returning to unit after home leave, 1/1945; opportunities for desertion by British Army troops in France and Belgium, early 1945. REEL 5 Continues: sight of dead German Army troops propped up in trenches in Reichswald Forest, Germany, 2/1945; selling food to Dutch civilians, 1945; fate of captured German piglet, 1945; story of how German and British Army troops refrained from firing at each other on eve of crossing of River Rhine, Germany, 3/1945; reaction to devastated state of Bremen, Germany, 4/1945; delay in receiving news of end of Second World War in Europe, 8/5/1945; celebratory drinks with German farmer's family, evening VE Day, 8/5/1945; attitude of German civilians towards Allied troops on journey to Bremerhaven, Germany, 5/1945.