Interview with Thomas Illman

British civilian in London GB, 1940-1941; private served with 1st Bn Royal Scots (The Royal Regt), 4th Infantry Bde, 2nd Infantry Div in India and Burma, 1943-1944

REEL 1 Background in St Albans and Finchley, GB, 1923-1939: family; education; reaction to declaration of Second World War, 3/9/1939. Recollections of period as civilian in Finchley, GB, 1940-1941: question of personal morale and public morale; attitude towards Germans. Aspects of enlistment and training with British Army in GB, 1942: call-up for military service, 1942; basic training on Isle of Wight, 2/1942; contracting pneumonia; resumption of basic training in Inverness, 6/1942; compassionate leave on mother's death; attitude towards bayonet drill; choice of Royal Scots (The Royal Regiment) as his regiment. Aspects of voyage from GB to India via South Africa, 1942: rations including fresh bread; ashore in Claremont Camp, Durban, South Africa; relations between South African civilians and British troops. Aspects of period as private with D Coy 1st Bn Royal Scots (The Royal Regt), 4th Infantry Bde, 2nd Infantry Div in India, 1943-1944: in tented camp at Deolali; joining unit as orderly room clerk at Ahmednagar; living conditions at jungle training centre at Belgaum; attitude to soldiering; promotion he obtained during military service; troop train journey to Bengal; flight from Dum Dum to Dimapur, 4/1944. Recollections of operations with D Coy 1st Bn Royal Scots (The Royal Regt), 4th Infantry Bde, 2nd Infantry Div at Kohima, India, 4/1944: trenches at Milestone 32 on Tiddim Road; comrade killed by sniper's bullet. REEL 2 Continues: comrade who had premonition of death; D Coy casualties; role of chaplain; effects of sleeping in Naga huts; bathing arrangements for troops in front line; use of Naga porters and opinion of their strength; story of how he came to be reported missing; loss of trees to artillery shelling, 5/1944; telegrams he received on 21st birthday, 10/5/1944; medical treatment for worm infestation at Shillong, 5/1944; attitude towards Imperial Japanese Army prisoners; sight of Imperial Japanese Army dead and one prisoner of war; leave in Bombay, 1/1945; loss of transport near Imphal, 1945. Aspects of operations as private with 1st Bn Royal Scots (The Royal Regt), 4th Infantry Bde, 2nd Infantry Div in Burma, 1945: sight of Imperial Japanese Army dead in Fort Dufferin, Mandalay, 1945; demobilisation, 1946; attitude to having served in World War Two; question of change in attitude towards Japanese; prior recollection of aiding wounded at Milestone 32 on Tiddim Road, near Kohima, India, 4/1944.