Interview with William David Kamsler

British private served with 2nd Bn Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Regt in GB and Normandy, France, 5/1944-7/1944; served as platoon runner and NCO with 4th Bn Wiltshire Regt (Duke of Edinburgh's), 129th Infantry Bde, 43rd (Wessex) Infantry Div in North West Europe, 7/1944-5/1945; NCO served with 1st Bn Suffolk Regt, Malaya Command in Federation of Malaya, 7/1949-4/1950; served with 1st Bn King's Shropshire Light Infantry, 28th Commonwealth Infantry Bde, 1st Commonwealth Div in South Korea, 5/1951-9/1952

REEL 1 Background in London, GB, 1925-1943: family; education; reaction to declaration of Second World War, 3/9/1939; German Air Force bombs which fell on Willesden Green; public morale. Aspects of enlistment and training with British Army in GB, 1943-1944: volunteering for British Army in Acton, 1943; basic training in Warley Barracks. Aspects of period as private with 2nd Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Regt in GB, 5/1944-6/1944: joining unit for D-Day training; pre-D-Day security on south coast; embarkation aboard HMT Neuralia in West India Docks, London for journey to Isle of Wight; embarkation for Normandy, France. Recollections of operations as private 2nd Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Regt, Normandy, France, 6/1944-7/1944: embarkation onto landing craft; landings on Gold Beach, D-Day, 6/6/1944; drowning of soldiers during landings, D-Day, 6/6/1944; beach clearing role of unit; German use of box mines; working with DUKWs transferring ammunition from merchant vessels to shore, 6/1944-7/1944. Recollections of operations as private and NCO with B Coy, 4th Bn Wiltshire Regt (Duke of Edinburgh's), 129th Infantry Bde, 43rd (Wessex) Infantry Div in North West Europe, 7/1944-5/1945: breaking up of 2nd Bn Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Regt and transfer to 4th Bn Wiltshire Regt, 7/1944; heavy casualties of unit on Hill 112, 7/1944; battalion attack on Mont Pinçon. REEL 2 Continues: role as platoon runner during Mont Pinçon action, 8/1944; advance towards Arnhem during Operation Market Garden, Netherlands, 9/1944; reception of airborne survivors who had crossed River Nederrijn; minor wounding in wrist from air burst in Elst area, Netherlands; promotion to corporal, 10/1944; role as guard with unit in Belsen Concentration Camp, Germany, 4/1945. Recollections of period as NCO in Intelligence Section, 1st Bn Suffolk Regt, Malaya Command in Federation of Malaya, 7/1949-4/1951: role in intelligence section; patrolling in jungle; casualties inflicted by Malayan National Liberation Army insurgents; ambush of train; attitude towards Malayan National Liberation Army insurgents. REEL 3 Continues: Recollections of period as NCO with Intelligence Section, 1st Bn King's Shropshire Light Infantry, 28th Commonwealth Infantry Bde, 1st Commonwealth Div in South Korea, 5/1951-9/1952: reasons for volunteering for service in Korean War; allocation to intelligence section; joining 1st Bn Middlesex Regt (Duke of Cambridge's Own) and subsequent transfer to 1st Bn King's Shropshire Light Infantry, 5/1951; evidence of scale of Chinese People's Volunteer Army casualties after battle despite their removal of dead; United States Army serviceman who tried to defect to Chinese People's Volunteer Army; role in charge of Republic of Korea (ROK) Military Police moving civilians from village, 7/1952-8/1952; attitude towards Chinese forces; liaison with American forces.