Description
Object description
British officer served with 4th Bn Somerset Light Infantry, 129th Infantry Bde, 43rd (Wessex) Infantry Div in North West Europe, 1945; served with 1st Bn Royal Hampshire Regt, 1st Infantry Div in Palestine and Egypt, 1946-1947; served with 1st Bn Parachute Regt, 16th Independent Parachute Bde Group in the Canal Zone, Egypt, 1951-1952; served with 1st Bn Royal Hampshire Regt in Jamaica, British Honduras and British Guiana, 1960-1962; commanded 1st Bn Royal Hampshire Regt in Belfast, Northern Ireland, 8/1969-11/1969
Content description
REEL 1 Background in Jubbulpore, India and GB, 1925-1939: family; education. Aspects of period as schoolchild in GB, 1939-1943: German Air Force attacks on Wellington College, 1940-1941; father Major Henry May's service in British Army and Home Guard, 1939-1943 including death in accident with 13th (Bodmin) Bn Cornwall Home Guard at Bodmin, 23/12/1943. Aspects of enlistment and training with British Army in GB, 1943-1944: enlistment, 1943; basic training in Bury St Edmunds; use of live ammunition during officer cadet training with Officer Cadet Training Unit, Douglas, Isle of Man, 1944; question of maturity of subalterns; commissioning into Hampshire Regiment; high casualties from firing of live ammunition whilst training with 6th Bn Devonshire Regt. Recollections of operations commanding 8 Platoon, A Coy, 4th Bn Somerset Light Infantry, 43rd (Wessex) Infantry Div in North West Europe, 1945: arrival as reinforcement to division, 2/1945; joining battalion in Nijmegen Netherlands; arrival at battalion headquarters, Kleve, Germany, 2/1945; results of attack on high ground above Goch, Germany, 2/1945.
REEL 2 Continues: reaction of German Army officers captured in attack on Goch, Germany; lessons learnt during first action, 2/1945; operation to clear Xanten, Germany, 3/1945 including problems co-operating with Churchill Crocodile Flame Throwing tanks, loss of NCOs and degree of strength of German opposition; question of difficulty of finding suitable infantry reinforcements and degree of commitment shown by those reinforcements, 3/1945; crossing River Rhine, Germany in LVT Mk IV Buffalo, 3/1945; digging in on east bank of River Rhine, 3/1945; breakout from bridgehead using Kangaroo Armoured Personnel Carriers under German 88mm Anti-Tank Gun fire, 3/1945; attack on German positions at Varasseveld, Netherlands, 30/3/1945.
REEL 3 Continues: capture of thirty German prisoners of war in Varasseveld, Netherlands, 30/3/1945; attempt to use Projector Infantry Anti-Tank on German half-track, Varasseveld, Netherlands, 30/3/1945; question of luck in war including story relating to house-to-house fighting in Xanten, Germany, 3/1945; advance of unit as leading battalion in Bedford QL Lorries; capture of German 88mm Gun and transport which mistakenly joined British column; nature of German opposition encountered in Lokkum, Netherlands; question of effects of exhaustion and failure of platoon commander; question of need to remove junior officers who are a liability to men under their command; reaction to Dutch to speed of arrival of mail and rations to unit, Easter Sunday, 1/4/1945; German stretcher-bearer who was given citation for attending British wounded; push from Oldenzaal to Bremen, Germany including capture of German submarine commander; support received from Churchill Crocodile Flame Throwing Tanks whilst clearing road at Burgerpark, Bremen, Germany.
REEL 4 Continues: capture of Bremen, Germany, 4/1945; march to Wilstedt; German use of sea mines, 5/1945; reaction to cancellation of plans for attack an hour before ceasefire, 5/5/1945; casualties suffered by battalion in campaign in North West Europe; attitude to having served in North West Europe and performance of battalion; joining 1st Bn Hampshire Regt, 1945. Recollections of operations with 1st Bn Hampshire Regt, 1st Infantry Div in Palestine, 1946-1947: role as transport officer; strain of manpower resources during Zone B duties; attack by nine Zionists to blow up house, 1/8/1947; ambush of battalion lorry convoy; attitude of battalion to it's role; certificate given by Arab mukhtar stating battalion had caused no damage during search.
REEL 5 Continues: battalion's leaving Palestine for Egypt, 10/1947; Egyptian pilfering from British Army in Moascar Camp, Egypt, 1947. Recollections of period as officer with 1st Parachute Regt, 16th Independent Parachute Bde Group in Germany and Canal Zone, Egypt, 1948-1952: reasons for joining battalion in Germany, 1948; relations with 1st Infantry Div, United States Army during exercises in Germany, 1948; move of unit to Cyprus during Mossedeq Crisis in Iran; move to Geneifa in Canal Zone, 1951; role dealing with Egyptian harassment of British personnel in Canal Zone, 1951-1952. Aspects of period as officer with 1st Bn Royal Hampshire Regt in Germany and GB, 1952-1959: return to unit in Germany, 1952; role training recruits for Malayan Emergency in Winchester area, 1954-1956. Recollections of operations as officer with 1st Bn Royal Hampshire Regt in Jamaica, British Honduras and British Guiana, 1960-1962: move to Jamaica, 1960; attempt to cordon two ex-United States Marine Corps marines who were training Rastafarians; unit casualties and fate of ex-United States Marine Corps marines; Emperor Haile Selassie's visit to Jamaica and reaction of Rastafarians.
REEL 6 Continues: move to British Honduras to counter-threat from Guatamala, summer 1960; account of relief work during aftermath of Hurricane Hattie, British Honduras, 11/1961.
REEL 7 Continues: role during inter-communal rioting, Georgetown, British Guiana, 1962. Recollections of operations commanding 1st Bn Royal Hampshire Regt in Belfast, Northern Ireland, 8/1969-11/1969: problems of recalling battalion and equipping it for duties in Belfast, 8/1969; dealing with situation in South Belfast; method of removing barricades; use of hotlines to Irish Republican Army (IRA) and parish priest.
REEL 8 Continues: problems of stretching of manpower resources; first use of CS gas in GB and his cross-examination about it on British Broadcasting Corporation; incident when Protestant crowd was forced back by unit with fixed bayonets and its consequences; disposition of companies in Belfast; attitude of civilians to unit; story of how he got back a rifle stolen from one of battalion's soldiers and how he got it back; return of battalion to GB, 11/1969. Aspects of period as officer with Ministry of Defence in Sri Lanka, 1971: request of Sri Lankan Government for military supplies after loss of a large number of police stations in attack by Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna insurgents, 4/1971-6/1971; role and duties; attitude of civilians towards British presence.
REEL 9 Continues: Aspects of period as welfare officer with Ministry of Defence to British Army, 1972-1978: visit day before coup d'etat to Seychelles, 1978; visits to 'loaned servicemen' in Oman and danger of Surface-to-Air Missiles.
