Description
Object description
British NCO served with A Coy, 1st Bn Black Watch (Royal Highland Regt), 29th British Infantry Bde, 1st Commonwealth Div in South Korea, 6/1952-7/1953; served with 1st Bn Black Watch (Royal Highland Regt), 39th Infantry Bde in Kenya, 8/1953-3/1955
Content description
REEL 1 Background in Alva, GB, 1920-1939: family; education. Background to posting to South Korea, 1952: reaction to hearing of posting at Buxtehude, Germany; arrangements to settle family in Crail, GB. Aspects of voyage aboard HMT Empire Orwell from GB to South Korea, 5/1952-6/1952: conditions on board troopship; route of voyage; arrival in Pusan, South Korea, 6/1952. Recollections of operations as company sergeant-major with A Coy, 1st Bn Black Watch (Royal Highland Regt), 29th British Infantry Bde, 1st Commonwealth Div in South Korea, 6/1952-7/1952: preparations in concentration area; concern about junior NCO leadership; morale in unit; importance of leaving positions in good order; leadership and calibre of soldiers in company; opinion of National Service conscripts; duties as company sergeant-major; use of flak jacket; initial move into front line; danger from runaway tank; rescue of troops from no-man's land; search for Chinese People's Volunteer Army infiltrators in rear areas.
REEL 2 Continues: problems in trench system caused by heavy rain; use of beams in trench construction; use of Korean porters; effect of heavy rains and collapse of road system; opinion of Chinese People's Volunteer Army's night fighting skills; question of Chinese People's Volunteer Army troops' use of drugs; incident of hand-to-hand fighting between unit and Chinese; exchange of messages between unit and Chinese; attempts to capture Chinese prisoners; United States Army's use of listening devices; recovery of troops in rear areas after period in line; story of battle between rat and wild cat on his chest at Yong Dong Po; threat from vermin in trenches; relations with United States Marine Corps personnel.
REEL 3 Continues: contact with American forces; story relating to American dead at Piccadilly Circus trench crossroads; action on The Hook, 11/1952; action on The Hook, 5/1953; contact with French Canadian troops; problems of taking over inadequate positions from other units; attempt to use artificial moonlight; attitude to politics behind Korean War; calibre of high ranking British officers.
REEL 4 Continues: leadership of battalion; allocations of decorations after the Battle of The Hook; leaving South Korea, 7/1953. Recollections of operations as regimental sergeant-major with A Coy, 1st Bn Black Watch (Royal Highland Regt), 39th Infantry Bde in Kenya, 8/1953-3/1955: reception by civilians in Nairobi, 1953; attitude towards Mau Mau insurgents; catering for army families; accommodating company in village; attitude to taking Mau Mau insurgents prisoners; question of behaviour of troops in Nairobi; role accompanying commanding officer in spotter aircraft; personal accommodation; role and duties; finger printing of dead Mau Mau insurgents; use of trackers; relations with civilian planters; changes in accommodation and relations with African servants; weapons issued to army wives.
REEL 5 Continues: Mau Mau camp found in battalion sweep; effect of fermented banana on Mau Mau insurgents; use of camp followers; contact with Asian traders; handing over to 1st Bn Gloucestershire Regt, 3/1955; injuries to battalion officers when staff officer threw explosive during leaving party; voyage from Mombasa, Kenya to GB, 3/1955.
