Description
Object description
British private served with 1/4th Bn South Lancashire Regt, 164th Infantry Bde, 55th (West Lancashire) Infantry Div in GB, 10/1943-4/1944; NCO served with 7 Platoon, A Coy, 1st Bn East Lancashire Regt, 158th Infantry Bde, 53rd (Welsh) Infantry Div in GB and North West Europe, 1944-1945; private served with 1st Bn South Lancashire Regt (The Prince of Wales's Volunteers) in Palestine and Egypt, 1945-1947
Content description
REEL 1 Background in South Ullveston, GB, 1925-1939: family; father's military service in First World War; education; sporting activities; contact with Czechoslovakian refugee, 1938. Aspects of period as postman with General Post Office in GB, 7/1939-5/1943: obtaining employment with General Post Office, 7/1939; reaction to declaration of Second World War, 3/9/1939; delivering letters to British Army reservists, 9/1939; father's reaction to Dunkirk Evacuation, 5/1940-6/1940; registering for military service; threat of German invasion, 1940. Aspects of enlistment and training with British Army at Formby, GB, 6/1943-9/1943: call-up for military service, 6/1943; parent's reaction to call up inoculations; issue of pay book and uniform; allocation of army number; learning to salute; drill and physical fitness; cross-country running; weapons training and firing on range.
REEL 2 Continues: firing Bren Gun; mortar, Projector Infantry Anti-Tank (PIAT) and grenade training; training with Anti-Tank No 74 Mk I Grenade Sticky Bomb; continuation training. Aspects of period as private with 1/4th Bn South Lancashire Regt (The Prince of Wales's Volunteers), 164th Infantry Bde, 55th (West Lancashire) Infantry Div in GB and Northern Ireland, 10/1943-3/1944: joining unit at Shoreham, 10/1943; guard duties; move to Carrickfergus Northern Ireland. Aspects of period as NCO with 7 Platoon, A Coy, 1st Bn East Lancashire Regt, 71st Infantry Bde, 53rd (Welsh) Infantry Div in GB, 1/4/1944-22/6/1944: joining battalion at Sittingbourne, 1/4/1944; accommodation; training with scrambling nets; hospitalisation in Royal Tunbridge Wells; allowance to wear socks in bed; use of Indian terms in unit; cancellation of leave after 6/6/1944; waterproofing of vehicles and move to Newhaven; sight of Allied air armada, 6/6/1944; hearing news of D-Day landings, 6/6/1944; embarkation aboard HMT Lady Longford, 22/6/1944. Recollections of operations as NCO with 7 Platoon, A Coy, 1st Bn East Lancashire Regt, 71st Infantry Bde, 53rd (Welsh) Infantry Div in Normandy, France, 6/1944-8/1944: nature of English Channel crossing including sight of Royal Navy battleships firing inland; problems in embarking aboard landing craft.
REEL 3 Continues: landing on Mulberry Harbour, 23/6/1944; move to forming up area; use of information signs; use of 'tommy cookers' and rations; first casualties near Caen; relieving 6th Bn King's Own Scottish Borderers; finding dead soldiers head in slit trench; German attempt to draw fire; reaction to being under fire; attack on 'Pepperpot House'; nature of terrain; character of fighting west of Caen.
REEL 4 Continues: night-time patrol on side of Hill 112; later transfer of battalion from 71st Infantry Bde to 158th Infantry Bde, 26/8/1944; change in terrain. orders to attack village of Bois Halbout, 12/8/1944; terrain and casualties; nature of house-to-house fighting; German armoured counter-attack; reforming in village; character of fighting at Miette and Noron-l'Abbaye; lack of support from other units; casualties.
REEL 5 Continues: opinion of German Army troops in Miette; sight of Royal Air Force attacks on German forces during advance towards Falaise, 8/1944; opinion of Royal Air Force Hawker Typhoons. Recollections of operations as NCO with 7 Platoon A Coy, 1st Bn East Lancashire Regt, 158th Infantry Bde, 53rd (Welsh) Div in, North West Europe, 8/1944-1/1945: nature of advance through France; singing at Armentières, France
REEL 6 Continues: patrolling in Arnhem Corridor, Netherlands; move to Nijmegen, Netherlands; training with Kangeroo Armoured Personnel Carrier; attack on s'Hertogenbosch, Netherlands, 10/1944 including firing on German horse drawn artillery, capture of casino, giving rations to Dutch civilians, opening fire on German Army soldier, house-to-house fighting, use of grenades, armoured support and sight of Churchill Crocodile Flame Throwing Tanks in action.
REEL 7 Continues: capture of s'Hertogenbosch, 27/10/1944; nature of static patrols on River Maas, Netherlands, 11/1940; relief by 15th (Scottish) Infantry Div, 12/1944; move to Ardennes, Belgium, 12/1944; weather conditions in Ardennes, Belgium, 12/1944; Christmas celebrations in Ardennes, Belgium, 25/12/1944; problems of digging in and relief of United States Army troops, 12/1945; clothing worn in Ardennes, Belgium; carrying of sound in forest; nature of unit casualties; attack on Grimbiémont, Belgium, 7/1/1945; company strength after attack; withdrawal and move to Helmond, Netherlands, 1/1945.
REEL 8 Continues: training in Helmond, Netherlands, 1/1945; character of reinforcements; patrolling with new officer. Recollections of operations as NCO with 7 Platoon, A Coy, 1st Bn East Lancashire Regt in Germany, 2/1945-5/1945: move to Nijmegen, Netherlands jumping off point for attack on Reichswald Forest, 2/1945; briefing about attack on Reichswald Forest, 2/1945; Allied artillery bombardment; weather conditions; march from Nijmegen, Netherlands to Reichswald Forest, Germany; nature of German positions and effects of Allied artillery fire on Reichswald Forest, 2/1945; condition of tracks through Reichswald Forest; sight of British tank in Reichswald Forest; German counter-attack; use of stretcher-bearers to carry supplies in isolated positions; carrying ammunition for Bren Guns.
REEL 9 Continues: conditions in slit trenches; rations; relief of battalion; return to Reichswald Forest; advance through Goch and Kleve; nature of fighting in wooded areas; capture of German Air Force troops; slight wounding by shrapnel; advance towards River Rhine; attending NCO course; crossing River Rhine, 3/1945; sight of Allied airborne forces during Operation Varsity, 3/1945; advance to Bocholt; wounding of Major Joe Cetre and death of Sergeant-Major Robert Montgomery at Bocholt, 29/3/1945; move northwards along Netherlands border and advance to Ems-Weser Canal; crossing Ems-Weser Canal.
REEL 10 Continues: loss of D Coy members during crossing River Aller, 12/4/1944; contact with Royal Hungarian Army troops; German sniper threat at Otersen; nature of terrain; capture of youthful German Army officer cadets; method of clearing cellars and treatment of German civilians; use of Churchill Crocodile Flame Throwing Tanks to clear German positions in wood; attitude of German Army officer prisoner of war, 15/4/1945-16/4/1945; reinforcements; seven day leave period in GB.
REEL 11 Continues: use of Field Service Postcards. Aspects of period as NCO and private with 1st Bn East Lancashire Regt, 158th Infantry Bde, 53rd (Welsh) Infantry Div in Germany, 1945: entering into Hamburg, 5/1945: sight of German civilians; reaction to end of Second World War, 5/1945; guard duties on displaced persons; move to Oberhausen; loss of corporal's stripes. Aspects of period as private with No 3 Section, 11 Platoon, A Coy, 1st Bn South Lancashire Regt (The Prince of Wales's Volunteers) in Palestine and Egypt, 1945-1947: places stationed in; nature of duties; attack by Jewish insurgents; escort duties; demobilisation process in GB, 1947.