Interview with Frank Bostock

British gunner served with 22nd Field Regt, Royal Artillery, 4th Infantry Div in France and Belgium, 10/1939-6/1940; NCO served with 114th Field Regt, Royal Artillery, 47th Infantry Div and Southern Command in GB, 8/1940-2/1942; served with 114th Field Regt, 20th Indian Infantry Div in India and Burma, 5/1942-5/1945

REEL 1 Background in Sutton-in-Ashfield, GB, 1920-1938: family circumstances; employment at Newstead Colliery including work leading pit pony, life of pit ponies, level of wages, work regime and nature of work; reasons for volunteering for British Army, 1938. Aspects of training as gunner with Royal Artillery in GB, 1938-1939: nature basic training at Royal Artillery Regimental Depot, Woolwich; accident to his finger caused by Ordnance QF 18 Pounder Field Gun. Aspects of period as gunner with 22nd Field Regt, Royal Artillery in GB, 4/1939-10/1939: joining regiment at Shorncliffe Camp, GB and France, 4/1939-5/1940; unit equipment and opinion of Ordnance QF 25 Pounder Field Gun; reaction to declaration of Second World War, 9/1939; move to France, 10/1939; initial impressions of Cherbourg, 10/1939; period in Gort Line near Lens; move to Roubaix; relations with French civilians. Recollections of operations as gunner with 22nd Field Regt, Royal Artillery, 4th Infantry Div in France and Belgium, 5/1940-6/1940: move to Louvain, Belgium after 10/5/1940. REEL 2 Continues: fate of German Air Force pilot in hands of Belgian Army troops; retreat from Louvain, Belgium; sending of married soldiers home; destruction of units guns near Dunkirk, France; wounding by artillery shell splinter, 30/5/1940; evacuation from East Mole, Dunkirk, France, 1/6/1940. Aspects of period with 114th Field Regt, Royal Artillery, 47th Infantry Div and Southern Command in GB, 8/1940-2/1942: joining regiment after hospitalisation for wounds at Presteigne, 8/1940; equipping with old French artillery pieces; coastal defence duties in West Sussex, 5/1941-11/1941; turning down chance of returning to civilian life after promotion, 1941. Recollections of voyage aboard HMT Orion and HMT Mauretania from GB to India, 3/1942-5/1942: privileges of NCOs in HMT Orion; degree of danger to troops taking passage in HMT Mauretania from South Africa to India. Recollections of period as NCO with 114th Field Regt, Royal Artillery, 20th Indian Infantry Div in India and Ceylon, 1942-1943: initial impressions of Bombay, India; visit to gold mine in Kolar Gold Fields, India. REEL 3 Continues: bout of dysentery; jungle training in Ceylon, 7/1942-7/1943; concern over possible Japanese invasion; conditions of civilians in Ceylon; return to India, 7/1943; second bout of dysentery; re-equipping of regiment; opinion of Ordnance QF 3.7 Inch Mountain Howitzer; move to Kohima, India, 11/1943. Recollections of operations as NCO with C Troop, 114th Field Regt, Royal Artillery, 20th Indian Infantry Div in Kabaw Valley, Burma, 1/1944-3/1944: role of unit; support for 1st Bn Northampton Regiment, 2/1944; Imperial Japanese Army use of tanks, 3/1944; experiences during Imperial Japanese Army attack on Admin Box, 5/2/1944-23/2/1944. REEL 4 Continues: regiment casualties in Kabaw Valley; orders to pull back to Tamu and resumption of artillery role, 3/1944. Recollections of operations as NCO with C Troop, 114th Field Regt, 20th Indian Infantry Div at Imphal, India, 3/1944-5/1944: initial firing on Nippon Hill, 31/3/1944; casualties caused by own artillery shell hitting tree, 31/3/1944; move to new positions; capture and loss of Nippon Hill, 4/1944; receiving counter-fire from Imperial Japanese Army artillery; effects of fatigue, 5/1944. Recollections of operations as NCO with C Troop, 114th Field Regt, Royal Artillery, 20th Indian Infantry Div in Indian and Burma, 1944-1945: supporting Woodforce at Bishenpur, India, summer, 1944; re-equipping with Ordnance QF 25 Pounder Field Gun; leave period in Calcutta, India; race to Mandalay, 1945. REEL 5 Continues: problems crossing River Irrawaddy; visit to Mandalay after capture, 3/1945; opinion of Imperial Japanese Army troops; contracting diphtheria on Thayarwaddy. Aspects of hospitalisation in India, 1945: voyage from Rangoon, Burma to Calcutta on hospital ship, 5/1945; medical treatment in Calcutta area; convalescence in Darjeeling; return to GB, 1945.