Interview with Dick Gledhill

British private served with 2nd Bn West Yorkshire Regt (The Prince of Wales's Own), 9th Indian Infantry Bde, 5th Indian Infantry Div in North Africa, Middle East, India and Burma, 1941-1944

REEL 1 Background in Idle, GB, 1920-1940: family; education; reaction to declaration of Second World War, 3/9/1939; enlistment in British Army, 1940. Recollections of period as private with 2nd West Yorkshire Regt (The Prince of Wales's Own), 9th Indian Infantry Bde, 5th Indian Infantry Div in North Africa and Middle East, 1941-1942: voyage aboard HMT Louis Pasteur from GB to Egypt including sabotage on board; role with signals platoon; nature of 'barrel route' from Egypt to Western Desert; move to Iraq, 1941; garrison duties in Cyprus, 1941-1942; return to North Africa, 3/1942. Recollections of operations as private with A Coy, 2nd Bn West Yorkshire Regt (The Prince of Wales's Own), 9th Indian Infantry Bde, 5th Indian Infantry Div in North Africa, 3/1942-8/1942: action at El Adem, Libya, 6/1942; sight of movie cameraman filming Axis prisoners of war; withdrawal to El Alamein Line, 6/1942; wounding and medical treatment: nature of wounds caused by explosion, 6/1942. REEL 2 Continues: evacuation from battlefield; attitude towards badly wounded German; hospitalisation in Egypt; return to battalion; German Air Force Junkers Ju 87 Stuka dive-bomber attacks on positions at Ruweisat Ridge, 7/1942; arrival of fresh reinforcements. Aspects of period as private with 2nd Bn West Yorkshire Regt (The Prince of Wales's Own), 9th Indian Infantry Bde, 5th Indian Infantry Div in Iraq and India, 1942-1943: training at Habbaniyah, Iraq; relations with Iraqi civilians; move to India; training at Ranchi, summer 1943. Recollections of operations as private with Signals Platoon, 2nd Bn West Yorkshire Regt (The Prince of Wales's Own), 9th Indian Infantry Bde, 5th Indian Infantry Div in India and Burma, 1943-1944: move to Cox's Bazaar, India; occupation of Teknaf Peninsula, India; work of signals platoon; ambush of signallers by Imperial Japanese Army troops; orders to find guerrilla platoon; question of accuracy of artillery support; sight of dead Imperial Japanese Army officer. REEL 3 Continues: officer's infiltration of Imperial Japanese Army lines; orders to move towards Admin Box, Burma, 2/1944: orders to move into Admin Box, Burma, 31/1/1944; terrain in Admin Box, Burma; Imperial Japanese Army Air Service attacks; reaction to death of Corporal Jimmy Kelly, 20/2/1944; role of Imperial Japanese Army machine gunner in capture of hill; behaviour of Imperial Japanese Army troops on capture of hill; recapture of hill by battalion and discovery of body of Corporal Jimmy Kelly, 20/2/1944; air drop supply and interception of supplies by Imperial Japanese Army troops; opinion of Imperial Japanese Army tactics; role of Regimental Sergeant-Major James Maloney during the battle; reconnaissance role performed on last day of siege. REEL 4 Continues: fate of Imperial Japanese Army troops at hands of Gurkhas. Aspects of period with 2nd Bn West Yorkshire Regt (The Prince of Wales's Own), 9th Indian Infantry Bde, 5th Indian Infantry Div in India, 3/1944: contracting malaria, 3/1944; determination to rejoin unit in Imphal, 4/1944; hospitality of United States Army Air Force personnel in Assam; rejoining battalion at Imphal, 4/1944; reasons for Japanese failure during Battle of Imphal; resting after monsoon; discipline within unit; question of danger of disease on Tiddim Road; second bout of malaria; orders to return home after four years service aboard; journey across India to Bombay, 12/1944; attitude to having served with 2nd Bn West Yorkshire Regt (The Prince of Wales's Own), 9th Indian Infantry Bde, 5th Indian Infantry Div in Second World War; question of physical and psychological effects of military service. REEL 5 Continues: attitude to having served in Second World War.