Description
Object description
British civilian during German Air Force raid on Coventry, GB, 11/1940; private served with 1st Bn York and Lancaster Regt, 15th Infantry Bde, 5th Infantry Div in Germany, 1945-1946; NCO served with 1st Bn Royal Northumberland Fusiliers in Gibraltar, 1947-1950; served with 1st Bn Royal Northumberland Fusiliers, 29th British Infantry Bde Group in South Korea, 11/1950-10/1951
Content description
REEL 1 Recollections of German Air Force attack on Coventry, GB, 14/11/1940: effects on fireman fighting blazes; fate of family members; effect of naval anti-aircraft gun firing; effect of bombing on public morale; attitude towards Germans; sight of mother and sister after bombing of family home. Aspects of training with British Army in GB, 1944-1945: volunteering for military service after abortive attempts to join Royal Navy and Royal Air Force; basic training at Winchester; posting to Lancashire Fusiliers then York and Lancaster Regiment. Recollections of period as private with 1st Bn York and Lancaster Regt, 15th Infantry Bde, 5th Infantry Div in Germany, 1945-1946: attitude towards Germans; attitude of Lithuanians and Latvians towards Germans; problems of keeping Displaced Persons away from German civilians; fight between British Army troops and German civilians in which German policeman was killed at Celle, 12/1945.
REEL 2 Continues: Aspects of period as NCO with 1st Bn Royal Northumberland Fusiliers in Gibraltar, 1947-1950: reasons for volunteering for draft to battalion; lettering of unit companies; attitude to restrictions on troops; attitude of civilians towards British Army troops. Recollections of operations as NCO with 1st Bn Royal Northumberland Fusiliers. 29th British Infantry Bde Group in South Korea, 11/1950-10/1951: question of inadequacy of 29th British Infantry Bde Group's winter equipment; details of winter clothing worn; role with tactical headquarters; fusilier who committed suicide on troopship from GB to South Korea; attitude of reservists towards NCOs; role of regimental sergeant-majors; initial impressions of South Korea, 1950; attitude towards Korean civilians and troops; effect of weather on British Army troops; initial experience of action at Happy Valley, 1/1951.
REEL 3 Continues: casualties to unit; role of W Coy during action at Happy Valley, 1/1951; opinion of Chinese People's Volunteer Army troops; question of dealing with suspected infiltrators and sensitivity as a misplaced quality in war; wounding at Happy Valley and subsequent hospitalisation in Japan; return to battalion, 3/1951; withdrawal of unit from River Imjin, 4/1951; reaction to position officer put him and nine others into on River Imjin, 4/1951; how he extricated himself and remnants from position.
REEL 4 Continues: giving boots to comrade during withdrawal from River Imjin; question of motivation of troops; reaction to killing of wounded by Chinese People's Volunteer Army troops; reaction to execution of Korean civilians by Korean military; corpses in grounds of University of Seoul, 4/1951; treatment of Chinese People's Volunteer Army soldier's corpse; sight of Operation Commando at a distance, 11/1951; reaction of commanding officer to Republic of Korea Army unit's retreat in Happy Valley, 1/1951; attitude towards Communists; attitude towards political aspects of war and United Nations' charter; attitude to having served in Korean War; effect of adrenaline in battle.
REEL 5 Continues: psychological effects of having served in Korean War; sights and smells of battlefield after battle; return to River Imjin battlefield to recover and bury bodies. Aspects of visit to South Korea, 1984: changes in landscape; prior recollection of officer's corpse being devoured by flies; reception by South Koreans; question of medical effects of serving in Korean War especially from exposure to DDT, diesel and paraffin.
