Interview with James Edwin Dunning

British trooper served with 12th Royal Lancers (Prince of Wales's) in GB, 1939-1940; NCO served with No 4 Commando in GB, 1940-1942 including Operation Claymore, the raid on Lofoten Islands, Norway, 4/3/1941 and Operation Jubilee, the Raid on Dieppe, France, 19/8/1942; officer served as instructor with Commando Basic Training Centre at Achnacarry in GB, 1942-1944; served with 1st Bn Royal Hampshire Regt, 1st Infantry Div in Palestine, 1946-1948; served as staff officer with 29th British Infantry Bde Group in South Korea, 1950; served as staff officer in Headquarters, Cyprus District, Nicosia, Cyprus, 1956; officer served with 2nd Parachute Regt, 16th Independent Parachute Bde Group during Operation Musketeer, the landings at Suez, Egypt and in Cyprus, 1956-1957

REEL 1 Background in Southampton, GB, 1920-1939: family; education; employment as butcher. Aspects of period as trooper with 12th Royal Lancers (Prince of Wales's) in GB, 1939-1940: reasons for joining British Army; reaction to declaration of Second World War, 3/9/1939; reasons for volunteering for special duties. Recollections of period as NCO with No 4 Commando in GB, 1940-1941: joining commando on foundation in Weymouth, 1940; role of commando in case of invasion; types of volunteers in commando; billeting system; sight of Battle of Britain; anticipations of German invasion, summer 1940; lack of transport; problems of assembling unit during invasion scare, 10/9/1940; anti-invasion sorties, Ridgeway Hill, autumn 1940; change in commando training; move to Inveraray conditions aboard HMS Glengyle; sifting out of 'moaners'; nature of training in Scotland, 1940-1941. Recollections of operations as NCO with F Troop, No 4 Commando during Operation Claymore, the raid on Lofoten Islands, Norway, 4/3/1941: duties as sergeant with F Troop. REEL 2 Continues: purpose of raid; success of raid; role during raid. Recollections of operations as NCO with C Troop, No Commando during Operation Jubilee, the raid on Dieppe, France, 8/1942: promotion to sergeant-major; aims of raid; role of troop during raid. Aspects of period as instructor at Commando Basic Training Centre at Achnacarry, GB, 1942-1944: commissioning, 1942; nature of training at Achnacarry, 1943; morale of Free French commandos at Achnacarry, 5/1944; description of 'Me and My Pal' system; memories of Lieutenant-Colonel Charlie Vaughan; parachute accident, Wrexham, 1944. Aspects of operations as officer with 1st Bn Royal Hampshire Regt, 1st Infantry Div in Palestine, 1946-1948: insurgent attack on battalion in Jerusalem, 1946; story of rendering two bombs harmless. REEL 3 Continues: attitude towards internal security duties; contrast in attitudes between Arabs and Jews. Aspects of period as staff officer with 29th British Infantry Bde Group in South Korea, 1950: staff officer job; attitude towards plight of Korean civilians; duties as G3 under Brigadier Kenneth Trevor. Aspects of period as staff officer in Headquarters, Cyprus District, Nicosia, Cyprus, 1956: role and duties; work for General Gerald Templer; memories of General Gerald Templer. Aspects of operations as officer with 2nd Bn Parachute Regt, 16th Independent Parachute Bde Group during Operation Musketeer at Suez, Egypt, 11/1956: role and duties; requisitioning of transport in Port Said. Aspects of operations as officer with 2nd Bn Parachute Regt, 16th Independent Parachute Bde Group in Cyprus, 1956-1957: operations in Kyrenia area; opinion of professionalism of unit. Reflections on military service: attitude to having served with commandos in Second World War; question of lack of psychological effects of military service; importance of training.