Interview with Dennis Bossey Rendell

British officer served with 70th Bn Middlesex Regt (Duke of Cambridge's Own) in GB, 4/1941-9/1941; trained with 2nd Bn Parachute Regt, 1st Parachute Bde, 1st Airborne Div in GB, 9/1941-11/1942; served with 1 Platoon, A Coy, 2nd Bn Parachute Regt, 1st Parachute Bde, 1st Airborne Div in French Algeria and Tunisia, 11/1942-12/1942; prisoner of war in Campo PG 21, Chieti and Campo PG 78, Sulmona in Italy, 1/1943-9/1943; escaped and evaded capture in Italy, 9/1943-6/1944; served with 1st Bn Middlesex Regt (Duke of Cambridge's Own), 27th Commonwealth Infantry Bde in South Korea, 8/1950-9/1950; served with Corps of Military Police and Royal Military Police in GB and West Germany, 1954-1977

REEL 1 Background in London, GB, 1920-1939: family; education; reaction to declaration of Second World War, 3/9/1939. Aspects of training with Middlesex Regiment (Duke of Cambridge's Own) in GB, 1940: character of training at Mill Hill, 7/1940-8/1940; dangers of saluting on military bicycles; training at No 167 Officer Cadet Training Unit at Droitwich; accidental shooting of sheep; explanation of term beaten zone; commissioning, 4/1941; explanation of term 'indirect firing'. Aspects of period as officer with 70th Bn Middlesex Regt (Duke of Cambridge's Own) in GB, 4/1941-9/1941: posting to A Coy at Hurst Park; deer hazard in Richmond Park; use of Richmond Park as decoy for German Air Force; opinion of Young Soldier Battalions system; amusing encounter with 'Captain Swill'; application to join Parachute Regiment. Aspects of period of training as officer with 2nd Bn Parachute Regt in GB, 1941-1942: arrival at Airborne Forces Depot, Hardwick Hall; role as platoon commander; parachute training at No 1 Parachute Training School, RAF at RAF Ringway; road accident at Brookwood; move to Bulford. REEL 2 Continues: training on Salisbury Plain; opinion of Major-General Frederick Browning; move to Kilmarnock. Recollections of operations as officer with 1 Platoon, A Coy, 2nd Bn Parachute Regt, 1st Parachute Bde in French Algeria and Tunisia, 1942: voyage from GB to French Algeria, 11/1942; accommodation in Algiers, French Algeria; German Air Force attack on Maison Blanche Airfield, French Algeria, 11/1942; parachute landing at Depienne, Tunisia, 12/1942; trek to Oudna, Tunisia, 12/1942; problems of sleeping at night; action against Germans, 12/1942; aid received from French farmer; incident of lucky German motorcyclist at Abbaci Farm, Tunisia, 2/12/1942. REEL 3 Continues: move towards Medjez-el-Bab, Tunisia; renewed fighting with Germans; wounding and capture, 4/12/1942; attempt to organise escape in Tunis, Tunisia, 12/1942. Recollections of period as prisoner of war in Campo PG 21, Chieti and Campo PG 78, Sulmona, Italy, 12/1942-9/1943: flight in Messerschmitt Me 262 and in Junkers Ju 52 to Capua, Italy, 1/1943; move to Campo PG 21 at Chieti, 1/1943; life in officers camp; attempt to organise an escape from Campo PG 21, Chieti, 1943; orders from Senior British Officer not to escape, 9/1943; transfer of prisoners of war by Germans to Campo PG 78, Sulmona, 9/1943. Recollections of escape and evasion in Italy, 9/1943-6/1944: escape from Sulmona into hills; aid from Italian civilians; message he got to British diplomat in Vatican City; journey from Sulmona to Rome; obtaining money in Rome; entry of Allies into Rome, 6/1944. REEL 4 Continues: return to 2nd Bn Parachute Regt in GB, 7/1944. Aspects of period was officer with Headquarters, 5th Parachute Bde in Malaya and Java, Dutch East Indies, 1945-1946: beaching landing during Operation Zipper at Morib, Malaya, 8/1945; move to Java; arrest of Sukarno in Batavia, Java; role of brigade. Recollections of operations commanding A Coy Middlesex Regt (Duke of Cambridge's Own), 27th Commonwealth Infantry Bde in South Korea, 8/1950-9/1950: reaction to posting, 8/1950; arrival at Pusan, 8/1950; administration of inoculations; defence of River Naktong; loss of Geoffrey Bucknall on patrol, 9/1950; formation of Korean Army Group 4, Republic of Korea Army; visit to artillery unit alleged to be under sniper fire, 9/1950; crossing River Naktong and attack on North Korean held hill, 9/1950; opinion of American general carrying shot gun; flight to Seoul; sight of General Douglas MacArthur in Seoul, 9/1950. REEL 5 Continues: Aspects of period as staff officer with British Army in GB, 1950-1954: return from South Korea to go to Staff College, Camberley; move to War Office, London; problems in recruiting infantrymen during 1950s. Recollections of period as officer with Corps of Military Police and Royal Military Police in GB and West Germany, 1954-1977: decision to join Corps of Military Police, 1954; role with mounted unit at Aldershot Garrison, 1954-1956; opinion of Aldershot Garrison; relations between British Army personnel and civilians in Aldershot; commanding Provost Coy, 1st Corps at Bielefeld, West Germany, 1956-1960; commanding 170th Provost Coy in Edinburgh early 1960s; role as instructor at Corps of Military Police Training Depot, Woking, 1960s; role with Royal Military Police until 4/1977; story of discovering Hans Teske a German paratrooper who fought in Tunisia.