Dixon, Ronald (Oral history)

British NCO served with 12th Bn Parachute Regt, 5th Parachute Bde, 6th Airborne Div in GB, North West Europe, Singapore, Malaya and Java, Dutch East Indies, 1943-1946; served with 4th Bn Parachute Regt, 2nd Parachute Bde, 6th Airborne Div in Palestine, 1946

REEL 1 Background in Manchester, GB, 1923-1939: family; education, Aspects of period as civilian in Manchester, 1939-1942: reaction to declaration of Second World War, 3/9/1939; work in Spring Gardens; German Air Force bombs which fell on Fallowfields area; use of Anderson Shelter; attitude to bombing; public morale; distinctive sound of German Air Force aircraft; membership of Lancashire Home Guard in Rusholme. Aspects of enlistment and training with British Army in GB, 1942-1943: call-up for military service, 2/1942; posting to Signals Platoon, 2/4th Bn South Lancashire Regt (The Prince of Wales's Volunteers) at Otley, 8/1942; volunteering for Parachute Regiment, 1943; being returned to unit with colour blindness; period with 5th Bn East Lancashire Regt, 8/1943-12/1943; volunteering for Parachute Regiment for second time. Aspects of training with Parachute Regiment in GB, 1943-1944: character of training at Clay Cross; parachute training at No 1 Parachute Training School, RAF at RAF Ringway, winter 1943-1944; parachute practice jumps at Knutsford; posting to 12th Bn Parachute Regt, 1/1944. Recollections of operations with Signals Platoon, 12th Bn Parachute Regt, 5th Parachute Bde, 6th Airborne Div in Normandy, France, 6/1944-8/1944: background to briefing for D-Day; delay to operation; attachment to C Coy; use of white silk gloves; parachute descent, 6/6/1944. REEL 2 Continues: assembling at Ranville, 6/6/1944; contact with civilians at Ranville, 6/6/1944; signals work; attack on Bréville-les-Monts, 12/6/1944; under friendly fire from Allied ships; attempt of German Army soldier to surrender to him; death of commanding officer Lieutenant-Colonel Alexander Johnson, 12/6/1944; capture of Bréville-les-Monts, 12/6/1944; sheltering from German Army mortar fire in brick works; question of superiority of German military equipment; return to GB, 8/1944. Recollections of operations with 12th Bn Parachute Regt, 5th Parachute Bde, 6th Airborne Div in North West Europe, 1944-1945: move to Ardennes, Belgium, 12/1944; arrival at Namur, Belgium, 25/12/1944; weather conditions in Ardennes, Belgium; reaction of United States Army troops to contact with unit, 1/1945; move to River Maas, Netherlands, 1/1945; enplaning for Operation Varsity, the crossing of the River Rhine, Germany, 3/1945; arrival on drop zone, 24/3/1945; officer's use of hunting horn to rally troops; advance into Osnabrück, Germany, 4/1945. REEL 3 Continues: role as Lieutenant-Colonel Kenneth Darling's signaller; sight of former inmates of Bergen-Belsen Concentration Camp near Celle, Germany; entry into Celle, Germany; contact with Displaced Persons; sight of German prisoners of war on VE Day, 8/5/1945; incident of friendly fire from Royal Air Force; impressions of Soviet Army at Wismar, Germany, 5/1945. Aspects of period with 12th Bn Parachute Regt, 5th Parachute Bde in Far East, 1945-1946: voyage to India, 7/1945; question of survival rate during projected Operation Zipper, 8/1945; taking over Changi Prison, Singapore, Malaya; guarding Japanese prisoners of war; execution of Japanese war criminals; move to Java, Dutch East Indies; role looking after released Dutch internees; patrolling villages. REEL 4 Continues: attitude to serving in Java, Dutch East Indies; return to Singapore, Malaya, 1946; relations with civilians in Singapore, Malaya; boxing in boxing booths; ticket dances; attitude of commanding officer to troops marrying; discipline in military hospital. Aspects of period with 4th Bn Parachute Regt, 2nd Parachute Bde, 6th Airborne Div in Palestine, 1946: delay in his joining unit; capture of British officers by Zionists.