Interview with James Gordon Murray

British NCO served with S Coy, 1st Bn Durham Light Infantry, 28th Commonwealth Infantry Bde, 1st Commonwealth Div in South Korea, 9/1952-9/1953; served with 1st Bn Durham Light Infantry in Canal Zone, Egypt, 9/1953-3/1955; police officer served with Kenya Police in Kenya, 1956; NCO served with 1st Bn Durham Light Infantry during Indonesian Confrontation in Sarawak, Borneo, Malaysia, 1964-1965; served with Military Provost Staff Corps in GB and Northern Ireland, 1969-1979

REEL 1 Background in Kelloe, GB, 1933-1951: family; education; German Air Force bombing of Kelloe, 1941; food shortages during Second World War; victory celebrations, 1945; employment in farming and coal mining, 1948-1951. Aspects of enlistment and training with British Army in GB, 1951-1952: reaction to call-up for National Service, 1951; basic training at Durham Light Infantry Regimental Depot, Brancepeth Castle; boxing training. Aspects of period as NCO with 1st Bn Durham Light Infantry in Berlin, Germany, 1952: assault pioneer training including disarming booby traps; relations with German civilians; guard duties in Berlin; contrast in demeanour of Soviets and East Germans. Aspects of voyage aboard HMT Empire Trooper from GB to South Korea, 8/1952: conditions on board troopship; training and boxing achievements; route march around The Crater, Aden. Recollections of operations as NCO with S Coy, 1st Bn Durham Light Infantry, 28th Commonwealth Infantry Bde, 1st Commonwealth Div in South Korea, 9/1952-9/1953: reception in Pusan; train journey to Britannia Camp, Ujongbu; attachment to 1st Bn Royal Australian Regt to learn layout of minefields; pattern of minelaying. REEL 2 Continues: contrast between Australian and Durham Light Infantry battalions; volunteering to carry guncotton charge on patrol against Chinese People's Volunteer Army target in cavern, 11/1952; execution of attack; treatment he received for having disobeyed orders during attack; physical characteristics of Durham men; fate of Chinese People's Volunteer Army prisoners of war captured during raid; unit casualties during raid on Chinese wire, early 1953; Coronation Day celebrations, 2/6/1953. REEL 3 Continues: attitude towards Chinese People's Volunteer Army troops; importance of dominating no-man's land; living conditions in front line; improvement in cooking after regimental cooks took over; observation of rats in trenches; contracting boils; role of Women's Voluntary Service with wounded; trip to Japan accompanying wounded; return voyage from Japan to South Korea; contact with Korean civilians; presence of Korean Augmentation Troops Commonwealth (KATCOMS) in unit; leaving South Korea, 9/1953. Aspects of voyage aboard HMT Empire Orwell from South Korea to Egypt, 9/1953: two factions among former prisoners of war on board; eagerness of former prisoners of war to disembark from ship; former prisoner of war who developed antagonism towards him. Aspects of period as NCO with 1st Bn Durham Light Infantry in Canal Zone, Egypt, 1953-1954: guard duties a Fâyid; problem dealing with civilians; story of being exonerated after accidental shooting of two Royal Air Force officers. Recollections of period as police officer with Kenya Police in Kenya, 1956: volunteering for police work, 1/1956. REEL 4 Continues: move to Molo in White Highlands; fingerprinting severed hands brought in by pseudo-gang member, Ken Jackson at Eldama Ravine; period at Nyeri Police School; start of his police work in Aberdare Range; move to Mweiga; adoption of Jamrik a half Kikuyu, half Masai man; death of area Mau Mau leader Dedan Kimathi; atrocities committed by Mau Mau; Mau Mau fear of pseudo-gangs; physical state of Mau Mau who returned from forest; reasons for Mau Mau unrest. REEL 5 Continues: general police duties at Mweiga; character of Kikuyu people; presence of Kipsigi people in police force; reasons why his time in colony ended; question of why British Army was ineffective against Mau Mau. Aspects of period as NCO with 1st Bn Durham Light Infantry in GB, West Berlin, Germany and Hong Kong, 1961-1963: reasons for volunteering for and re-enlistment in British Army, 1961; duties in West Berlin when Berlin Wall was erected, 8/1961; arrival in Hong Kong, 1963. Recollections of operations as NCO with 1st Bn Durham Light Infantry in Sarawak, Borneo, Malaysia, 1964-1965: reforming of assault pioneer platoon; engineering work at Bukit Nukel; laying ambush for Indonesian forces, 1965; springing of ambush on Indonesian forces. REEL 6 Continues: river patrols and encounter with tidal bore; problems of satisfying craving for chips in unit; question of why air supplies of potato, meat and beer were always lost in swamps; hazard of leptospirosis; Gurkha success against Indonesian forces. Recollections of period as NCO with Military Provost Staff Corps in GB and Northern Ireland, 1969-1979: nature of military policing in Colchester during 1960s; joining unit in 1969; work at Military Correction Centre at Colchester, 1969-1979; attachments to Maze Prison, Long Kesh and Musgrave Park Hospital, Belfast in Northern Ireland, 1972 and 1979; searches of visitors to Maze Prison; guarding wounded prisoners at Musgrave Hospital; question of personal safety; living conditions in Maze Prison. REEL 7 Continues: Reflections on military service with British Army: running of pig farm at Colchester on return to civilian life; question of problems of adjusting to civilian life after 1979; question of promotion in British Army and contents of his reports; attitude towards having served in British Army.