Interview with Alfred John Webber

British NCO served with 3rd Bn Royal Marines, Royal Marines Division in GB, 1940-1943; served with 44 (Royal Marine) Commando, 3rd Special Service Bde and 3rd Commando Bde in India, Ceylon and Arakan, Burma, 1944-1945

REEL 1 Background in Marston Magna, GB, 1919-1939: family; education; employment; reaction to declaration of Second World War, 3/9/1939. Aspects of enlistment and training with Royal Marines in GB, 1940: joining Royal Marines, 4/3/1940; training at Plymouth; opinion of rations; further training at Bisley; sleeping under hedgerows, summer 1940; sight of Dunkirk Evacuation survivors at Woking Railway Station; forced march through Bisley-Pirbright area, summer 1940; reasons to move to Wales; docks work at Pembroke Dock, summer 1940; move to Plympton; coastal defence at Newton Ferrers. Recollections of period with D Coy, 3rd Bn Royal Marines in GB and during Dakar Raid, French West Africa, 9/1940-1/1941: orders to make wills at Plympton; relations with civilians and dockers in Liverpool; move to Scapa Flow. REEL 2 Continues: voyage aboard MS Sobieski from GB to Dakar, French West Africa; supposed role of marines in Dakar, French West Africa; move to Freetown, Sierra Leone after abortive raid, 9/1940-1/1941; bugle call 'Letters from Lousy Lou'; sight of ocean liners in convoys at Freetown, Sierra Leone; move to Gibraltar, 1/1941; period in Gibraltar; description of term 'short arm inspection'; return to GB. Aspects of training with 3rd Bn Royal Marines, Royal Marine Division in GB, 1941-1943: training to Stobs Camp near Hawick; exercises at Inveraray and visit by Prime Minster Winston Churchill; reaction to sinking of HMS Hood, 24/5/1941; exercise at Scapa Flow. REEL 3 Continues: move to camp at Velindre; character of Exercise Berwyn; entertainments at Velindre; move to Shirley near Southampton; promotion to sergeant and move to B Coy; exercises on Isle of Wight; operating Projector Infantry Anti-Tank (PIAT); practical joke played on Canadian NCO, 1943; flax-pulling role at Haverfordwest, 1943. Aspects of period as NCO with No 44 (Royal Marine) Commando, 3rd Special Service Bde in GB and India, 1943-1944: formation of unit; training at Commando Basic Training Centre, Achnacarry; accommodation at Achnacarry; move to Folkstone-Hythe area; voyage aboard HMT Reina Del Pacifico from GB to India including German Air Force attack in Mediterranean, 1943. REEL 4 Continues: basing of unit at Kedgaon, 1944. Recollections of operations as NCO with No 44 (Royal Marine) Commando, 3rd Special Service Bde in Arakan, Burma, 1944: preparing for landings on Queen Elizabeth Island; seaborne landing at Alethangyew; dealing with Imperial Japanese Army sniper in tree; fate of wounded marine and other casualties; reconnaissance patrol with Captain Sturges; arrival at 82nd (West African) Infantry Div base at Nahkaungdo nicknamed 'No-Can-Do'; character of Operation Screwdriver Two; Royal Artillery shelling on Imperial Japanese Army ground attack; night patrolling; amusing story of marine's survival under fire; attempt to rescue of crashed Royal Air Force aircrew; rapid transfer to Shillong, India; unorthodox use of condoms by marines on patrol. Aspects of period as NCO with No 44 (Royal Marine) Commando in India and Ceylon, 1944: move from Assam to Bangalore, India; leave period in Bombay, India; move to Ceylon; seaplane exercises in Trincomalee area, Ceylon. REEL 5 Continues: question of inadvisability of drinking liqueurs prior to assault exercise. Recollections of operations as NCO with No 44 (Royal Marine) Commando, 3rd Commando Bde in Arakan, Burma, 1944-1945: return of unit; loss of commanding officer; Christmas celebrations at Teknaf, India, 12/1944; unopposed landing at Akyab Island; friendly fire on Douglas Dakota aircraft at Akyab; character of landings at Myebon; cleaning up after landing in mangrove swamp; capture of Japanese cooking fuel; remains of Imperial Japanese Army soldier killed by Gurkhas; relations between marines and Gurkhas; voyage to Kangaw; strategic importance of Kangaw area; under Imperial Japanese Army attack at Pinner Hill, Kangaw, 23/1/1945; relief of commando by British Indian Army troops, 24/1/1945; beach defence duties at Kangaw; narrow escape from Japanese artillery shell. REEL 6 Continues: withdrawal of commando from Hill 170; relations between commandos and British Indian Army troops. Aspects of period as NCO with No 44 (Royal Marine) Commando in India and GB, 1945: allocation of months leave in GB; sight of civilian demonstration in Calcutta, India, 3/1945; leave in GB, summer 1945; return to India and promotion to company sergeant-major; demobilisation in GB, 1945; attitude to having served with Royal Marines in Second World War; question of lack of effects of service in Second World War.