Interview with John Perkins

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Description

Object description

British private served 8th (Machine Gun) Bn Middlesex Regt (Duke of Cambridge's Own), 43rd (Wessex) Infantry Div in GB, 1943-1944; served with Mortar Platoon, S Coy, 7th Bn Hampshire Regt, 130th Infantry Bde, 43rd (Wessex) Infantry Div in North West Europe, 6/1944-5/1945

Content description

REEL 1 Background in Camberwell, London, Annerley and West Norwood, GB, 1926-1939: family circumstances; living conditions in childrens homes in Annerley and West Norwood. Aspects of period as evacuee and factory worker in Partridge Green, West Grinstead, Brixton and West Norwood, GB, 1939-1942: evacuation from Brixton to Partridge Green and West Grinstead, 2/9/1939; accommodation on estate; life in West Grinstead; role pumping water out of school air raid shelter, 1940; job as gardeners' boy at Cowfold; memories of German Air Force raids in Brixton, 1941-1942; job at telephone factory in West Norwood. Aspects of enlistment and training with British Army in GB, 1942-1943: reasons for volunteering for British Army, 1942. REEL 2 Continues: character of basic training at Saighton Camp, near Chester, early 1943; training on Anglesey. Aspects of period as private with 8th (Machine Gun) Bn Middlesex Regt (Duke of Cambridge's Own), 43rd (Wessex) Infantry Div in GB, 1943-1944: posting to battalion; role operating lorry-borne Oerlikon Gun; exercises in New Forest and West Sussex; contact with hop-pickers at Faversham, autumn 1943. Period with 7th Bn Hampshire Regt in GB, 1944: posting to unit at Cooden Beach, 3/1944; short period at reinforcement holding unit; embarkation at Southampton, summer 1944. Recollections of operation as private with 7th Bn Hampshire Regt, 130th Infantry Bde, 43rd (Wessex) Infantry Div in Normandy, France, 7/1944-8/1944: nature of landing; period in holding area near Bayeux; attitude of French civilians; initial allocation to A Coy then Mortar Platoon, S Coy; importance of Mount Pinçon; sights seen in Falaise Gap, 8/1944. REEL 3 Continues: servicing of troops out of line; crossing River Seine at Vernon, France, 8/1944. Recollections of operations as private with Mortar Platoon, S Coy, 7th Bn Hampshire Regt in North West Europe, 9/1944-5/1945: loss of battalion transport, 9/1944; reception in Brussels, Belgium, 9/1944; guard duties at Saint-Jean-op-de-Poel Hospital, Brussels, Belgium; advance to The Island, Netherlands 9/1944; period in hospital in Nijmegen, Netherlands, 9/1944; stay in forest near Groesbeek, Netherlands, 10/1944-11/1944; use of Universal Carrier as living space; use of 'Benghazi Cooker'; living conditions; rush to Liège, Belgium, 12/1944; reasons for delay in leave, 1/1945. REEL 4 Continues: crossing of River Rhine, Germany, 3/1945; advance towards Bremen, Germany; parading through Bremen, Germany; handling of civilian property. Recollections of period as private with 7th Bn Hampshire Regt in Germany, 1945-1947: move to Hamburg area; relations with Germans; guarding Displaced Persons Camp; relations with German civilians during harvest festival time; move to Soltau; attitude to garrison duties in Berlin, 2/1946; relations with Soviet Army troops in Berlin; use of Churchill Club in Berlin; black market in Berlin; use of duty-free labels to get goods back to GB; second posting to Berlin, 10/1946. REEL 5 Continues: Reflections on military service in Second World War: question of handling rifle and operating Morse Code key if left handed; attitude to having served in Second World War.

Object Details

Category: Sound
Related period: 1990 to the present day (production), Second World War (content), Second World War (association)
Creator: IWM (Production company)
Wood, Conrad (Recorder)
Perkins, John (Interviewee/Speaker)
Production date: 2000-05-22
Dimensions: whole: Duration 125, Number Of Items 5
Catalogue number: 20331

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Interview with John Perkins

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