Interview with Stanley Alan Clark

British civilian in Holborn, London, GB, 1939-1942; private served with 1st Bn Hampshire Regt, 231st Infantry Bde, 50th (Northumbrian) Infantry Div in Italy, 1943; served with 2nd Bn Cameronians (Scottish Rifles), 13th Infantry Bde, 5th Infantry Div in Italy, Middle East and North West Europe, 1943-1945

REEL 1 Background in Holborn, London, GB, 1923-1939: family; education. Recollections of period as civilian in Holborn, London, GB, 1939-1942: role as Air Raid Precautions messenger; visiting sight of first German Air Force bombs which fell on City of London; sight of dead bodies in street during German Air Force bombing campaign; effect of parachute land mine on Gray's Inn, 5/1941; attitude towards exploding German Air Force incendiary bombs; public morale during German Air Force bombing campaign; listening to radio; feeling that Britain was better without Allies. Aspects of enlistment and training as private with Hampshire Regiment in GB, 1942: call-up for military service; training at Parkhurst Barracks, Isle of Wight; move to Colchester Garrison; further training on Mersea Island; joining 11th Bn Hampshire Regt at Withernsea and move Consett; background to posting to North Africa. REEL 2 Continues: Aspects of operations as private with 15 Platoon, C Coy, 1st Bn Hampshire Regt, 231st Infantry Bde, 50th (Northumbrian) Infantry Div in Italy, 9/1943-10/1943: period waiting in landing craft for invasion of Italy, 9/1943; landing at Pizzo, 9/1943; character of battalion; physical condition during advance northwards; use of landing crafts for advance northwards; 231st Infantry Bde return to GB. Recollections of operations as private with C Coy, 2nd Bn Cameronians (Scottish Rifles), 13th Infantry Bde, 5th Infantry Div in Italy, 1943-1944: background to transfer to unit at Aletta; night spent in ossuary; push to Isernia, 11/1943; rations; contracting jaundice and evacuation to Bari; rejoining battalion north of River Garigliano; weather conditions winter, 1943-1944; building sangars on Minturno Ridge; patrolling on Minturno Ridge; problems of crossing stream in flood; issue of rum; nature of operations in Minturno Ridge area; rest period prior to move to Anzio. REEL 3 Continues: move into The Fortress, Anzio; nature trench warfare in area; effect of German multi-barrelled mortars; use of bakelite grenades and effect of use of smoke; fate of B Coy; psychological effect of sound of fixing bayonets; sleeping in wet trench; role as officer's batman; quality of rations at The Fortress, Anzio; reason for short supply of officers; in positions near River Moletta; death of NCOs from artillery fire; hearing bull-frogs in Pontine Marshes; Allied advance from Anzio; casualties to land-mines; advance to River Tiber and Rome, 6/1944. Aspects of period as private with 2nd Cameronians (Scottish Rifles), 13th Infantry Bde, 5th Infantry Div in Middle East, 7/1944-1/1945: in transit at Moascar, Canal Zone, Egypt; training at Gaza, Palestine and Damascus, French Syria. REEL 4 Continues: character of Beirut, Lebanon, 1944. Recollections of operations with 2nd Bn Cameronians (Scottish Rifles), 13th Infantry Bde, 5th Infantry Div in North West Europe, 3/1945-5/1945: move to Belgium, 3/1945; reinforcing battalion; use of night soil on fields in Belgium; move into Germany by rail; sight of devastation of Osnabrück; orders to capture Bleckede; role as quarter-master sergeant's clerk; capture of Bleckede; type of Germans captured at Bleckede; consequences of Bleckede being labelled a 'Nazi town'; loss of A Coy platoon in River Elbe; mass surrenders of German forces; inability to sleep in bed. Aspects of period as private with 2nd Bn Cameronians (Scottish Rifles) in Germany, 1945: injury to child who found phosphorus bomb; billeting in former German Air Force barracks at Stendhal; resumption of peacetime soldiering; drilling to beat of drum; social activities; encounter with German veterans from Eastern Front at Goslar. Aspects of period as private with School of Infantry at Warminster, GB, 1945-1946: role as demonstration platoon; sporting activities; position of sportsmen in unit; role of sport in unit. REEL 5 Continues: Aspects of operations with 2nd Bn Cameronians (Scottish Rifles) in Italy, 1943-1944: attitude to having served with 2nd Bn Cameronians (Scottish Rifles) in Second World War; effect of poppy omen; case of soldier who went 'bomb happy'; lice problem in barn; occasion when orders were to fix bayonets and attack from sunken road.