Poulter, Charles Robert (Oral history)

British civilian in London, GB, 1939-1942; trooper and NCO served with 9th Royal Tank Regt, 34th Armoured Bde in GB and North West Europe, 1943-1945

REEL 1 Background in Hackney, London, GB, 1923-1939: family; education. Aspects of period as civilian in London, GB, 1939-1942: reaction to declaration of Second World War, 3/9/1939; effect of German Air Force 500kg Large Incendiary Bomb on family home; method used to extinguish burning oil; casualties at Leyton Green, Leyton; lack of effect of German Air Force bombing on public morale; listening to radio. Aspects of enlistment and training with Royal Armoured Corps in GB, 1942-1943: call-up for military service, 30/9/1942; character of basic training; allocation to 9th Royal Tank Regt. Aspects of period as trooper and NCO with 12 Troop, C Sqdn, 9th Royal Tank Regt in GB, 1943-1944: joining unit at Charing; showering arrangements; allocation to 12 Troop; composition of troop and naming of tanks; training preparations for Normandy Landings; roles of tank crew; armament of Churchill Tank; protection against infantry attack; handling of misfires; command procedure in tank; forging of esprit de corps; waterproofing of tanks at Ash. REEL 2 Continues: boarding landing craft tanks at Gosport. Recollections of operations as NCO with 12 Troop, C Sqdn, 9th Royal Tank Regt in Normandy, France, 6/1944-8/1944: crossing of English Channel; landing on Juno Beach; role of beachmaster on Juno Beach; initial action in support of 15th (Scottish) Infantry Div at Cheux, 26/6/1944; British casualties at Cheux, 26/6/1944; hit on tank by armour piercing shell and bailing out, 26/6/1944; rescuing of driver Trooper Roy Painter from tank and his evacuation from battlefield; effect on morale of action at Cheux; recomposition of 12 Troop; return to action, 29/6/1944; attitude towards German forces; sight of civilian casualties and rescue of children; occasion when he had to open fire during local ceasefire, 6/1944. REEL 3 Continues: tank commander's extraction of troop from dangerous situation; key nature of Hill 112, 7/1944. Recollections of operations as NCO with C Sqdn, 9th Royal Tank Regt, 34th Armoured Bde in North West Europe, 1944-1945: role of unit at Le Havre, France, 9/1944; German resistance at Roosendaal, Netherlands, 11/1944; fire during refitting at Roosendaal, Netherlands; defensive positions at Liège, Belgium, 12/1944; problems of moving through Reichswald Forest, Germany, 2/1945; reasons for transfer to 11 Troop; machine-gunning of Sergeant Alfred 'Reg' Mead in Reichswald Forest, Germany, 11/2/1945. REEL 4 Continues: advance through Reichswald Forest, Germany; crossing River Rhine, Germany, 3/1945; handling German prisoners of war after 5/1945. Reflections on military service: reasons for posting to Royal Armoured Corps demonstration squadron at Bielefeld, Germany, 1945-1947; recall to military service on Z Reserve, 1951; physical effects of military service; attitude to having served in Second World War.