Wilkinson, Harold "Harry" (Oral history)

British private trained at Durham Light Infantry Depot in GB, 1941-1942; served with 17th Bn Durham Light Infantry in GB, 1942; private and NCO served with 6th Bn Durham Light Infantry in North Africa, Italy, GB and North West Europe, 1942-1944; served with Durham Light Infantry in GB, 1944-1945; served with 5th Bn West Yorkshire Regt in GB, Italy and Austria, 1945-1946

REEL 1 Background in Yorkshire and Co Durham, GB, 1920-1941: Green Howards memorial; family including father's service in First World War; reasons for family's move to Ferryhill; community grew up in; annual holiday; education including discipline; work as apprentice bricklayer; details of pay and working week; night classes taken while working on Bishop Auckland Grammar School; annual holidays; time in scouts; membership of trade union; signs of approaching war while working in Birtley Munitions Factory; loss of pay when sick and during inclement weather; pay increases; interest in army; increase in air activity from 1938; air raid shelters and coastal defences built before war; evacuation of rats before storm in Hartlepool; reactions of civilians as war approached; outbreak of war 9/1939; reactions to start of war; service of different family members in First World War. REEL 2 Continues: attitude towards army service; opinion that war would last a long time; view that defeat was not possible and spirit among civilians; work of wife at Low Spennymoor; reason for delay in joining army; details of work during war; attempt to enlist; wait for call-up; memories of a friend; enlistment and call-up papers. Aspects of period as recruit with Durham Light Infantry Depot in GB, 11/1941-5/1941: arrival at Brancepeth Castle; interview with commanding officer; reception on first day; description of camp; issue of uniform; adjustments made to uniform; army haircut; uniform and housewife issued; opinion of Ross rifle issued; story of course fired on range; equipment issued; position of bayonet and water bottle on uniform; cleaning and inspection of rifle; method of cleaning webbing; dubbing of boots; medical; accommodation; sleeping arrangements; population of hut; storage of equipment; cleaning of room; rota for room orderly duties; heating; cleaning of stove; washing facilities; other duties; rationing of fuel; ease in settling into army life; difficulties of some troops settling in and background of recruits. REEL 3 Continues: leisure activities; comradeship and story of fight with corporal; sand dance; kit inspections; replacement of lost items; barrack room damages; details of pay; stealing among recruits; rations; supplements from NAAFI; morning procedures; breakfast; start of working day; morning activities including route marches; pace of drills and marches; equipment carried on route marches; training with vehicles; rests during route marches; drills learned; firing and opinion of Ross rifle and Lee Enfield; small assault courses; opinion of bayonet training; story of wound received from a bayonet; attitude towards training; sports played; visits to Willington; relationship with civilians; leave; deaths of parents and opinion of stepmother; formation and inspection of guard; standard of turnout; position of guard and camp layout; details of guard duties; details of piquet duties; cleaning up of camp; description and opinion of pack drill. REEL 4 Continues: details of jankers; confinement of troops in guardroom; attitude to discipline; unit; memories of Sergeant Watson; contact with officers; commanding officer's parade; journey to Folkestone. Aspects of period as private with 17th Bn Durham Light Infantry in GB, 5/1942-9/1942: details of 17th Battalion; opinion of NCOs; duties and training; leisure activities; stories of air raids; description of camp; night shift exercise; platoon training; descriptions of different field exercises; work with other units; story of problems with diarrhoea during a route march; story of civilian shoes bought; presence of anti-tank rifle; gas precaution training; carrying and eventual dumping of respirator; lectures about German Army; hand grenade training; method of throwing a grenade; length of time with battalion; accommodation in Capel-le-Ferne; opinion that now fully trained; reactions to way war was going; story of volunteering for draft with Harry Walkers including reason for volunteering; time in Folkestone hotel; posting to Ilkley Moor; knowledge of destination abroad; activities at Ilkley Moor; description of camp; hospitalisation in Beverley with tonsillitis; reason for refusal of treatment; help with potato harvest. REEL 5 Continues: reiteration of tonsillitis story; journey to Greenock; time away from Ilkley Moor camp. Aspects of journey from Greenock, GB, to Egypt aboard the Empress of Scotland, 9/1942- 11/1942: details of ship; conditions onboard; sleeping arrangements and story of falling off bed; period in medical bay; details of convoy; reason for disappearance of escort; approach to and impressions of Bahere; games played on ship; duties; drills; sun bathing; captain's inspections; Coca-Cola available on ship; rations; seasickness; time in quarantine with rash; story of submarine scare; enjoyment of journey; make-up of draft; reception on arrival in Durban; feast of Cadbury's chocolate; description of camp stayed in; memories of Ted Graham; posting as batman to Lieutenant Keele; story of losing way in camp and problems with snakes; length of time in camp; canteens in Durban; relationship with civilians; journey to Egypt; disembarkation; conditions on journey up Red Sea. Aspects of period as private at Geneifa, Egypt, 11/1942: first impressions of Egypt; arrival at Geneifa; issue of lanterns; story of sandstorm on first night and reveille following morning; role of Geneifa camp; care taken in sun; discipline in camp; parade with Guards. REEL 6 Continues: rock-climbing including terrain; story of twisting back and visit to medical officer; job given in company office; civilian method of stealing tents; treatment for back injury; organisation of troops at Geneifa; news of posting in 6th Battalion; acclimatisation; facilities in camp; organisation of cinema; discipline and kit inspections; storage of equipment; care taken with rifles at night; civilian workers in camp; cleanliness; changes in uniform for 6th Battalion; lectures; journey to Castel Benito; signs of warfare in desert; journey through Cairo. Aspects of operations as private with 6th Bn Durham Light Infantry in North Africa, 11/1942-7/1943: reception on arrival; posting in 13 Platoon C Company; memories of Sergeant Dunn; state of battalion; reception from veterans; make-up of platoon; memories of Major Eardley-Wilmott and others; rifleman's duties; grenades fired from rifle; Bren gun training; opinion of Bren gun; desert training; heavy rain during training; training for street fighting in Benghazi area; communications; efficiency of radios; taking command when necessary; ease of settling into desert life; accommodation; latrines; rations; Stand To; acclimatising to heat; army attitude to sunburn. REEL 7 Continues: desert sores; problems with flies and beetles; treatment of desert sores; malaria precautions; morale; effects of battle on some troops; stay in swamp area; journey to Mareth Line; reactions to going into first action; advance from lines at Mareth; explosion of mine and call for stretcher bearers; orders not to stop for wounded; return of wounded soldier; effects of such scenes; walk through wadi; passing through of tanks; wall on far side of wadi; soldiers killed by shell blast in a trench; setting up of Bren gun in a German trench; destruction restoration of Bren gun; memories of Bren gun team at Mareth; advance; ammunition situation; scenes during ammunition run with Private Spendlove; memories of Captain Rumney and orders to take stretcher out; shelling of wadi; evacuation of Private Wilkman and treatment given to him; slight wounding and cover taken during return to platoon with ammunition; orders to retreat; run through minefield; arrival at wadi and boarding of carrier; arrival at Echelon; proximity of Germans to wadi; summary of action; meal; length of time in action; problems removing webbing and part of skull attached to it; return to line in truck; shelling; wounding from blast; woke up in field hospital; reactions to being under shellfire; example of shell shocked soldier and method of dealing with him; proximity got to Germans; knowledge of shooting success; splitting up of unit; description of and patients in Benjadin hospital; confiscation of rifle; contact with German POW. REEL 8 Continues: length of time in hospital; contact with a Gurkha patient; work in officers mess; walk to Mareth Line; events on air strip; flight to meet unit; reunion with unit and telegram that had been sent to wife; casualties in company; noise and smell on battlefield; reactions following battle and in hospital; story of soldier who escaped to South Africa; morale of battalion; casualties; activities following Mareth; appearance of Ghurkas during formation of line at Wadi Akarit; terrain; capture of Italian motorcyclist; shrine found in Italian dugout; discovery of German reporter; reactions to looting of bodies; attitude towards taking items from POWs; objects found on battlefield; attitudes towards opposing troops; advance towards Enfidaville; reactions to being pulled back to Egypt; invasion training at Aqaba; leave in Alexandria; temptations of brothels and memories of Ted Allen; military police presence; mail; concern during period receiving no letters; censorship of mail; invasion training; knowledge of destination. REEL 9 Continues: Aspects of operations as private with 6th Bn Durham Light Infantry in Italy, 1943: condition of sea off Avola; seasickness; discovery of destination; landing at Little Avola including death of Captain Walton; rendzvous with Colonel Watson and Battalion Headquarters; scattering of party; opposition to landing; advance through wire; first meeting with opposing troops; terrain inland and climate; adjustment to terrain; differences to tactics on Sicily; reception from civilians; advance to Solarino; capture of Italian general; formation of advance; weapons and ammunition carried; equipment carried; use of gas cape; description and opinion of entrenching tool; crossing of river at Primosole Bridge; terrain across bridge; scenes and smells on sunken road including dealing with such scenes; casualties; description of barrage shells falling short in vineyard; advance and near miss from bullet following slip; advance behind Sergeant Dunn; break through cactus hedge and German paratroopers in vineyard; German met beyond hedge and later discovery of his body; noise during battle; calls from wounded men; effects on men of battle; rest and reactions following battle; scenes on battlefield following action; importance of religion. REEL 10 Continues: work of padre in battle situations; story of German POW accused of shooting at medics; charred remains seen in half-track vehicle; reaction to such scenes; opinions of German weapons; opinion of bren gun; description of minenwerfer fire; rest period; advance across Catania Plains; story of air attack on column; platoon casualties at Primosole Bridge; German defence of airfield; advance through Catania towards Messina Straits; collapse with malaria. Aspects of hospitalisation in North Africa, 1943: evacuation to North Africa aboard St David Hospital Ship; disappearance of equipment and trophies including treatment received; flight to camp near Algiers; opinion of treatment; fellow patients; activities in camp; staff; work building bases for huts with Italian POWs; story of storm destroying buildings; move to camp at Maison Carre; routine; fights in camp bar; 50 Division troops in camp; length of time in original routine; work in Algiers docks; story of night on ammunition ship; work in ammunition dumps; continuing effects of malaria; army attitude to malaria. REEL 11 Continues: belief that authorities caused him to miss boat home; troops in camp; date of arrival in GB. Aspects of journey from Algiers, Algeria, to Liverpool, GB, 12/1943: story of crash in Straits of Gibraltar; convoy; activities during stop for repairs in Gibraltar; conditions onboard; weather and seasickness between Gibraltar and GB. Aspects of period as private with 6th Bn Durham Light Infantry in GB, 12/1943-6/1944: arrival in Liverpool; leave; reunion with battalion at Shudy Camp; issue of Africa Star medal ribbon; relationship with troops who had not left GB; discipline; posting to camp in Nightingale Wood; description of estate the transport was taken to; guard duties on transport; hot bath offered by Haynes family; later visit to family; civilian knowledge of events; landing training; conditions in camp; story of battalion shoot and posting in sniper platoon; cleaning of weapon and ammunition; supervision of cleaning; checking of rifles for accuracy; sniper training; opinion of what makes a good hide; time of departure each day. REEL 12 Continues: sniper equipment issued; use of sights; shooting of target; need for patience; shots fired from each hide; dangers leaving hide; effective range; warnings about being caught and tanks; details of sniper section; ammunition and rations carried; head camouflage; covering of tracks; situations for sniping; details of sniper sergeant; hospitalisation with malaria and posting as AWOL; time in Taunton convalescent camp; return to Nightingale Wood to find unit gone; escort of AWOL troops to docks; hospitalisation of Colonel Green; battalion commander; boarding of craft; embarkation; scenes on channel; lifebelt given by American seaman; disembarkation. Aspects of operations as private and NCO with 6th Bn Durham Light Infantry in North West Europe, 6/1944-9/1944: difficulty removing lifebelt; incoming fire on beach; movement off beach; outpost duty; air activity during advance; rejoining of sniper section; activities in sniper positions; death of sniper sergeant; posting as Lance Corporal in C Company; duties as junior NCO; movement forwards; memories of Eddie Maher; terrain near Bayeux; visit to Bayeux; quiet in platoon on return and reason for tension. REEL 13 Continues: terrain; activities before battle in cornfield at Verrières; issue of PIAT without ammunition or training; forming up and advance; opposition faced; wounding; attempts to evacuate a tank crew; arrival in ditch German had occupied; positions taken at crossroad; personal arsenal built up; size of group; treatment received for wound; formation of advance across cornfield; reaction to opposition faced; knowledge of events during battle; troops leading advance; height of corn; Germans seen; reactions following battle; weather; date of action; First World War tactics and earlier use of tactics in desert; German method of firing machine guns; advance to Tilly- sur-Seilles; cover taken from tank action; memories of a soldier from Spennymoor; dealing with stress; opinion that felt safer in Normandy than in desert; opinion of German troops; difficulties dislodging Germans; tank support; marker carried for identification from air; friendly fire from air. REEL 14 Continues: accommodation and sleeping arrangements near Villers Bocage; problems with lice; bombing of Villers Bocage; damage from bombing; contact with civilians; advance over Mont Pincon and story of military policeman killed by shell; position taken in sunken lane; shelling and soldier's loss of arm; usual reactions to being wounded; warnings about booby traps; movement into Orne Valley; action in valley; ammunition carried; arrival in valley bottom; disappearance of Bren crew; advance too far with Bren; setting up and firing of Bren; surrender of German troops; treatment given to wounded soldier; withdrawal to seek unit; talk with and death of Sergeant Jarvis; reaction to sudden death; effects of fighting on troops; rations; importance of good rations; beer rations; frequency and importance of mail; story of an income tax bill; home sickness; story of maps found in abandoned building; rank held; lessening of German resistance; German artillery bombardments and air bursts; signs of shattered nerves; presence of stretcher bearers and doctor. REEL 15 Continues; position taken in orchard; story of cow falling into slit trench; soldiers killed on latrines; cover taken in latrine trench during ration run; cleanliness; changes of clothing; state of feet; supply of new boots; health of battalion; earlier injury from car accident and its after-effects; ease of losing track of time; speeding up of advance; movement through Falaise gap; method for clearance of woods; opinion of Sten gun; story of driver shot by sten gun; destruction of Falaise; stories of German atrocities; withdrawal of Germans; contact with American troops; impressions of American troops; story of troops losing nerve and going AWOL; court martial of AWOL troops; quality of reinforcements and help given to younger troops; advance to Amiens; adaptations made to building for defence; French beer; opinion of French communist met; relationship with civilians; story of Yorkshire man speaking French; rest period. REEL 16 Continues: warnings against looting; rosary picked up; advance to Belgium via Lille; reception in Brussels; rest; location of Gheel; diversionary mission on canal; movement along hedgerow; orders to break cover and spread out; wounding as moved through hedge; carried on; opposition faced; orders given to section; movement back to seek aid and landing of unexploded shell; scenes in Field Dressing Station; orders given to taken troops to Echelon; story of being taken ill and laying in tent waiting for medical attention; interview with adjutant; story of parade and promotion to sergeant; treatment received at medical station; treatment in Brussels hospital; evacuation to GB including anti-aircraft fire from Cherbourg. Aspects of hospitalisation in GB, 1944: arrival in GB; journey to New Cross Hospital in Wolverhampton; organisation of hospital; relationship with civilians; hospital uniform; discipline; treatment received and problems with wound; opinion of treatment; patient with haemorrhoids; visit from wife; length of stay; convalescence at home. Aspects of period as NCO with Durham Light Infantry in GB, 1944-1945: arrival at Brancepeth Camp; interview with commanding officer; posting on golf course in Durham; accommodation; reunions with ex 6th Battalion members. REEL 17 Continues: make-up of unit; settling into new life; training; length of period with unit; sleeping out pass and leisure activities; posting and accommodation at Leigh-on-Sea; medical grading; ongoing effects of wound; length and role of posting. Aspects of period as NCO with West Yorkshire Regt in GB, 1945: posting as sergeant instructor; memories of Major Musgrave; accommodation in Porthcawl; re-training of troops as Light Infantry for Far East; length of courses; embarkation leave; news of posting in Italy; death of an ex-Royal Artillery sergeant; voyage aboard Nue Holland to Naples. Aspects of period as NCO with West Yorkshire Regt in Italy, 1945: arrival in Naples and journey to Castel Amara near Bari; garrison and guard duties; sewers utilised by robbers and state of troops relieved; taking over of sergeant major duties; reaction to not receiving increase in rank or pay; SIB inquiry following stealing from depot; capture of thieves; posting to Austria. Aspects of period as NCO with West Yorkshire Regt in Austria, 1945-1946: accommodation in Leoben; drilling of troops; length of time in Leoben; time in transit camp; journey to GB; journey to Haydon Bridge; final medical and grading; process of demobilisation at York; uniform retained; gratuity; presents bought in Austria and stolen at Haydon Bridge. REEL 18 Continues: Aspects of period as civilian in GB from 1946: settling back into civilian life and raising of children; return to civilian work; ongoing problems with wounds; medical treatment received following war; comradeship in army; worst aspects of army life; tinned bacon; membership of old comrades association; poor health.