Interview with William Taylor

British served with 1st Special Service Regt in North Africa, 6/1942-9/1942; prisoner of war in North Africa, Italy and Germany, 9/1942-5/1945

REEL 1 Aspects of period with 2/6th Bn East Surrey Regt in GB, 1939-1941: joining Territorial Army at Chertsey, 1939; guard duties in Kent, 12/1939; reasons for not being sent to France, 1940; coastal defence duties at Southwold, 1940-1941; German Air Force attack on Mildenhall. Recollections of operations as private with 1st Special Service Regt in North Africa, 1942: voyage aboard HMT Louis Pasteur from GB to Egypt, 1941-1942: arrival in Canal Zone and volunteering for special duties; formation of 1st Special Service Regt; retreat to El Alamein Line, 6/1942; nature of Operation Agreement a plan to attack Tobruk, Libya with Long Raid Desert Group; equipment taken on Operation Agreement, 9/1942; execution of his Commando Force B, 1st Special Service Regt's attack on Tobruk, Libya, 13/9/1942-14/9/1942; fate of supporting vessels, HMS Zulu and HMS Sikh; orders to act as runner to Major Colin Campbell; capture by Germans. REEL 2 Continues: Aspects of period as prisoners of war in North Africa, Campo PG 70, Monteurano, Italy and Stalag VII-A, Moosburg, Germany, 9/1942-1/1945: initial treatment as prisoner of war in Tobruk, Libya; move to Derna and Benghazi, Libya; removal to Brindisi, Italy via Piraeus, Greece; move to Campo PG 70, Monteurano; plans to escape from Campo PG 70, Monteurano, 7/1943-8/1943; escape and period evading capture in Italy, 8/1943-9/1943; recapture; removal to Stalag VII-A Moosburg in Germany; working parties near Munich, Germany; liberation by United States Army troops, 1/5/1945; United States Army troop's treatment of Germans; return to GB. Reflections on military service in Second World War: attitude to having served with 1st Special Service Regt in Second World War; attitude towards Germans.