Description
Object description
British trooper served with 38th Independent Reconnaissance Sqdn, 38th (Welsh) Infantry Div in GB, 7/1943-10/1943; served with 53rd Reconnaissance Regt, 53rd (Welsh) Infantry Div in GB and North West Europe, 11/1943-5/1945
Content description
REEL 1 Background in Ollerton, GB, 1925-1943: family; education; employment; reaction to Fall of France, 6/1940. Aspects of enlistment and basic training with British Army in Lincoln, GB, 1943: reaction to call-up, 3/1945; reception at Sobraon Barracks. Lincoln; memories of first night of military service; opinion of rations; attitude towards basic training; kit inspections; social life in Lincoln; physical training; importance of boxing; weapons training; nature of basic training; selection tests; reasons for volunteering for Reconnaissance Corps. Aspects of period with Reconnaissance Corps Training Centre at Lockerbie, GB, 5/1943-7/1943: reception at Lockerbie, 5/1943; accommodation in Nissen Hut; daily routine; seventy five mile route march; jumping exercise; weapons training; problems with eyesight.
REEL 2 Continues: driver training; failure rate at centre; motorcycle training; unarmed combat training; headgear worn; opinion of training received at Lockerbie. Aspects of period as trooper with 38th Independent Reconnaissance Sqdn, 38th (Welsh) Infantry Div in GB, 7/1943-10/1943: joining squadron at Sandwich; duties as despatch rider; motorbike accidents; training on Cromwell Tank; replacement of tanks with armoured cars; amusing story relating to old lady's predicament; period awaiting posting at Southend-on-Sea, 11/1943. Aspects of period as trooper with C Sqdn, 53rd Reconnaissance Regt, 53rd (Welsh) Infantry Div in GB, 11/1943-6/1944: joining regiment at Ashford, 11/1943; living accommodation; relations between Other Ranks, NCOs and officers; gas drill.
REEL 3 Continues: training with Ordnance QF 6 Pounder Anti-Tank Gun at Lydd; emphasis of physical training within regiment; incident on being placed on charge by regimental sergeant-major; second incident of a similar nature; relations with United States Army and Canadian Army troops at Ashford; nature of military exercises; United States Army street fighting techniques; build-up for D-Day in Ashford area; reaction to hearing news of D-Day landings at Bury St Edmunds, 6/6/1944; German Air Force raid on London Docks during embarkation, 6/1944. Recollections of operations as trooper with C Sqdn, 53rd Reconnaissance Regt, 53rd (Welsh) Infantry Div in Normandy, France, 6/1944-8/1944: initial sight of Normandy beachhead, 28/6/1944.
REEL 4 Continues: landing on Sword Beach; initial role supplying United States Army; move to Hill 112; positions on Hill 112; reaction to being under German multi-barrelled mortar fire; role collecting dead bodies; composition of anti-tank crew; places used for observation posts; firing on German manned observation post in water tower; story of narrow escape from German Army mortar-fire and capture of prisoners of war; intelligence value of prisoners of war; mass surrender of German Army troops near Falaise, 8/1944; memories of Falaise Gap, 8/1944.
REEL 5 Continues: amusing story of only visit received from regimental sergeant-major in Normandy; opinion of his regimental sergeant-major. Recollections of operations as trooper with C Sqdn, 53rd Reconnaissance Regt, 53rd (Welsh) Infantry Div in North West Europe, 8/1944-5/1945: occasion when unit dug in next to civilian cemetery; incident when he was trapped by wires caught in tank tracks; rescuing driver from burning Universal Carrier; reception in Lille, France, 8/1944; incident of female population watching regiment members showering in baths; setting up anti-tank gun on steps of Lille Cathedral, Lille, France; burying of novice priests killed by retreating German forces; amusing story of Scottish soldier who had hidden with the Mayor and Mayoress of Lille, France since 1940; rapid advance to Brussels, Belgium, 9/1944; move to Antwerp, Belgium, 9/1944; situation in Antwerp, Belgium, 9/1944; narrow escape from German V1 Flying Bomb attack on Antwerp, Belgium, 9/1944; loss of unit chaplain to German booby-trap; occasion when he accidentally stood on an anti-personnel mine.
REEL 6 Continues: role of regiment during Operation Market Garden; loss of NCO during German mortaring of church; question of German lack of adaptability; conditions in Netherlands, 9/1944-10/1944; relations with 101st Airborne Div, United States Army troops near Eindhoven, Netherlands, 10/1944; lack of shortages in Allied forces; role protecting Nijmegen, Netherlands; role of unit during attack on s'Hertogenbosch, Netherlands, 10/1944; rescuing women and children from burning building in s'Hertogenbosch, Netherlands, 10/1944; character of regiment's movements; initial impressions of Reichswald Forest, Germany, 2/1945; conditions in Reichswald Forest, Germany, 2/1945; probing role of unit; reaction to crossing border into Germany; in action at Overdinkel, Netherlands.
REEL 7 Continues: use of anti-tank gun at Overdinkel, Netherlands; withdrawal with captured prisoners of war from Overdinkel, Netherlands; German forces' counter-attack on positions near farm; wounding of officer; composition of his anti-tank crew; prior recollections of disruption of Christmas celebrations in Namur, Belgium, 25/12/1944; terrain in Ardennes, Belgium, 12/1944-1/1944; narrow escape from explosion of half-track blown up on mine; incident of being frozen to ground; behaviour of retreating United States Army troops; opening fire on United States Army Willys Jeep on urging of American officer; issue of rum rations; effect of weather conditions in Ardennes, Belgium; attempts to dig in on River Meuse, Belgium, 8/1/1945; question of German forces always attacking through the Ardennes; crossing River Rhine on pontoon bridge, Germany, 3/1945.
REEL 8 Continues: method of cooking; nature of rations; under German artillery fire whilst collecting eggs; sight of German civilians sheltering in basement of burning railway station; defence of town by Hitler Youth; visit to Bergen-Belsen Concentration Camp, 4/1945; continuing patrolling until VE Day, 8/5/1945; attitude of German civilians; encounters with Displaced Persons; VE Day in Hamburg, 8/5/1945; leave in London, 5/1945. Aspects of period as trooper with 53rd Reconnaissance Regt and 10th Royal Hussars (The Prince of Wales's Own) in Germany, 1945-1946: move to Solingen; contracting tonsillitis, Christmas period, 12/1945; disbandment of 53rd Reconnaissance Regt, 3/1946; border patrols with 10th Royal Hussars (The Prince of Wales's Own) in Lübeck; attitude towards German refugees; lectures on history of 10th Royal Hussars (The Prince of Wales's Own); relations between Other Ranks, officers and NCOs.
REEL 9 Continues: attempt of officer to persuade him to sign on as regular; attitude to having served with British Army; demobilisation process at York. Reflections of military service, 1942-1946: opinion of Corp of Military Police; attitude towards striking miners and black marketers; religious observance; capture of Royal Hungarian Army troops on River Rhine, Germany, 3/1945; adjusting to civilian life after 1946; question of effects of military service; story of formation of 53rd Welsh Division Association.
