Interview with George Norman Whybro

British officer served with 28th (Essex) Anti-Aircraft Bn, Royal Engineers in GB, 1928-1940; served with 28th (Essex) Searchlight Regt, Royal Artillery, 29th (East Anglian) and 56th Anti-Aircraft Bdes, 6th Anti-Aircraft Div and 47th Anti-Aircraft Bde, 2nd Anti-Aircraft Group in GB, 1939-1944; served with 630th (Essex) Infantry Regt, Royal Artillery, 304th Infantry Bde in GB, 1944-1945; served with 630th (Essex) Infantry Regt, Royal Artillery, 304th Infantry Bde, Force 134 in Norway, 6/1945-9/1945; served with 479th (Hertfordshire Yeomanry) Heavy Anti-Aircraft Regt in GB, 1947-1955

REEL 1 Background in GB, 1910-1939: family background; membership of and training with Officer Training Corps at school; Aspects of period as officer with 28th (Essex) Anti-Aircraft Bn, Royal Engineers, Territorial Army in GB, 1928-1940: reasons for joining Territorial Army, 1928; public attitude towards Territorial Army, 1928; commanding searchlight section at Hatfield Broad Oak; character of unit equipment; liaison with Royal Air Force; use of sound location; technique for bracketing aircraft with three beams; embodiment and deployment at time of Munich Crisis, 9/1938; problems of recruitment to Territorial Army before 1934; training procedures; deployment to war stations, 1939. Recollections of period as officer with 28th (Essex) Searchlight Regt, Royal Artillery,29th (East Anglian) and 56th Anti-Aircraft Bdes, 6th Anti-Aircraft Div and 47th Anti-Aircraft Bde, 2nd Anti-Aircraft Group in GB, 1939-1944: chain of command; operational control exercised by Royal Air Force; means of communication; Auxiliary Territorial Service personnel on gun sites; daily routine; problems with sound locators; use of London taxis for liaison and logistics, 1940. REEL 2 Continues: stand to for invasion scares; shooting down of German Air Force aircraft; reward of beer from brigade commander; memories of Airey Neave and Julius Neave; types of accommodation occupied; disruption of sleep; watchkeeping system, equipment and communications at Battery Operations Room; conversion of anti-aircraft unit to infantry role, 1944; officer's training course on Isle of Man for potential invasion of Norway. Aspects of period as officer with 630th (Essex) Infantry Regt, Royal Artillery, 304th Infantry Bde in GB, 1944-1945: selection of Royal Artillery men for infantry service; incident during grenade practice at Southampton; narrow escape from Projector Infantry Anti-Tank (PIAT) accident; gunners' reaction to conversion to infantry role. Recollections of period as officer with 630th (Essex) Infantry Regt, Royal Artillery, 304th Infantry Bde, Force 134 in Norway, 6/1945-9/1945: arrival in Narvik, 6/1945; lack of knowledge of unit's role; role separating Germans, Soviets and Norwegians; court of inquiry after bungled arrest of German Gestapo man; arresting Gestapo man at Lodingen; character of German camp. REEL 3 Continues: character of Norwegian detachment; incident with German launch during journey up fjord; delivery of Gestapo prisoners to Norwegian Police; behaviour of German troops; posting to Elvigardsmoen; arrangements in camp at Elvigardsmoen; orders to arrest Soviet women at Bardufoss; nature of arrest and fate of Soviet women; preparing defence positions at Elvigardsmoen; German treatment of forced labourers; repatriation of former Soviet prisoners of war; conditions for Norwegian population; posting to Harstad; meeting with English woman; evacuation of German Army; screening procedure of German troops. REEL 4 Continues: treatment of German prisoners of war including rations; organisation of prisoner of war transport; patrolling; reaction of Germans to leaving Norway; order to arrest German Abwehr officer; evacuation of Germans by train through Sweden; contact with Swedes; lack of contact with Soviet forces; personal accommodation; raid on German camp run by Todt Organisation; leaving Norway, 9/1945; summer weather conditions; recreation; Communist influence in north Norway; reception in Oslo and Kristiansand. REEL 5 Continues: Recollections of period as officer with 479th (Hertfordshire Yeomanry) Heavy Anti-Aircraft Regt in GB, 1947-1955: problems of obtaining employment after demobilisation; background to joining regiment in Territorial Army; annual camps; method of moving unit's guns; range of engagement and rates of fire; fire control system; deployment orders; selection of gun positions; location of radar. REEL 6 Continues: range work; training obligation and use of military law; lack of information on Soviet air threat; introduction of proximity fuses; strength of unit; discipline and administration; regimental deployment in Hertfordshire; reasons for decline in motivation; reasons for disbanding of unit; problems of finding regimental commanding officers; relations with his brigadier; advantages of promoting from ranks of regiment; obtaining employment and adjusting to civilian life; question of advantages of military service.