Interview with Anthony Charles Emms

British gunner served with 105th (Bedfordshire Yeomanry) Field Regt, Royal Artillery in GB, 9/1939-11/1939; served with 52nd (Bedfordshire Yeomanry) Heavy Regt, Royal Artillery, III Corps in GB and France, 11/1939-6/1940; served with 148th (Bedfordshire Yeomanry) Field Regt, Royal Artillery, 18th Infantry Div in GB, 1939-1941; officer served with 457th Independent Light Bty, Royal Artillery in GB, 1/1942-10/1942; served with 457th Mountain Bty, 7th Mountain Regt, Royal Artillery in North Africa and Italy, 11/1942-4/1945

REEL 1 Background in GB, 1917-1939: family; education; state of farming in Bedfordshire, late 1930s. Aspects of period with 105th Field Regt (Bedfordshire Yeomanry), Royal Artillery in GB, 9/1939-11/1939: enlistment in Territorial Army at Biggleswade, GB, 1939; role as GPO (A); mobilisation, 1/9/1939; character of initial anti-aircraft defence at Biggleswade Drill Hall. Aspects of period as gunner with 52nd (Bedfordshire Yeomanry) Heavy Regt, Royal Artillery, III Corps in GB and France, 11/1939-6/1940: issue of BL 9.2 Inch Howitzer; move to Thornbury then Larkhill, GB; conditions governing trajectory of shells; move to Armentières, France; lack of defences along Belgian frontier. Recollections of operations as gunner with 52nd (Bedfordshire Yeomanry) Heavy Regt, Royal Artillery, III Corps in France and Belgian, 5/1940: start of German Air Force bombing, 10/5/1940; move into Belgium; sight of refugees on roads; reaction to sight of unmilked cattle; opening fire on German forces at Saint-Omer, France; ; move to Bray-Dunes, France; conditions on beaches; move to Dunkirk, France; state of East Mole at Dunkirk, France; embarking aboard TSS Roebuck; return to Dover, GB. Aspects of period as NCO with 148th Field Regt (Bedfordshire Yeomanry), Royal Artillery, 18th Infantry Div in GB, 1940-1941: method of getting information to his mother at Guildford; re-organisation at Leominster and North Wales. REEL 2 Continues: coastal defence duties at Bembridge, Isle of Wight; supplementing rations as NCO in charge of animals at Bembridge; damage caused by German Air Force parachute landmine. Aspects of period as officer cadet with Royal Artillery in GB, 1941: selection for officer training at Winchester, 1941; operation for appendicitis at Tidworth Camp; officer training at No 152 Officer Cadet Training Unit at Catterick Camp, 9/1941-12/1941. Aspects of period as officer with 457th Independent Light Bty in GB, 1/1942-10/1942: posting to battery at Stirling; characteristics of Ordnance QF 3.7 Inch Mountain Howitzer; nature of command in unit; contact with United States Army troops at Loch Fyne; United States Army personnel's method of cleaning artillery; map reading problems during exercise. Aspects of voyage aboard HMS Keren from GB to French Algeria, 11/1942: weather conditions; his duties on board; attempts to control drunkenness; question of security over Operation Torch. Recollections of operations as officer with 457th Mountain Bty, 7th Mountain Regt, Royal Artillery in North Africa, 11/1942-5/1943: landings at Algiers, French Algeria; physical condition of United States Army troops on landing; voyage from Algiers to Bône, French Algeria. REEL 3 Continues: shooting down of German Air Force aircraft by battery; move to Béja, Tunisia; character of occupation of Belle Fontaine Farm at Béja, Tunisia; German air superiority in Tunisia; advance to Tébourba, Tunisia; breaking up of German armoured attack; withdrawal to Medjez-el-Bab, Tunisia, 12/1942; character of fighting at Longstop Hill; attachment to 155th Bty, 172nd Field Regt Royal Artillery at Sidi Nsir, 2/1943; character of action between 155th Bty, 172nd Field Regt, Royal Artillery and German armour; making his way through German lines, 2/1943; Tunisian mud; in forward observation post near Green Hill and Bald Hill; improvement in conditions by spring; change in unit equipment; use of beehive charges to excavate observation posts; method of dealing with German sniper with Projector Infantry Anti-Tank (PIAT); problems of friendly fire; nature of Axis collapse in Tunisia, 5/1943; capture of German prisoners of war; award of Military Cross and wounds received. REEL 4 Continues: period in Tunisia after end of campaign. Aspects of operations as officer with 457th Mountain Bty, 7th Mountain Regt, Royal Artillery, Eighth Army in Sicily, Italy, 7/1943: character of crossing; landing at Cape Pachino, 7/1943; Italian Army soldiers' attempt to escape from Sicily; return to Tunisia. Aspects of period with 457th Mountain Bty, 7th Mountain Regt, Royal Artillery in Tunisia, 1943-1944: return of 3.7 inch howitzers; training as mountain battery with mules; relations between mules and gunners; handling officers' mounts; training with mules in Tunisian hills. Recollections of operations as officer with 457th Mountain Bty, 7th Mountain Regt, Royal Artillery, Eighth Army in Italy, 1944-1945: method of embarking mules on board ship; problems of loading 'Dynamite' the mule; voyage to Salerno; disembarking mules at Salerno; acquisition of Italian muleteers; trek through Apennine Mountains; character of small-scale actions battery involved in; method of transporting rations; reasons for promotion; provision of supplies to mules including requisition from civilians; bout of jaundice. REEL 5 Continues: train journey to rejoin battery at Terni; advantage of de-voicing mules; use of artificial moonlight and painting of grey mules; shelling German vehicles in Po Valley, 1945; move to Bari. Aspects of voyage from Italy to India, 4/1945: coaling at Port Said, Egypt; moulting of mules in Red Sea; disembarking in Karachi, India; raid by thieves on quarters in transit camp; return to GB. Aspects of period as officer with 457th Mountain Bty, 7th Mountain Regt, Royal Artillery in GB, 1945: receiving decorations at Holywood House; story of Queen Elizabeth's interest in individuals; dealing with barrack room stealing; problems of boredom among troops; story of actor Rex Harrison's welcome to officers' dinner party at Nethybridge Hotel, Nethy Bridge; retrieving of bodies from aircraft crash in Cairngorms Mountains; anxiety to avoid being sent to Germany, 8/1945; amusing story of typing course in Edinburgh; demobilisation problems at Stoughton Barracks, Guildford, 2/1946; attitude to having served with Royal Artillery in Second World War. Recollections of operations as officer with 547th Mountain Bty, 7th Mountain Regt, Royal Artillery, Eighth Army in Italy, 1943-1945: wound he received in Sicily, 7/1943; in action at Monte Cassino, 1944; memories of serving alongside the French Moroccan Goums; opinion of Gurkhas; question of effects of service in Second World War.