Interview with Arthur Charles Parsonson

British NCO served with 431rd Bty, 147th (Essex Yeomanry) Field Regt, 8th Armoured Bde in GB and North West Europe, 12/1943-5/1945

REEL 1 Background in Colchester, GB, 1918-1939: family; education; background to joining Essex Yeomanry in Territorial Army. Recollections of period as NCO with 413th Bty, 147th Regt, Royal Horse Artillery (Essex Yeomanry) and 431rd Bty, 147th (Essex Yeomanry) Field Regt, Royal Artillery in GB, 1939-1944: memories of collecting Sergeant-Major Harris' wife in Woolwich, 1/9/1939; mobilisation and inoculation of troops, 2/9/1939; use of howitzers marked for drill purposes only; role as driver/mechanic; guarding vulnerable points in London, 12/1939; move to Newmarket; coastal defence duties at Walton-on-the-Naze; amusing story of brigadier's visit to regiment; movements in GB; arrival of Ordnance QF 25 Pounder Field Guns and gun tractors; character of Exercise Spartan, 4/3/1943-12/3/1943. Recollections of period as NCO with 413th Bty, 147th (Essex Yeomanry) Field Regt, Royal Artillery, 8th Armoured Bde in GB, 12/1943-6/1944: arrival of Sexton Self-Propelled Gun; characteristics of American manufactured Sexton Self-Propelled Gun. REEL 2 Continues: problems with Chrysler Engine in Sexton Self-Propelled Gun; later story of race between petrol and diesel engined tanks in Ardennes, Belgium, 1944-1945; training at Cambuslang, 12/1943-1/1944; Combined Operations training at Invergordon and Muir of Ord, 1/1944; equipping for D-Day landins at Brandon; composition of 8th Armoured Bde; attitude of members of 50th (Northumbrian) Infantry Div towards General Bernard Montgomery; waterproofing Sexton Self-Propelled Guns at Bournemouth; description of Duplex Drive Tanks; issue of uniforms; embarkation at Southampton; story of obtaining leave from Captain Colin 'Nobbler' Strand in Colchester. REEL 3 Continues: how he avoided punishment for his illicit leave-taking. Aspects of operations as NCO with 431st Bty, 147th (Essex Yeomanry) Field Regt, Royal Artillery, 8th Armoured Bde in Normandy, France, D-Day 6/6/1944: draining sump on Sexton Self-Propelled gun during crossing of English Channel, 5/6/1944-6/6/1944; problems disembarking; sight of barrage balloon escaping; exploits of forward observation officer Captain Currie at Saint-Come-de-Fresné; unit in action at Le Hamel. Recollections of operations as NCO with 431st Bty, 147th (Essex Yeomanry) Field Regt, Royal Artillery, 8th Armoured Bde in Normandy, France in Normandy, France, 6/1944-8/1944: in action at Tilly-sur-Seulles during defence of Hill 103; amusing story of officer dismounting from tank; Royal Air Force bombing of crossroads at Cahagnes; importance of cigarettes; opinion of use of mass air power to bomb Caen; rules regarding troops defecating. REEL 4 Continues: sight of Royal Air Force Hawker Typhoon attacks on German armour at Falaise Gap, 8/1944; crossing the River Seine, 8/1944. Recollections of operations as NCO with 431st Bty, 147th (Essex Yeomanry) Field Regt, Royal Artillery, 8th Armoured Bde in North West Europe, 8/1944-5/1945: commanding officer's trip to Paris, France; opinion of General Brian Horrock's skills as lecturer; reasons why 8th Armoured Bde had to let Guard Armoured Division liberate Brussels, Belgium, 1/9/1944; lift given to expectant mother to Brussels, Belgium, 9/1944; liberation celebrations in Brussels, Belgium; re-equipping at Bourg-Leopold, 9/1944; how Royal Marine commandos dealt with German Army mortar crew at Venlo, Netherlands, 9/1944; advance to Nijmegen, Netherlands; memories of Lord Carrington; move across German frontier; gift of guilder given to him by civilian; return of 50th (Northumbrian) Infantry Div to GB, 10/1944-11/1944; contact with United States Army personnel at Groesbeek, Netherlands; method of cooking in field. REEL 5 Continues: rapid move to Ardennes, Belgium, 12/1944; reaction of Belgian civilians to sight of British Army troops; problems with rifling of gun barrel and aftermath; use of 'Monty's Moonlight' during crossing of River Rhine, Germany, 3/1945; loss of Captain Currie during crossing of River Rhine, Germany, 3/1945; advance into Germany, 4/1945; entering Bremen, 5/1945; refusal of tank men to accept display of white flag after misuse; amusing story of chit given by British Army troops to German civilian; method of bartering with German civilians after end of Second World War; demobilisation, 12/1945; career after demobilisation, 12/1945; response of German civilians to entry of British forces into Bremen, Germany, 1945; description of terms 'Quad' and 'M11'. REEL 6 Continues: attitude to having served with 147th (Essex Yeomanry) Field Regt, Royal Artillery in Second World War; details of Essex Yeomanry Old Comrades Association.