Interview with Anthony Bernard Colgan

British driver served with 9th Bn Durham Light Infantry, 151st Infantry Bde, 50th (Northumbrian) Infantry Div on Sicily, Italy, GB and North West Europe, 7/1943-12/1944; served with 9th Bn Durham Light Infantry, 131st Infantry Bde, 7th Armoured Div in North West Europe, 12/1944-5/1945

REEL 1 Background in Tulse Hill, GB, 1923-1941: family; education; memories of evacuations to Melbourne, Clacton-on-Sea and Tonypandy, 1939-1940; employment with General Electric Company; German Air Force attacks on Tulse Hill area; method of dealing with incendiary bomb; reluctance to use public air raid shelters; listening to radio; loss of sleep during German Air Force bombing. Aspects of training with Buffs (Royal East Kent Regt) in GB, 1942-1943: call-up for military training, 16/7/1942; basic training; method of driving Universal Carrier; joining 10th Bn Buffs (Royal East Kent Regt) at Newton Abbot; move to Shildon; voyage from aboard HMT Britannic, from GB to French Algeria, 1943. Recollections of operations as driver with 9th Bn Durham Light Infantry, 151st Infantry Bde, 50th (Northumbrian) Infantry Div on Sicily, Italy, 7/1943-10/1943: joining unit at Primosole Bridge and allocation to mortar platoon; later story of firing two mortars at a time in Germany, 1945; aftermath of Primosole Bridge action. REEL 2 Continues: battlefield signage; description of corpse on battlefield; loss of Universal Carrier during advance towards Catania; problems of negotiating blown railway bridge; death of Italian civilian from German artillery fire near Catania; guarding Axis prisoners of war; narrow escape of ship from German artillery fire; terrain in Sicily; exploiting irrigation system to have showers; casualties amongst Observation Post personnel; nature of German S-mine; news that battalion was returning to GB, 10/1943. Aspects of period with 9th Bn Durham Light Infantry, 151st Infantry Bde, 50th (Northumbrian) Infantry Div in GB, 12/1943-6/1944: invasion training in East Anglia and Southampton areas; name of his Universal Carrier 'Amphion'; briefing for D-Day landings; embarking aboard landing craft, 6/1944. Aspects of operations as driver with 9th Bn Durham Light Infantry, 151st Infantry Bde, 50th (Northumbrian) Infantry Div in Normandy, France, D-Day, 6/6/1944: nature of landing on Gold Beach; effect of his waterproofing Universal Carrier; progress inland from Gold Beach; accidental strafing by Royal Air Force aircraft. REEL 3 Continues: use of self-heating soup; later wounding of Brigadier Ronald Senior, 7/1944. Recollections of operations as driver with 9th Bn Durham Light Infantry, 151st Infantry Bde, 50th (Northumbrian) Infantry Div in Normandy, France, 6/1944-8/1944: move to Jerusalem Crossroads, 7/6/1944; liberation of supply champagne; attack on Lingèvres, 13/6/1944; loss of commanding officer Lieutenant-Colonel Humphrey Woods at Lingèvres, 14/6/1944; opinion of role of Royal Air Force Hawker Typhoons; battalion casualties at Lingèvres, 14/6/1944; repulsing of German forces counter-attack in Lingèvres area; mortar support provided for 1st Bn Hampshire Regt; advance to Villers-Bocage, 7/1944; destruction of Villers-Bocage; under German 88mm Gun fire at Mont Pinçon, 8/1944; sight of carnage in Falaise Gap; crossing River Seine at Vernon, 8/1944. Recollections of operations as driver with 9th Bn Durham Light Infantry, 151st Infantry Bde, 50th (Northumbrian) Infantry Div in North West Europe, 8/1944-12/1944: German tactics in Northern France; liberation of Brussels, Belgium, 1/9/1944; move to Geel, Belgium, 9/1944; opinion of Protector Infantry Anti-Tank (PIAT); sight of destruction of M4 Sherman Tank by German Panther tank at Geel, Belgium, 9/1944. REEL 4 Continues: advance to Eindhoven and Nijmegen, Netherlands, 9/1944; patrolling on The Island, Netherlands. Recollections of operations a driver with 9th Bn Durham Light Infantry, 131st Infantry Bde, 7th Armoured Div in North West Europe, 12/1944-5/1945: disbandment of 50th (Northumbrian) Infantry Div and move to 7th Armoured Div in Netherlands, 12/1944; move to Sittard, Netherlands, 12/1944; celebrating Christmas, 25/12/1944; moving ammunition; loss of sentimental effects to German artillery fire; role of 2nd (Machine Gun) Bn Cheshire Regt firing heavy Vickers Machine Gun fire on beaten zone; fatigue in front line; sight of Lieutenant-General Brian Horrocks; in action at Ibbenbüren, Germany, 4/1945; advance through Germany towards Harburg suburb of Hamburg, 5/1945; orders not to fire on German staff cars, 5/1945; capture of fourteen year old German prisoner of war; infantry's use of tanks and Kangaroo Armoured Personnel Carrier; devastation in Hamburg, 5/1945. Recollections of period with 9th Bn Durham Light Infantry, 131st Infantry Bde, 7th Armoured Div in Germany, 1945: drive through Soviet Zone of Occupation, Germany towards Berlin, 7/1945; civilian occupation chipping cement off bricks; lack of charges for British Army troops serving in Berlin. REEL 5 Continues: soldier who bought fur coat on black market; relations with German civilians; cultural facilities in Berlin; story of tank man who broke Soviet Army officer's sword; sight of Marshal Georgy Zhukov at Victory Parade in Berlin, 7/9/1945; attitude to prospect of being sent to Far East. Reflections on service with 9th Durham Light Infantry in North West Europe, 6/1944-5/1945: treatment of female collaborator in Beauvais, France; souvenir he received from nurse in Beauvais, France; reception of British troops in France, 8/1944; method of making 'biscuit burgoo'; how crewmen of Universal Carrier lived off the land; incident when cow set of trip flares in ambush; obtaining supply of milk from Dutch cow; how he learnt to cook during military service; attitude to having served with 9th Bn Durham Light Infantry in Second World War; organisation of veteran's post-war visits to Netherlands and welcome received by Dutch civilians.