Description
Object description
Australian NCO served with 2/28th Bn 24th Australian Infantry Bde, 9th Australian Infantry Div in Middle East and North Africa, 2/1941-7/1942; prisoner of war in Campo PG 51, Bari and Campo PG 57 Grupignano, Italy and Stalag VII-A, Moosburg and Stalag VIII-B, Lamsdorf, Germany, 9/1942-4/1945
Content description
REEL 1 Background in Perth, Australia, 1920-1939: family; father's military service in First World War; membership of The Sons of Sailors and Soldiers League of Australia; membership of military cadets; nature of community prior to Second World War; personal motivation towards enlistment; reading copy of Adolf Hitler's 'Mein Kampf'; degree of knowledge of events in Europe. Aspects of period as driver in Citizen Military Forces in Australia, 1939-1940: role as driver; opinion of equipment; attitude towards declaration of Second World War and enlistment; character of national spirit; process of enlistment into Australian Imperial Forces at Northam Camp. Aspects of period as private and NCO with 2/28th Bn 24th Australian Infantry Bde, 9th Australian Infantry Div in Australia, 1940-1941: method of joining up; attitude towards pay; age of volunteers; character of recruits.
REEL 2 Continues: Aspects of voyage aboard HMT Aquitania and SS Nieuw Zeeland from Australia to Egypt via Ceylon, 1/1941: travelling up the Suez Canal, Egypt; sight of prisoner of war camps containing Italians; opinion of Italian Army troops; speed of convoy; attitude to leaving Australia; conditions on board HMT Aquitania; lack of knowledge of destination; transfer to SS Nieuw Zeeland in Colombo, Ceylon; hygiene lectures and recreational activities on board ship; opinion of Suez Canal, Egypt. Aspects of period as NCO with 2/28th Bn 24th Australian Infantry Bde, 9th Australian Div in Middle East, 2/1941-3/1941: reception on arrival in Palestine; leave in Jerusalem, Palestine; impressions of Middle East; desire for active service; attitude towards Italians; lack of political debate amongst troops; training; conditions in camp in Palestine.
REEL 3 Continues: question of sorting out level of command not in training but in action. Recollections of operations as NCO with 2/28th Bn Australian Infantry Bde, 9th Australian Infantry Div during Siege of Tobruk, Libya, 4/1941-9/1941: story of General Erwin Rommel's attitude towards Australian prisoners of war; effect of sand storm on weapons; sight of retreating Allied troops; defensive positions and equipment including opinion of Boys Anti-Tank Rifle; character of the 'Bush Artillery'; Royal Navy's supply of Tobruk; unloading ships in Tobruk Harbour; description of port of Tobruk; use of concrete bunkers and psychological problem of leaving bunkers; defensive positions; patrolling; use of mines; resting in daytime; water shortages; rations available; state of health; leave in Cairo after leaving Tobruk; lack of mail in Tobruk; state of morale after six months.
REEL 4 Continues: organisation of patrols; problems of firing Bren Gun from hip; reaction to being fired at and casualities; degree of isolation in positions at Tobruk; impression of General Erwin Rommel; question of age of commanding officer; Australian Imperial Force troops' motivation; period in reserve out of front line; lack of air support; morale during siege; importance of patrolling; leaving Tobruk by destroyer; diet during siege. Aspects of period as NCO with 2/28th Bn 24th Australian Infantry Bde, 9th Australian Infantry Div in Middle East, 10/1941-6/1942: move to Tripoli, Lebanon; shooting of Arab labourer stealing equipment.
REEL 5 Continues: contrast between training in Western Desert, Egypt and French Syria; conditions in French Syria; question of degree of threat from Germans in French Syria; reaction to Japan's entry into Second World War; opinion of Axis troops. Recollections of operations as NCO with 2/28th Bn 24th Australian Infantry Bde, 9th Australian Infantry Div in Egypt, 6/1942-7/1942: attitude on return to Western Desert, need to disguise brown boots; attitude of retreating South Africans; description of being under fire from Deutsches Afrika Korps 88mm Guns; digging in at El Alamein; arrival of 50th Royal Tank Regt, 7/1942; opinion of 50th Royal Tank Regt in facing 88mm Guns; panic in Cairo and attitude of Egyptians towards Allies; German defensive minefields at El Alamein, 1942; Axis attacks on Ruin Ridge, 7/1942; loss of platoon commander during attempt to retrieve lost map case; advice he gave to new platoon commander; soldier who managed to get back from attack at Ruin Ridge.
REEL 6 Continues: artillery barrage; reasons for not taking prisoners of war; initial night time attack on Ruin Ridge, 26/7/1942-27/7/1942; loss of supporting vehicles and artillery to Deutsches Afrika Korps artillery counter-barrage; opinion of British armour and tank crews; loss of unit's anti-tank guns. Aspects of period as prisoner of war in North Africa, 7/1942-8/1942: circumstances of capture at Ruin Ridge, Egypt; loss of platoon officer and NCOs; reaction to loss of comrades; loss of camera to Deutsches Afrika Korps soldier; contrast in treatment between German and Italian captors; move to Benghazi; rations available. Aspects of voyage from Libya to Italy, 1942: conditions on board ship; story torpedoing of ship carrying prisoners of war.
REEL 7 Continues: fate of prisoners of war on torpedoed ship; degree of knowledge of destination; reaction to becoming prisoner of war; conditions in hold of ship. Recollections of period as prisoner of war Campo PG 51, Bari and Campo PG 57 Grupignano, Italy, 9/1942-9/1943: condition on arrival in Brindisi; reception from Italian civilians; move to Campo PG 51, Bari; clearing lice from clothing; move to Campo PG 57, Grupignano near Udine; mass escape of prisoners of war; emphasis on escaping; nature of Campo PG 57, Grupignano; participation in working party in rice fields; collapse of Italian regime, 9/1943; attempt to escape to Switzerland and recapture on border; need to travel in small groups; relations with Italian civilians during escape attempt; method of travelling; attitude of German forces towards Italian civilians; recapture by Italian police; opinion of Italian Partisans.
REEL 8 Continues: story of murder of prisoner of war comrade captured with Italian Partisans; role of Italian Partisans; reasons for leaving Italian farm; degree of security in partisan unit; partisan weapons; partisan shooting up of German convoy; crossing rivers; border defences; handing over to German Army; German collection of Italian forced labourers. Recollections of period as prisoner of war in Stalag VII-A, Moosburg and Stalag VIII-B, Lamsdorf, Germany, 10/1943-4/1945: move to Stalag VII-A, Moosburg; story of capture by German Army; obtaining clothing in stores; initial allocation to Soviet compound; move to United States Army Air Force compound.
REEL 9 Continues: attitude to period in solitary confinement; impressions of German camp guards; German treatment of Soviet prisoners of war; degree of knowledge of Geneva Convention; rations available and importance of Red Cross parcels; listening to stories of United States Army Air Force airmen; opinion of American manufactured boots; move to Stalag VIII-B, Lamsdorf; use of toilet block; condition of prisoners of war captured in 1940; character of camp; accommodation; attitude to being confined in large camp; reasons for lack of escapes in Germany in comparison with Italy; attitude to being placed on working party; nature of work camp.
REEL 10 Continues: character of accommodation in work camp; effect of Allied bombing; daily routine; self-inflicted wounds to get off work party; threat from unexploded bombs; state of morale; character of German guards; question of payment; destruction of accommodation, 25/12/1944; nature of work and camp's production; reasons for leaving camp, 4/1945; question of sabotaging German war effort; behaviour of Hitler Youth guarding prisoners of war.
REEL 11 Continues: description of air raid shelters; method of moving cement; obtaining role as diesel engineer; work as diesel engineer; character of United States Army Air Force raids; treatment of Allied airman by German guard; under Allied bombing; hearing the bombing of Dresden; character of German guards; treatment by Schutzstaffel (SS) guard in brickworks; treatment of German civilian prisoners.
REEL 12 Continues: working conditions in winter; coping with winter conditions; industrial activity in area surrounding camp; leaving camp, 4/1945. Aspects of liberation in Germany and move to GB, 4/1945-5/1945: arrival of Soviet Army troops, 4/1945; reception by Soviet Army troops; joining Soviet Army horse drawn transport unit; acquiring German vehicle; heading west to American lines; arrival at American lines; transfer to Belgium; delousing process; flight to GB; reception in Eastbourne; social life in GB, 1945; memories of VE Day, 8/5/1945.
REEL 13 Continues: Reflections on period as prisoner of war and return to Australia, 1942-1945: attitude towards Germans Army troops and civilians; question of Germans not wanting to captured by Soviet forces; memories of VJ Day in Perth, 15/8/1945; state of German cities; voyage from GB to Australia on board HMT Stirling Castle; reception in Sydney; train journey from Sydney to Perth; reaction to return to Australia; adjusting to civilian life; return to employment; joining Returned Services League of Australia; ambitions on return to civilian life; increase in use of cars during war; use for back pay; reasons for rejoining Citizen Military Forces, 1948.
REEL 14 Continues: role with Citizen Military Forces and opinion of Ordnance QF 17 Pounder Anti-Tank Gun; training cadets with Citizen Military Forces; role as president of 2/28th Battalion Association; question of role of army in peacetime; question of changing face of remembrance; need for preparation for future wars; role in establishing Army Museum of Western Australia, 1977.