Interview with Alan Bradley Maybury

British schoolchild Fulham, London and Coxley, GB, 1939-1945; trooper served with 22nd Special Air Service Regt in Federation of Malaya, 12/1951-8/1952; private served with 1st Bn Durham Light Infantry, 28th Commonwealth Infantry Bde, 1st Commonwealth Div in Korea, 9/1952-9/1953

REEL 1 Background in London, GB, 1933-1939: family; education. Aspects of period as schoolboy in London and as evacuee in Coxley, GB, 1940-1941: reaction to German Air Force bombing of family home in Fulham, London; childrens' looting of sweets from warehouse after German Air Force raid; evacuation to Coxley; story of encounter with Czechoslovakian refugees including use of Molotov Cocktail; relations with Czech refugees; German Air Force use of Wells Cathedral for navigation; fate of parts of German Air Force bomber aircraft that fell in Coxley; relations between London evacuees and schoolchildren in Coxley. Recollections of period as private with British Army in GB, 1951: his wish to avoid deferment for National Service; nature of British Army selection process; basic training methods at Bordon Camp; effect of route march on feet; reaction to military treatment of individual; story of refusing to take the oath. REEL 2 Continues: his objection to army bull; becoming a marksman; corruption involved with army ration books. Aspects of training as private with Parachute Regiment in GB, 1951: volunteering for Parachute Regiment; treatment of illiterate conscript; uniforms; character of parachute training at Aldershot Garrison and No 1 Parachute Training School, RAF at RAF Abingdon; strange choice of venue for sexual union between parachute instructor and packer; method parachute instructor used to acquire beer money. Aspects of period training as trooper with 22nd Special Air Service Regt in GB, 1951: volunteering for Special Air Service; training on Dartmoor including water torture; parachute training including into water. REEL 3 Continues: dangers encountered in parachute training; lack of badging. Recollections of operations as trooper with 8 Troop, B Sqdn, 22nd Special Air Service Regt in Federation of Malaya, 12/1951-8/1952: arrival in Singapore, 12/1951; how many of his comrades were too old for operational conditions; estimation of the three cliques in unit at Sungei Besi; initial training patrol; contrast between Gurkha silence on patrol and jollity whilst relaxing; occasion when he learnt the lesson of silence from a Gurkha; emphasis on reconnaissance role of unit; unearthing Malayan National Liberation Army camps; primary and secondary jungle; pace of progress through jungle; techniques and character of Iban trackers; question of retrieving heads, ears and corpses for identification; health problems operating in jungle; medical treatment with purple unction; range of mosquito species; reaction to leech attacks; importance of not smelling fresh in jungle. REEL 4 Continues: method of killing snake; Brigadier Michael Calvert's problem with amoebic dysentery; Malayan National Liberation Army propaganda among Sakai and Special Air Service 'hearts and minds' policy; danger from arsenic poisoning from planters' spraying of trees; results of unit's tree jumping experiments; interview with Lieutenant-Colonel John Woodhouse about role of National Service conscripts in unit; role as signaller and radio sets used; problems navigating in jungle; length of jungle patrols; attitude to leaving unit; disappearance of his medical problems. Aspects of voyage aboard HMT Empire Trooper from Federation of Malaya to South Korea via Hong Kong, 1952: conditions on board; allocation to signals platoon; sabotaging a Bren Gun exercise; demise of ship's parrot; stop over in Hong Kong. REEL 5 Continues: story of 'Big Roe's' vomit filled boots; question of troops' knowledge of purpose of Korean War. Recollections of operations as signaller with Signals Platoon, 1st Bn Durham Light Infantry, 28th Commonwealth Infantry Bde, 1st Commonwealth Div in South Korea, 9/1952-9/1953: reception in Pusan; attachment to B Coy; effect of reprimanding for correcting superior; mock evacuation to Mobile Army Surgical Hospital; allocation to Major Kelly in D Coy; construction of Korean village latrines; medical problems of soldier who fell into latrine; vulnerability during exchange of units in front line; skirmishing for control of valleys; nature of artillery barrages; wounding of Major Kelly and style of leadership of his successor Captain Scott; code devised by signallers; alternation of boredom and terror in front line; Chinese People's Volunteer Army reception of unit; rotating of units; problems of negotiating 'Murder Mile'. REEL 6 Continues: narrow escape from Chinese People's Volunteer Army artillery fire; rivalry between United States Army troops and Royal New Zealand Army troops at Camp Casey; story of acquiring 'Yorick' mascot; terrain in South Korea; attempt to use Flying Fox on Hill 355; encounter with Lando Campesi; psychological effect of closeness of Chinese People's Volunteer Army trenches on Hill 355; Chinese People's Volunteer Army attack on unit's positions; Chinese People's Volunteer Army casualties during attack; Chinese People's Volunteer Army booby-trapping of bodies; 1st Commonwealth Div's attitude towards Chinese People's Volunteer Army; failure of battalion snatch squads; encounter with rotting corpse; patrolling with United States Army Ranger unit and ambush by Chinese People's Volunteer Army; Lieutenant William Nott Bower's method of marking Coronation, 6/1953. REEL 7 Continues: occasion when shooting of deer roused battalion; effect of his inventive mind; coping with winter conditions; effect of cold on battery performance; use of self-heating tins; effect of freezing on beer; problems of relieving oneself during winter; attempt of United States Army troops to obtain morphine; bartering self-heating soup for mortar sights with United States Army troops; rumour of battalion commander declining offer to retake The Hook; encounter with NCO who threaten to shoot him; leaving South Korea for GB via Japan; attitude to having served with British Army; story of narrow escape from United States Air Force napalm attack.