Weathers, John Edward (Oral history)

British private served with 12th Bn Parachute Regt, 5th Airborne Bde, 6th Airborne Div in GB, North West Europe and in Far East, 1943-1946

REEL 1 Background in Isleworth, 1924-1943: family; education; reaction to declaration of Second World War, 3/9/1939; employment; degree of German Air Force bombing in Isleworth; use of shelters; fire-watching duties. Aspects of enlistment and training with Wiltshire Regt in GB, 1943: attitude to call up; reporting at Maidstone; loss of his cutlery; washing up facilities; adjusting to army discipline; posting to Hyderabad Barracks at Colchester; allocation to signals branch; volunteering for Parachute Regt; signal training in Colchester area, summer 1943. Aspects of training with Parachute Regt in GB, 1943: initial training at Chesterfield; parachute training at Ringway. REEL 2 Continues: food and drink available to unit; problems of parachuting from Armstrong Whitworth Whitley. Aspects of period as private with Signals Platoon, Headquarters Coy, 12th Bn Parachute Regt, 5 Airborne Bde, 6th Airborne Div in GB, 1943-1944: joining unit at Larkhill; training on Salisbury Plain; life for signallers; in holding camp at Keevil; initial sight of aircraft with black and white D-Day stripes; briefing for D-Day operations; embarking into Short Stirling at Keevil, 5/6/1944; arrangement on board Short Stirling to avoid parachutes from being caught up. Recollections of operations as signaller with Signals Platoon, Headquarters Coy, 12th Bn Parachute Regt, 5 Airborne Bde, 6th Airborne Div in Normandy, D-Day, 6/6/1944: aircraft's evading flak; reaction to exiting aircraft; landing near Cabourg; assembling of small group of paratroopers under signals officer; problems crossing River Dives; sheltering in barn. REEL 3 Continues: Recollections of operations as signaller with Signals Platoon, Headquarters Coy, 12th Bn Parachute Regt, 5 Airborne Bde, 6th Airborne Div in Normandy, 7/6/1944-15/6/1944: refuge at farm of Monsieur Adrian Vermughen; attempt to re-join Allied lines; sheltering with French civilians; wounding by machine gun fire in Salonelles area; encounter with two commandoes; fate of Lieutenant Sharpe, Douggie Baines and Monsieur Vermughen; evacuation and hospitalisation in Park Prewitt Hospital. Recollections of operations with B Coy, 12th Bn Parachute Regt, 5 Airborne Bde, 6th Airborne Div in North West Europe, 1944-1945: return to unit at Salisbury; move to Ardennes, 25/12/1944; arrival at Namur; move to River Maas; question of inadequacy of officers footwear in winter. REEL 4 Continues: character of River Rhine parachute drop, 24/3/1945; sickness on landing; sight of glider blown up by German 88mm; sight of horse and cart enveloped by parachute, 24/3/1945; advance into Germany; killing of German dispatch rider; destruction of German ammunition truck; halt at Osnabruck; German use of dum dum bullets; his narrow escape from accidental discharge of NCOs weapon; arrival at Wismar; impressions of Russian troops in Wismar area; acquiring German officer's watch. Recollections of period as signaller with 12th Bn Parachute Regt, 5 Airborne Div in Far East, 1945-1946: move to Bombay, India, 7/1945; reaction to hearing of proposed parachute drop on Singapore, 8/1945; move to Singapore via Port Dickson; reaction to sight of Japanese POWs; setting up of Pegasus Club in Singapore. REEL 5 Continues: reunion with brother in law on board HMS Duke of York; relaxation in Singapore; basing at Changi; incident of NCO being exonerated of killing Japanese POWs in lorry accident; lift he received from General 'Boy' Browning; move to Semarang in Java, 11/1945; character of active service; Christmas celebrations, 12/1945; enrolling in Fire Service, 3/1946; mutiny amongst 13th Bn Parachute Regt over camp conditions; return to GB and awaiting demobilisation on Isle of Wight, 1946. Attitude to having served with Parachute Regt in Second World War. Question of recovery from wounds received in Normandy, 6/1944.