Interview with Henry Gordon Wyndham Shakespear

British officer served with 1/2nd Bn King Edward VII's Own Gurkha Rifles (Sirmoor Rifles), 7th Indian Infantry Bde, 4th Indian Infantry Div in Middle East and Italy, 6/1943-9/1944; 1/2nd Bn King Edward VII's Own Gurkha Rifles (Sirmoor Rifles), Johore Sub District and 26th Gurkha Bde, Malaya Command and Gurkha Boy's Company in Federation of Malaya, 1948-1952; served as staff officer with Headquarters, 50th (Northumbrian) Infantry Div in GB, 1953-1955; served with 1/2nd Bn King Edward VII's Own Gurkha Rifles (Sirmoor Rifles), 99th Gurkha Bde, Malaya Command in Federation of Malaya, 1956-1958; commanded 1/2nd Bn King Edward VII's Own Gurkha Rifles (Sirmoor Rifles), 99th Gurkha Bde in Federation of Malaya and Brunei, 1960-1963

REEL 1 Aspects of background to enlistment in 1/2nd Bn King Edward VII's Own Gurkha Rifles (Sirmoor Rifles), 1940: family service with regiment; lack of anticipation in prospect of coming war, 1938-1939; attitude towards tactics employed in First World War; training as officer cadet at Royal Military College Sandhurst Camberley; declaration of Second World War, 3/9/1939. Recollections of period as officer with 1/2nd Bn King Edward VII's Own Gurkha Rifles (Sirmoor Rifles) in India, 1940-1943: voyage from GB to India; officer training at Officer Training School, Belgaum; tactical training; arrival with regiment at Dehra Dun; duties as company officer; language requirements for officers; living conditions; training recruits; standard of recruit marksmanship; Gurkha preference for aperture sight over U sight; role as instructor on Ordnance BL 3 Inch Mortar at Infantry Training School at Saugor, 1941-1943; question of use of massed mortar fire. REEL 2 Continues: British Indian Army troops attitude to using mortars; sense of frustration through lack of active service. Aspects of period as officer with 1/2nd Bn King Edward VII's Own Gurkha Rifles (Sirmoor Rifles), 7th Indian Infantry Bde, 4th Indian Infantry Div in Middle East, 6/1943-12/1943: joining battalion in Egypt, 6/1943; state of battalion after action in Tunisia; appointment to adjutant; mountain warfare training in Lebanon and Palestine; Gurkha's method of fishing in Lebanon; discipline in battalion; supply of information to troops; importance of rum ration to Gurkhas. Recollections of operations as officer with 1/2nd Bn King Edward VII's Own Gurkha Rifles (Sirmoor Rifles), 7th Indian Infantry Bde, 4th Indian Infantry Div in Italy, 1943-1944: disembarking at Taranto, 12/1943; use of medium machine guns; impressions of Italy; effect of winter conditions on Gurkhas and British officers; relieving Maori troops of 28th (Maori) Bn, 2nd New Zealand Infantry Div in frontline; deployment of company; distance from German positions; character of patrols; leading reconnaissance patrol; move to Caira at Monte Cassino, 2/1944. REEL 3 Continues: arrival during counter-attack by German forces on 36th Infantry Div, United States Army; state of United States Army troops relieved by battalion; lack of time for reconnaissance; composition of headquarters company; character of signal arrangements; difficulty of digging in; mule supply trains; importance of grenades; orders to attack Monte Cassino Monastery, 17/2/1944; nature of attack, 17/2/1944; problems with German machine guns, mines and booby-traps; casualties from guns of Royal Artillery firing short; lack of co-ordination in planning of attack; view forward from start line in daylight; loss of orderly to mine; move to Kesselring's Castle position; reduction to three companies; writing war diary. REEL 4 Continues: regrouping on start line; German airborne troops' attitude to attempts to recover wounded; move to Snakeshead Ridge; attitude of Gurkhas to failure of attack; supporting 2nd New Zealand Infantry Div's attack on Cassino; directing mortar fire onto Albaneta Farm; use of sangars; degree of liaison with British Indian Army and British Army units; communications on Snakeshead Ridge; encounter with keen sentry; capture of senior German paratrooper NCO; battalion headquarters; replacement of casualties; question of rum ration; coping with cold weather; consequences of bathing; health and fitness; length of stay in positions; visits by Brigadier Osmond de Turville Lovett. REEL 5 Continues: character of German airborne forces' machine gun position in Monte Cassino Monastery; nature of attack by 2nd New Zealand Infantry Div at Monte Cassino, 15/3/1944; listening to tank crews of 20th Armoured Regt, 2nd New Zealand Infantry Div on radio set; relief by 78th Infantry Div at Monte Cassino, 3/1944; question of Gurkha rifle shooting abilities; return to Adriatic front; terrain on Adriatic front; advance to Chieti; crawling through minefield; opinion of American M1 Carbine; move westwards into central mountains; nature of attack near Arezzo; Gurkha attitude to digging in; narrow escape from German artillery fire; opinion of tactics used for company attacks; use of mortars; opinion of German mortars. REEL 6 Continues: difficulties with communications; formation for night advance to contact; intelligence available on German forces; British officer casualties; opinion of Gurkha officers; advance to Gothic Line; view of Gothic Line; orders to attack Auditore and Monte San Giovanni on northern side of River Foglia; nature of assault on Auditore, 2/9/1944; German artillery shelling of Auditore, 3/9/1944; attack on Monte San Giovanni, 3/9/1944; wounding in neck and mouth during attack on Monte San Giovanni, 3/9/1944. REEL 7 Continues: return to Auditore; progress of attack; question of tension prior to attack. Aspects of period of hospitalisation in Italy and GB, 1944-1945: nature of wounds; effect of use of penicillin; medical evacuation to GB for treatment by Sir Harold Gillies; state of fitness on return to unit in Greece, 6/1945; experience of post-traumatic stress disorder. Aspects of period as officer with 1/2nd Bn King Edward VII's Own Gurkha Rifles (Sirmoor Rifles) in India, 1945-1947: teaching Gurkhas to swim; training for amphibious assault near Bombay; reaction to use of atomic bombs on Japan, 8/1945; attitude to fate of British Indian Army; lack of civil unrest in Bombay. REEL 8 Continues: Recollections of operations as officer with 1/2nd Bn King Edward VII's Own Gurkha Rifles (Sirmoor Rifles), Johore Sub District and 26th Gurkha Bde, Malaya Command and Gurkha Boy's Company in Federation of Malaya, 1948-1952: posting to Federation of Malaya, 8/1948; training for jungle warfare; initial role commanding support company; deployment in Johore Sub District, 1948; role commanding Gurkha Boy's Company at Sungei Patani; devising syllabus; passing out parade taken by Field Marshal William Slim; staff of Gurkha Boy's Company; question of purpose of training; return to Staff College in GB, 1951; resuming command of support company of 1/2nd Bn King Edward VII's Own Gurkha Rifles (Sirmoor Rifles) in 1952; role of support company; problems of locating Malayan National Liberation Army insurgents; lack of co-ordination between military and police forces over intelligence; nature of ambushes; difficulty of moving and navigating through jungle; maps used; consequences of navigational error; motivation of Gurkhas. REEL 9 Continues: effects of funghi on Gurkhas; health hazards and precautions; co-operation with Royal Air Force and Royal Navy helicopters. Aspects of period as staff officer with Headquarters, 50th (Northumbrian) Infantry Div in GB, 1953-1955: posting to division; duties as district staff officer; role of division; divisional training and skills. Aspects of operations as officer with 1/2nd Bn King Edward VII's Own Gurkha Rifles (Sirmoor Rifles), 99th Gurkha Bde, Malaya Command in Federation of Malaya, 1956-1958: role as company commander; occasion of missing Malayan National Liberation Army insurgent food lift; action of guide party against Malayan National Liberation Army insurgents; size of Malayan National Liberation Army insurgent food lifting party; night ambush on Malayan National Liberation Army insurgents; posting to Royal School of Military Engineering, Chatham, GB. Recollections of operations commanding 1/2nd Bn King Edward VII's Own Gurkha Rifles (Sirmoor Rifles), 99th Gurkha Bde in Federation of Malaya and Brunei, 1960-1963: problems with air portable exercise; search for aircrew of crashed aircraft in jungle; delay in movement during Brunei Revolt, 12/1962; memories of Royal Navy Lieutenant Commander Jeremy Black; hearing news of problems in Brunei, 12/1962; air movement of battalion; degree of information about situation. REEL 10 Continues: North Kalimantan National Army (TNKU) insurgent attack on police stations in Brunei; tasks accepted by force commander; ambush on convoy at Tutong, Brunei; character of North Kalimantan National Army (TNKU) insurgents and their weapons; attempts to gain intelligence on arrival; evacuation of civilians; reasons why Sultan Omar Ali Saiffuddien III brought into police station; arrest of North Kalimantan National Army (TNKU) insurgents in Brunei, 12/1962; sentry who shot curfew breaker; description of 'framework' operations; terrain in Brunei; relations with civilians; problems with communications to Singapore, Federation of Malaya; attitude of Gurkhas to helicopter operations based on HMS Albion; estimates of North Kalimantan National Army (TNKU) insurgent casualties; flood relief operations; battalion casualties; lessons learnt from operations in Brunei; return to Federation of Malaya.