Interview with William Ernest Francis Avery

British private served with 4th Bn Dorsetshire Regt, 130th Infantry Bde, 43rd (Wessex) Infantry Div in GB and North West Europe, 9/1939-5/1945

REEL 1 Background in Blandford Forum, GB, 1920-1939: family; education; employment. Aspects of period as private with 4th Bn Dorsetshire Regt, 130th Infantry Bde, 43rd (Wessex) Infantry Div in GB, 9/1939-6/1944: pattern of training; reasons for not attending annual summer camp with Territorial Army, 1939; knowledge of approaching war; attempt to join Royal Air Force; mobilisation; kit situation; accommodation in Weymouth; composition of battalion and route marches; memories of Sergeant Percy Matthews; daily routine; rifle training; platoon transport; formation of 5th Bn Dorsetshire Regt and joint activities in Poole; move to Cucklington; method of obtaining nights out in Weymouth; discipline; commanding officers and NCOs; sleeping arrangements; first journey on motorcycle; move to Berkhamsted; accommodation; nature of exercises; allocation to duties as despatch rider; duties as commanding officer's despatch rider; further details of exercises; advantages of being a despatch rider; medical grade; friends in battalion; arrival of brother in battalion; reactional activities; war news and reaction to Dunkirk Evacuation; contact with Dunkirk Evacuation veterans; characteristics of Sten Gun. REEL 2 Continues: reason for move to Dover; German shelling of Dover; visits to brigade headquarters and St Margaret's Bay; story of graffiti left in wall; hospitalisation in Canterbury and convalescence; posting to signal stores; relations with signals NCOs and officers; duties and activities at Dover Castle; moves to Herne Bay and Sandwich; rumour of posting to North Africa; battalion move to Bexhill-on-Sea, 1944; visits to Brighton; preparations for invasion of Normandy, France; fitness training including death of soldier; duties; relations with civilians; knowledge of and reaction to D-Day landings; departure from Bexhill-on-Sea including method of letting wife know; journey to Tilbury; embarkation at Tilbury Docks. Recollections of operations as private with 4th Bn Dorsetshire Regt, 130th Infantry Bde, 43rd (Wessex) Infantry Div in Normandy, France, 6/1944-8/1944: crossing English Channel including wait of Normandy coast; movement inland; digging of slit trench. REEL 3 Continues: relief of troops of 15th (Scottish) Infantry Div including first experience of German multi-barrelled mortar fire; position held including problems with terrain; attack on Éterville; effects of German artillery fire including discovery shrapnel embedded in face; nature of second action and sacking of commanding officer; involvement in actions at Hill 112 including digging in of motorcycle; withdrawal to B Echelon; nature of communications; armbands worn by despatch riders; story of threatening member of Corps of Military Police; further details of attack on Hill 112; activities of supporting artillery; composition of headquarters coy; turnover of officers and despatch riders; period at Hill 112; problems with German snipers; supply of rations; troops suffering from psychological stress. REEL 4 Continues: breakthrough at Hill 112; opinion of stretcher-bearers; discussion and burial of casualties; contact with French civilians; turnover of officers; casualties suffered at Jurques including Corporal Herbert 'Joe' Penny, 2/8/1944; sights witnessed in Falaise Gap; story of crossing cornfield and question of bravery. Recollections of operations as private with 4th Bn Dorsetshire Regt, 130th Infantry Bde, 43rd (Wessex) Infantry Div in North West Europe, 8/1944-5/1945: crossing of River Seine at Vernon and journey to Tilly; contact with 5th Bn Dorsetshire Regt; rest period in Tilly; preparations for Operation Market Garden in Netherlands; nature of advance to Nijmegen, Netherlands, 9/1944; crossing of Nijmegen Bridge, Netherlands, 9/1944; story of receiving guard duty; evacuation of troops from Oosterbeek Perimeter, Netherlands, 9/1944; aerial activity during Operation Market Garden, 9/1944; state of airborne troops. REEL 5 Continues: arrival of reinforcements; move to Sittard, Netherlands; conditions underfoot; accommodation and activities in Hoensbroek, Netherlands; involvement in operations in Ardennes, Belgium, 12/1944-1/1945; state of civilians in Netherlands; leave in Brussels, Belgium; story of journey through area held by United States Army; details of period in Ardennes, Belgium; contact with United States Army troops; memorial at Geilenkirchen, Germany; story of nearly receiving court martial; relations with superiors; advance through Reichswald Forest, Germany, 2/1942; memories of Lieutenant-Colonel Roberts; origins of and relations amongst battalion personnel; living off land; relations with officers; state of Cleve, Germany, 2/1945; crossing of River Rhine LVT-4 Buffalo Amphibian, 3/1945; nature of leave in GB, 4/1945; return to unit and wounding, 4/1945. REEL 6 Continues: evacuation to Regimental Aid Post; medical treatment received; flight in aircraft to Brussels, Belgium; medical treatment and staff during hospitalisation in Brussels, Belgium; VE Day celebrations in Belgium, 8/5/1945; leave. Aspects of period as private with Devonshire Regiment in GB, 1945-1946: return to GB; physical training course at Shorncliffe Camp; duties; taxis from station; football player in unit; attempt to gain posting to Dorsetshire Regiment; opinion of troops from other Allied nations; knowledge of prisoners of war; news of wider war; activity in signals office; communications; Displaced Persons; prior recollection of visit to Dutch civilian in Hoensbroek, Netherlands; opinion of medical treatment received before D-Day; demobilisation at Aldershot Garrison; opinion of treatment received from British Army. REEL 7 Continues: Post-war life and employment: civilian employment including health problems; family; psychological effects of war experiences; reflections on military service; physical effects of war service; details of army pension and disability; opinion of treatment received from British Army; opinion of service; involvement with Dorsetshire Regimental Association