Interview with Ernest Trawford

British private served with 2nd Bn Gloucestershire Regt, 145th Infantry Bde, 48th (South Midland) Infantry Div in France, 1940; NCO served with 2nd Bn Gloucestershire Regt in GB, 1940-1944; served with 2nd Bn Gloucestershire Regt, 56th Infantry Bde, 50th (Northumbrian) Infantry Div in Normandy, France, 6/1944-8/1944; served with 2nd Bn Gloucestershire Regt, 56th Infantry Bde, 49th (West Riding) Infantry Div in North West Europe, 8/1944-5/1945

REEL 1 Background in Bourneville, GB, 1918-1939: family; employment. Aspects of enlistment and training at Gloucestershire Regtimental Depot, Horsfield Barracks, Bristol in GB, 1939-1940: call-up for military service; reaction of parents; desire to join Royal Air Force; reaction to posting; journey to Bristol; reception on arrival at Horfield Barracks; issue of kit; sleeping arrangements at Memorial Ground; Bren Gun Carrier training; treatment from NCOs; kit inspections; background of recruits; pay; fellow recruits; description of Bren Gun Carrier; later changes to training including movement of advance; background of NCOs; discipline. Aspects of period as private with 2nd Bn Gloucestershire Regt, 145th Infantry Bde, 48th (South Midland) Infantry Div in France, 1940: journey to France; reaction to posting; period in Rouen including sight of refugees; return to GB. Aspects of period as NCO with 2nd Bn Gloucestershire Regt in GB, 1940-1944: reformation of battalion at Tetbury; promotion to lance corporal; posting in Crediton; coastal defence duties at Torcross. REEL 2 Continues: battalion presence in Newton Abbott, Goodrington and Dartmoor; self-sufficiency exercise; memories of Sergeant-Major Bassett; relations with officers; details of courses undertaken; attachment to Royal Air Force Regiment as lance sergeant; background to posting on army pay course; physical fitness; recreational activities; briefing for D-Day, 6/1944. Recollections of operations as NCO with 2nd Bn Gloucestershire Regt, 56th Infantry Bde, 50th (Northumbrian) Infantry Div in Normandy, France, 6/1944-8/1944: crossing English Channel; landing and advance from Gold Beach, D-Day, 6/6/1944; opposition faced in Tilly-sur-Seulles; obtaining orders; bombing of Tilly-sur-Seulles. REEL 3 Continues: events on ridge; living conditions; issue of rum ration; patrols around Falaise Gap; capture of German Army troops during advance to Rouen; attack made with Canadian Army tanks; question of contact with Canadian Army troops; impressions of United States Army and German Army troops; opinion of opposition faced; capture of Thury-Harcourt; impressions of civilians. Recollections of operations as NCO with 2nd Bn Gloucestershire Regt, 56th Infantry Bde, 49th (West Riding) Infantry Div in North West Europe, 8/1944-5/1945: details of advance to and capture of Le Havre, France, 9/1944; sight of start of Operation Market Garden, 9/1944; description of journey to Nijmegen, Netherlands, 9/1944; crossing River Nederrijn over Nijmegen Bridge, Netherlands, 9/1944; in positions on The Island, Netherlands; listening patrol; effect of psychological stress on troops; events in Oud Gastel, Netherlands. REEL 4 Continues: further details of listening patrol; leave in GB, 1/1945; re-capture of building on return; promotion to company sergeant-major; story of meeting wife in Newton Abbot; crossing of Nijmegen Bridge, Netherlands; German artillery fire and accommodation during rest period in Druten, Netherlands; story of journey through minefield following crossing of River Nederrijn, Netherlands, 4/1945; subsequent capture of German Army troops; action at Wolfheze; Netherlands, 4/1945; celebrations and duties on end of Second World War, 8/5/1945; processing of surrendering troops. Aspects of period as NCO with 2nd Bn Gloucestershire Regt in Germany, 5/1945-1/1946: work with Displaced Persons; knowledge of Holocaust; news of wider war; 'Monty's Moonlight'; demobilisation in Folkestone, GB, 1/1946 including reunion with Frank 'Nobby' Clark; question of staying in British Army. Reflections on military service: obtaining civilian employment, 1946. REEL 5 Continues: opinion of treatment of veterans; relations with German civilians in Germany, 1945-1946; story of dealing with riot; medical staff in company; settling into civilian life; post-war visit to Arromanches-les-Bains, Normandy, France; lessons learned from military service; memories of chaplains and church services; attack on farmhouse; capture of factories.