Description
Object description
British private served with 2nd Bn Dorsetshire Regt in GB, Egypt and Palestine, 1936; served as signalman with 1st Bn Dorsetshire Regt in India, 1937-1939; served with 1st Bn Dorsetshire Regt, 1st (Malta) Infantry Bde on Malta, 6/1939-4/1943; served with 1st Bn Dorsetshire Regt, 231st Independent Infantry Bde in Egypt and Italy, 4/1943-11/1943; served with 1st Bn Dorsetshire Regt, 231st Infantry Bde, 50th (Northumbrian) Infantry Div in GB and North West Europe, 11/1943-11/1944
Content description
REEL 1 Background in Dorsetshire, GB, 1914-1935: family; education; employment as farm hand; story of enlisting with Dorsetshire Regiment at Dorchester, 4/1935; enrolment procedure at Dorsetshire Regimental Depot, Depot Barracks, The Keep, Dorchester; accommodation in Depot Barracks; drafted into Vittoria Squad; memories of other recruits. Aspects of training with Dorsetshire Regiment in GB, 1935-1936: opinion of squad sergeant; story of kit inspection; opinion of room corporal; cleaning of boots and equipment; daily routine; number of men in barrack room; foot drill and marching; role of regimental sergeant-major and squad sergeant.
REEL 2 Continues: amusing story about Private Murphy; bayonet drill; description of uniform; stick drill; rifle drill; rifle firing on range; grenades; opinion of food; pay and expenses; cleaning parade; physical training; riding training; educational classes; regimental history; passing out parade; posting to 2nd Bn Dorsetshire Regt at Dover. Aspects of period with 2nd Bn Dorsetshire Regt in GB, 1936: accommodation in Grand Shaft Barracks; opinion of battalion; description of training with mortar platoon.
REEL 3 Continues: composition of mortar team; duties with honour guard; posting to Egypt, 3/1936. Aspects of operations as private with 2nd Bn Dorsetshire Regt in Egypt and Palestine, 1936: voyage from GB to Alexandria, Egypt, 3/1936; description of Sidi Bishr Camp; training as Lewis Gun operator; train journey to Jerusalem, Palestine; march to accommodation in Arab College; terrain; guard duties; patrols; move to tented camp in Jenin, Palestine; terrain; use of donkeys; convoy duties; skirmishes; move to Port Said, Egypt; return to Dover, GB, 1936. Aspects of operations as private with 1st Bn Dorsetshire Regt in India, 1937-1939: posting to battalion in India, 1937; three-week voyage aboard troopship from GB to India; arrival at Karachi and train journey to camp in Nowshera, North West Frontier Province; rations.
REEL 4 Continues: role in charge of band boys; story of meeting sister in Lahore; warning about relations with local women; role of Indian bearers; location and daily life in camp; joining support coy as machine gun operator; march to camp in foothills; use of mules to carry ammunition; memories of Christmas, 25/12/1937; climate; march to hill station; training as signalman including Morse Code and heliograph; memories of Christmas spent with sister, 25/12/1938; relations with Indian bearers; story of British Indian Army troops killing British officers; posting to Malta, 6/1939; amusing story of cleaning ship.
REEL 5 Continues: Recollections of operations as signalman with 1st Bn Dorsetshire Regt, 1st (Malta) Infantry Bde on Malta, 9/1939-4/1943: accommodation in barracks in Selima; moved into beach posts on outbreak of war, 9/1939; duties as signaller; nature of Italian Air Force raids on Malta; attachment to Royal Naval Signals School, Verdala Barracks; duties managing telephone exchange; nature of German Air Force raids on Malta; duties filling craters on airfields; problem of shortage of ammunition and rations; description of Italian Navy motor torpedo boat attack on Grand Harbour, 26/7/1941; rations; opinion of Italian forces; posting to Hompesch Gate; accommodation and equipment; problem of line breaks; Aspects of period as signalman with 1st Bn Dorsetshire Regt, 231st Independent Infantry Bde in Egypt, 4/1943-7/1943: battalion move to Sidi Bishr.
REEL 6 Continues: move to camp on Bitter Lakes; description of three months amphibious assault training. Aspects of operations as signaller with 1st Bn Dorsetshire Regt, 231st Independent Infantry Bde on Sicily, Italy, 7/1943-8/1943: voyage from Port Said, Egypt to Sicily, 7/1943; landing in second assault wave; issue of rum ration; signals equipment; nature of terrain on landing beach; duties as signalman; opinion of Lieutenant-Colonel Walter Ray; night attacks; rations; casualties; provision of hot food; sleeping arrangements in dugouts; problem of battle fatigue; deserters; comradeship. Aspects of operations as signalman with 1st Bn Dorsetshire Regt, 231st Independent Infantry Bde in Italy, 9/1943: landing on Italian mainland, 9/1943; problem of friendly fire.
REEL 7 Continues: story of bomb hitting signals truck; washing clothes; return of battalion to Catania, Sicily; 9/1943; guard duties; return to GB, 11/1943, Aspects of period as signalman with 1st Bn Dorsetshire Regt, 231st Infantry Bde, 50th (Northumbrian) Infantry Div in GB, 11/1943-6/1944: leave; story of visit by King George VI; description of amphibious assault training at Invarary; move to camp at Fawley in New Forest; further assault training; sailed from Southampton to Normandy, 6/6/1944. Aspects of operations as signalman with 1st Bn Dorsetshire Regt, 231st Infantry Bde, 50th (Northumbrian) Infantry Div in North Wes Europe, 6-11/1944: landing with assault second wave on Gold Beach, Normandy, France, D-Day, 6/6/1944; story of landing craft assault hitting mine; summary of movements across France and Belgium.
REEL 8 Continues: attached as signaller to 1st (Armoured) Bn Welsh Guards, Guards Armoured Div; skirmishes with German forces; opinion of German Army troops; taking German prisoners of war; reception on entering Brussels, Belgium, 9/1944; attachment to 11th Armoured Div; capture of Antwerp, Belgium; memories of General Roberts; move to Nijmegen, Netherlands, 11/1944; daily routine and duties in Nijmegen, Netherlands and Kemmel Hill, Belgium; story of being presented with commendation by Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery. Aspects of period as NCO with Dorsetshire Regiment in GB, 11/1944-11/1945: return to camp at Nawton; role in training troops for Far East; memories of VE Day in Dorchester, 8/5/1945; demobilsation, 11/1945; story of Dorsetshire Regiment being given freedom of Lyme Regis; length of and attitude to military service.
REEL 9 Continues: post-war employment with General Post Office. Reflections on military service: opinion of chaplains; attitude to looting; communication with home; attitude to role as signalman; self-inflicted wounds; opinion of officers and pay; opinion of American forces; opinion of German forces; awareness of concentration camps; effects of military service on health.
