Description
Object description
British private served with General Service Corps and Sherwood Foresters in GB, 1944; private served with 4th Bn Dorsetshire Regt, 130th Infantry Bde, 43rd (Wessex) Infantry Div in North West Europe, 10/1944-5/1945; NCO served with British Army in Italy and Germany, 1945-1950
Content description
REEL 1 Background in Ilkeston, GB, 1925-1944: family; education; reaction to declaration of Second World War, 3/9/1939; following progress of Second World War, 1939-1944; knowledge of approaching war, 1939; unemployment in Ilkeston; employment; rejection of mining work and attempt to join Royal Marines; membership of Army Cadet Force. Recollections of enlistment and training as private with General Service Corps and Sherwood Foresters (Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire Regiment) in GB, 3/1944-10/1944: reaction to call-up for military service; journey to and reception on arrival at Lincoln; sleeping arrangements; background of recruits; memories of NCOs; degree of knowledge of what to expect including selection of religion and Sunday visits home; pattern of training; mortar bomb accident; field craft training and exercises; discipline; recreational activities.
REEL 2 Continues: fitness; posting to Sherwood Foresters (Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire Regiment) for infantry training; pride in regiment; pattern of training; proficiency with weapons; navigational training; opinion of training; memories of NCOs; results of training; question of constant hunger and rations; canteens; armed forces' presence in Lincoln including fights with Royal Air Force and United States Army personnel; war news; attending Ordnance QF 6 Pounder Anti-Tank Gun course undertaken in Shoeburyness including learning to drive Loyd Carrier and description and firing of the gun; training received at Rothbury; receiving news of Operation Market Garden in Netherlands; reaction to overseas posting; period in tented camp in Portsmouth; journey from Portsmouth to Ostend, Belgium. Recollections of operations as private with 4th Bn Dorsetshire Regt, 130th Infantry Bde, 43rd (Wessex) Infantry Div in North West Europe, 10/1944-5/1945: joining battalion, 10/1944; character of battalion and reaction to posting to it; reception from D Coy.
REEL 3 Continues: question of issuing insignia; memories of officers and NCOs; advance into Germany; story of return to platoon after first guard duty; briefing prior to first attack; advance into Dorset Wood, Germany; period holding Dorset Wood, Germany, including results of artillery shelling; carrying messages and opinion of role as runner; lessons learned from first action; action in Tripsrath, Germany; climate; process of house clearance; information given about German opposition; move to Ardennes, Belgium, 12/1944; support given to American forces during Battle of the Bulge in Ardennes, Belgium, 12/1944-1/1945; story of post-war visit to Ardennes, Belgium; relations with civilians; Christmas, 25/12/1944.
REEL 4 Continues: details of mail sent and received; origins of battalion troops; opinion of officers; state of Nijmegen, Netherlands; nature of advance through Reichswald Forest to Kleve, Germany, 2/1945; story of being under fire whilst delivering taking message to 11 Platoon; German defences in Reichswald Forest, Germany, 2/1945; positions taken opposite Emmerich am Rhein, Germany; introduction of and problems with passwords; issue of Sten Gun.
REEL 5 Continues: crossing of River Rhine, Germany, 3/1945; capture of Millingen, Germany; story of German prisoners of war with knives; surrender of German Army troops and attitude of German prisoners of war; attitude to Germans; story of civilians expecting to be shot; pattern of towns captured after crossing of River Rhine, Germany, 3/1945-4/1945; nature of advance through Germany, 4/1945; leave in Brussels, Belgium, 5/1945; final casualty of war; news of end of Second World War in Europe, 8/5/1945; details of camp near Bergen-Belsen Concentration Camp; reaction to end of Second World War; system of demobilisation; guard duties; contact with civilians; visits to holiday camp; fear of posting to Far East; volunteering for Palestine Police Force; decision to continue service in British Army; involvement in game of basketball.
REEL 6 Continues: Recollections of period as NCO with 4th Bn Dorsetshire Regt in Italy and Germany, 1945-1946: journey from Germany to Bari, Italy; garrison duties; story of Cypriot prisoners; question of looting in Germany; relations with Italian civilians including playing football; degree of awareness and reaction to Holocaust; opinion of Italians; discipline among troops and civilians; guard duties; situation in Trieste, Italy; story of parade, 2/5/1946; activities of Italian riot police and Yugoslav Partisans.
REEL 7 Continues: story of revenge for attack on British women; question of fear of Communism; guard duties at Mestre, Italy; story of accident on arrival in Mestre, Italy and subsequent court of inquiry; visits to Venice, Italy; disbandment of 4th Bn Dorsetshire Regt. Aspects of period as NCO with British Army in Italy, Germany and GB, 1946-1950: posting to No 374 Prisoner of War Guard Company in Rimini, Italy; background and return of Italian prisoners of war; posting to and duties with No 50 Reinforcement Holding Unit in Bielefeld, Germany; promotions to sergeant; opinion of role of sergeant; duties guarding prisoners in Hanover, Germany; commitment to army service; posting to Bulford Camp, GB, 6/1950; background to posting to 1st Bn Gloucestershire Regiment serving in Korean War, 1950; decision to leave British Army. Aspects of post-war civilian life and employment: civilian employment; psychological effects of military service.
REEL 8 Continues: positive effects of service as sergeant with British Army and period as prisoner of war in North Korea on civilian employment; Chinese indoctrination attempts during period as prisoner of war in North Korea; memories of chaplains; period in Army Reserve; opinion of treatment of veterans; process of demobilisation on leaving British Army.
