Description
Object description
British trooper trained with 61st Reconnaissance Training Centre, Reconnaissance Corps at Scarborough, GB, 2/1942-8/1942; trooper and NCO served with 53rd Reconnaissance Regt, Reconnaissance Corps, 53rd (Welsh) Infantry Div in GB and North West Europe, 8/1942-9/1944; hospitalisation in Worcester Royal Infirmary, GB, 9/1944-5/1945
Content description
REEL 1 Background in Callow End, GB, 1923-1942: family; education; employment as apprentice cabinet maker; playing football; work as runner for Air Raid Precautions; reaction to declaration of Second World War, 3/9/1939. Aspects of enlistment as trooper in Reconnaissance Corps, 1942: reaction of parents to his enlistment; receiving call-up papers; on draft from Worcester; fitness; allocation to Reconnaissance Corps; reactions of siblings to his enlistment; opinion of what war would be like. Aspects of period training with 61st Reconnaissance Training Centre, Reconnaissance Corps at Scarborough, GB, 2/1942-8/1942: journey to Scarborough; accommodation; length of training in comparison to infantry training; first route march; issue of uniform and equipment; comradeship; visits into Scarborough; rations; physical training; training received; kit inspections; opinion of NCOs; settling into military life; discipline, including later fight and punishment received at Otham; sporting activities; posting as squadron sign writer; hotels accommodation in Scarborough; recreational activities and boredom of military life; relations with local women; pay; war news; opinion of training received; shouting from NCOs, including getting used to different regional accents; opinion of fitness; recruits who found drill difficult; opinion of time spent at Scarborough.
REEL 2 Continues: pace of drill; origins and role of Reconnaissance Corps; skills required for work in field; weapons training; opinion of bayonet training; later reaction first action in Normandy, France; training to locate and dismantle mines; anti-gas training; tactical training, including use of camouflage; background of instructors; comradeship. Recollections of period as trooper and NCO with 53rd Reconnaissance Regt, Reconnaissance Corps, 53rd (Welsh) Infantry Div in GB, 8/1942-6/1944: posting in Otham, near Maidstone; composition of and pride in regiment; memories of Peter Ogden; exercises on South Downs; opinion of training; background of instructors; story of a fight in a Nissan Hut at Otham; relations with officers; standard of turnout and granting of lanyards and epaulettes; visit of Prime Minister Winston Churchill to Maidstone.
REEL 3 Continues: reaction to prospect of overseas posting; waterproofing of vehicles; journey to Tilbury and code word to silence those talking of invasion; voyage to France. Recollections of operations as NCO with 53rd Reconnaissance Regt, Reconnaissance Corps, 53rd (Welsh) Infantry Div in North West Europe, 8/1944-9/1944: unit role in Normandy, France; arrival in Normandy, France; accommodation and sleeping arrangements; contact with French civilians; first experience of German Army mortar fire; nature of engagements; supporting units; German forces' attack on Universal Carrier and reaction to such incidents; importance of religious beliefs and opinion that he was lucky; use of Bren Gun; incident of being cut-off and wounding near Nijmegen, Netherlands, 9/1944; fate of unit. Aspects of hospitalisation in GB, 9/1944-5/1945: initial medical evacuation from Netherlands to Swindon; hospitalisation in Worcester Royal Infirmary; convalescence in Malvern; leave and hospitalisation in Barnard Castle with cist; marriage. Recollections of period as NCO with 53rd Reconnaissance Regt, Reconnaissance Corps, 53rd (Welsh) Infantry Div in Germany, 1945: return to regiment in Hamburg, 1945; posting in Düsseldorf; accommodation and theft of penknives.
REEL 4 Continues: return to regiment in Hamburg; duties in Displaced Persons camp; nature of Displaced Persons camp, including reason for having poor memory, camp inmates, sentry duties and opinion of Displaced Persons; state of Hamburg; reaction to devastated state of German towns; relations with German civilians and conditions for them in Hamburg; bartering; posting in Düsseldorf; accommodation and sleeping arrangements; ration supply of rations; problems with teeth and hospitalisation; return to regiment; later news of potential posting West Africa; leaving party and journey hungover to GB. Aspects of period as NCO with Reconnaissance Corps in GB, 1945-1946: period with holding unit; posting to Catterick Camp; leave; reaction to cancellation of draft to West Africa; posting in Longcross Halt; duties testing Centurion Tank; demobilisation of troops; weekend leaves. Recollections of operations as NCO with 53rd Reconnaissance Regt, Reconnaissance Corps, 53rd (Welsh) Infantry Div in North West Europe, 7/1944-9/1944: reflections on action seen; briefing prior to operations; traffic control duties; passing on of reconnaissance; washing facilities; equipment carried; unit officers.
REEL 5 Continues: terrain in Normandy, France; opinion of training; nature of events at Hill 112, Normandy, France; opinion that some veterans acquire personal experience and stories from books; opinion of book about 53rd Reconnaissance Regt; briefings and preparations prior to reconnaissance missions; vehicles lost and regained; debriefings; morale in camp; rations; details of squadron and regimental headquarters; traffic duties; journey along 'Murder Mile'; discipline; story of captured Germans; composition of Reconnaissance Corps; time of day when reconnaissance undertaken; map training; activities whilst not reconnoitring in France; prior recollection of gambling in Bury St Edmunds, GB; closing of Falaise Gap and German prisoners of war taken; opinion of United States Army and Canadian Army troops; opinion of Corps of Military Police; opinion of medical staff memories of chaplain and prayer prior to and after operations.
REEL 6 Continues: attitude towards conscientious objectors; opinion of wartime profiteers; resentment of brothers not serving in British Army. Aspects of period as NCO with Reconnaissance Corps in GB, 1946: details of draft returning to GB; leave and cancellation of draft; promotion to sergeant; role of unit at Longcross Halt; civilian workers; testing of Centurion Tank; obtaining lifts home on weekend leave; process of demobilisation, including demobilisation suit and gratuity.
REEL 7 Continues: Post-war life and employment: return to civilian life; pride in military service with British Army; relationship with mother; psychological and physical effects of wartime experiences; charity bike ride from London, GB to Paris, France. Aspects of hospitalisation in Worcester Royal Infirmary, GB, 9/1944-5/1945: evacuation from Netherlands to GB; morale of patient at Worcester Royal Infirmary; description of wounds; later story of shrapnel discovered in x-rays; reaction during medical evacuation; discipline at Worcester Royal Infirmary, GB; treatment from staff; story of free meal; period of convalescence at Malvern, GB; story of later spell in hospital following heart bypass operation; opinion of medical treatment; post-war 53rd Reconnaissance Regt reunions and visits to Netherlands.
