Interview with Alan Brooke Pemberton

British officer served with 2nd Bn Coldstream Guards, 1st Guards Bde in North Africa and Italy, 1943-1944; served with 5th Bn Coldstream Guards, 32nd Guards Bde, Guards Armoured Div in North West Europe, 1944-1945; served with 3rd Bn Coldstream Guards, 1st Guards Bde, Palestine Command in Palestine, 1946-1947; served with 2nd Bn Coldstream Guards, 2nd Guards Bde, Malaya Command in Federation of Malaya, 1948-1950; served as Aide-de-Camp (ADC) to General Sir Gerald Templer in Federation of Malaya, 1952-1953; various postings in Caribbean, 1956-1963

REEL 1 Background in India and GB, 1923-1942: family; education; reaction to declaration of Second World War, 3/9/1939; father's role at RAF Wittering during Battle of Britain, 1940; period at Trinity College, University of Cambridge, 1941-1942. Aspects of enlistment and training as officer with Coldstream Guards in GB, 1942-1943: period at Mons Barracks, Aldershot; character of training at Officer Cadet Training Unit, 8/1942-11/1942; period with Guards Training Bn at Guards Training Depot, Pirbright, 1942-1943; role as transport officer. Aspects of voyage aboard HMT Johan Van Oldenbarnveldt from GB to French Algeria, 1943: character of draft he was in charge of; accommodation and rations; duties on board; sight of German prisoners of war in Algiers, French Algeria. REEL 2 Continues: Aspects of period as officer with 3 Coy, 2nd Bn Coldstream Guards, 1st Guards Bde in North Africa, 1943: reception on joining unit at Souss, Tunisia; problem of theft by Arabs at Constantine, French Algeria; guarding Prime Minister Winston Churchill at Carthage, Tunisia, 12/1943. Recollections of operations with 3 Coy, 2nd Bn Coldstream Guards, 1st Guards Bde in Italy, 2/1944: landing at Naples, 2/1944; crossing River Garigliano; reputation of Guards; clash with German on patrol; death of friend in action; opinion of commanding officer Lieutenant-Colonel Henry Green; background to his wounding in his arm at Monte Ornito, 13/2/1944; use of Thompson Machine Gun; living conditions at Monte Ornito. REEL 3 Continues: Aspects of medical treatment for wounds in Italy and GB, 1944: hospitalisation at Caserta, Italy; specialist treatment at Wingfield-Morris Orthopeadic Hospital, Oxford. Recollections of operations as officer with 8 Platoon, 1 Coy, 5th Bn Coldstream Guards, 32nd Guards Bde, Guards Armoured Div in North West Europe, 1944-1945: posting to unit at Nijmegen, Netherlands, 11/1944; organisation of Guards Armoured Div; role holding the line at Sittard, Netherlands, 12/1944; German use of mines; rapid move to Namur, Belgium, 24/12/1944; orders to check for Germans dressed as nuns; conditions in Reichswald Forest, Germany, 2/1945; action in Wesel, Germany, 3/1945; opinion of resistance from German 7th Parachute Div; memories of Ian Liddell's Victoria Cross action at canal at Lingen, Germany, 3/4/1945; character of German forces who surrendered at Cuxhaven, Germany; disinclination of German prisoners of war to obey orders. Recollections of operations with 3rd Bn Coldstream Guards, 1st Guards Bde in Palestine, 1946-1947: background to posting; need to control Jewish immigration; contrast in relations with Jews and Arabs; duties and role; imposition of martial law in Tel Aviv. REEL 4 Continues: opinion of Palestine Police Force; attempt of Jewish insurgents to dig tunnel under battalion's headquarters to blow them up. Aspects of operations with 2nd Bn Coldstream Guards, 2nd Guards Bde, Malaya Command in Federation of Malaya, 1948-1950: joining unit as adjutant at Tapah; question of professionalism of unit; commanding officer's policy anticipating Briggs Plan; character of terrain operated in; problems with radio communication; role as adjutant. Aspects of period as Aide-de-Camp (ADC) to General Sir Gerald Templer in Federation of Malaya, 1952-1953: background to becoming General Sir Gerald Templer's Aide-de-Camp (ADC); General Sir Gerald Templer's character; Aide-de-Camp (ADC) duties. REEL 5 Continues: Aspects of various postings in Caribbean, 1956-1963: role as deputy assistant quartermaster general in Jamaica, 1956-1958; disturbances that took place; role of 1st Bn Coldstream Guards in British Guiana, 1963.