Description
Object description
Australian private served with 2/28th Australian Infantry Bn, 24th Australian Infantry Bde, 9th Australian Infantry Div in Australia, Middle East and North Africa, 5/1940-7/1942; prisoner of war in Campo PG 116, Benghazi, Libya, Campo PG 85, Tuturano and Grupignano and Campo PG 57, Grupignano, Italy, Stalag XVIII-A, Wolfsberg and Stalag XVIII-C, Markt Pongau, Austria, 7/1942-5/1945
Content description
REEL 1 Background in Western Australia, Australia, 1912-1940: family; education and childhood; employment; nature of Depression in Western Australia; attitude to First World War; awareness of events in Europe and attitude to United Kingdom; reaction to Munich Agreement, 9/1938; question of loyalty to United Kingdom; awareness of approach of Second World War; reaction to declaration of Second World War, 3/9/1939. Aspects of enlistment in Australian Imperial Force in Perth, Australia, 1940: decision to join Australian Imperial Force; enlistment process; details of military service and opinion about length of war.
REEL 2 Continues: attitude towards military service. Aspects of period as private with 2/28th Australian Infantry Bn, 24th Australian Infantry Bde, 9th Australian Infantry Div in Australia, 1940-1941: living conditions and training at Northam Camp, 1940; reaction to Dunkirk Evacuation and German forces' advances in Europe, 5/1940-6/1940; civilian reactions to war; equipment situation; fitness; opinion of officers; reaction to overseas posting; degree of knowledge of progress of war; train journey to Fremantle; attitude to prospect of active service; departure from girlfriend. Aspects of voyage aboard HMT Queen Mary from Fremantle, Australia to Egypt via Ceylon, 1/1941: character of HMT Queen Mary; submarine scare during voyage and composition of convoy; sleeping arrangements; duties and training; rations for troops and officers.
REEL 3 Continues: stop in Ceylon; climate in Red Sea; activities on board; smoking; leisure activities; initial impressions of Egypt and civilians. Aspects of period as private with 2/28th Australian Infantry Bn, 24th Australian Infantry Bde, 9th Australian Infantry Div in Egypt and Palestine, 1/1941-4/1941: journey to Palestine; nature of camp; pattern of training; sights witnessed in Alexandria Harbour, Egypt; story of meeting brother aboard HMAS Hobart; description of brothel; talk amongst troops; venereal disease warnings and precautions; leisure activities; troops visiting brothels; relations between prostitutes and troops; relations with British Army troops; pay and leave.
REEL 4 Continues: opinion of Italian Army and German Army troops; later freedom of movement and routine during Siege of Tobruk, Libya; war news; routine in Palestine; evening activities; opinion of senior officers; memories of Lieutenant-Colonel John Lloyd; relations with civilians and South African troops; degree of knowledge of situation in North Africa and German forces; opinion of Prime Minister Winston Churchill; equipment situation. Recollections of operations as private with 2/28th Australian Infantry Bn, 24th Australian Infantry Bde, 9th Australian Infantry Div during Seige of Tobruk, Libya, 4/1941-9/1941: Allied withdrawal from Benghazi; importance of Tobruk; journey from Palestine to Tobruk; initial impressions on arrival in Tobruk.
REEL 5 Continues: first night spent at Tobruk; relief of frontline troops; details of position taken; reaction to situation; delivery of rations to outpost; different types of patrol; news of departure, 9/1941; daily routine; climate; problems with scorpions and lice; cards; concerns for safety; departure from Tobruk, 9/1941; role of Royal Navy; rations; morale; reaction to being under Axis artillery fire; reaction to experience of war; reaction to casualties during patrol; contact with officers; opinion of senior officers; importance of comradeship.
REEL 6 Continues: memories of various members of battalion; rest periods; footwear worn during patrols; concerns during patrols; degree of knowledge of wider situation; morale; listening to and discussion of William Joyce 'Lord Haw Haw'; German Air Force activity; nature of patrolling; lifting of mines; hopes for future and reaction to situation; details of mail received; proximity to and contact with opposition; opinion of Deutsches Afrika Korps troops.
REEL 7 Continues: physical state; morale; news of wider war, including opinion of Prime Minister Winston Churchill and senior officers; departure from Tobruk and voyage to Alexandria, Egypt, 9/1941. Aspects of period as private with 2/28th Australian Infantry Bn, 24th Australian Infantry Bde, 9th Australian Infantry Div in Middle East, 9/1941-6/1942: relations with civilians; period in Camp Kilo 89 in Palestine; problems with nerves; contact with nurses; reason for posting to and duties in Lebanon; leave in Beirut, Lebanon; relations with civilians; climate; degree of knowledge of next posting; nature of Lebanon; reaction to entry of Japan into Second World War; morale; reaction to Axis capture of Tobruk. Libya, 6/1942.
REEL 8 Continues: Aspects of operations as private with 2/28th Australian Infantry Bn, 24th Australian Infantry Bde, 9th Australian Infantry Div in Egypt, 6/1942-8/1942: journey from Palestine into Egypt, including methods of hiding nationality and attitude to move; briefing for action at Ruin Ridge, 26/7/1942; nature of Battle of Ruin Ridge, 26/7/1942-27/7/1942, including capture; nature of advance towards Ruin Ridge, 26/7/1942 including being under fire from German 88mm Guns and machine guns; arrival on Ruin Ridge and problems digging positions; receiving fire from rear; Deutsches Afrika Korps artillery shelling of ambulance; presence of tanks on Ruin Ridge; capture by Deutsches Afrika Korps, 27/7/1942; reaction on being taken prisoner of war; initial treatment and taking cover from Royal Australian Artillery fire; reaction to evacuation with capture comrades from Ruin Ridge.
REEL 9 Continues: battalion motto and further reaction to capture; talking to Deutsches Afrika Korps guards. Recollections of period as prisoner of war in Campo PG 116, Benghazi, Libya, 8/1942: description of camp and rations; question of possibility of escape; morale; separation from officers; health problems and treatment received; talks with Italian Army guards; contrast between Italian Army and German Army guards; conditions on board MV Nino Bixio during voyage to Italy including bartering and German treatment of Italians; prior hope for rescue whilst in North Africa; water supply in Benghazi; awareness of rights as prisoner of war; clothing worn; torpedoing of MV Nino Bixio of Greece, 27/8/1942; route taken to Bari, Italy. Recollections of period as prisoner of war in Campo PG 85, Tuturano and Campo PG 57, Grupignano, Italy, 9/1942-9/1943: reception from Italian civilians in Bari, 9/1942; reaction to being in Italy; description of Campo PG 85, Tuturano; sleeping arrangements; rations; activities in camp; reveille.
REEL 10 Continues: contents of Red Cross parcels; allocation to working parties; question of possibility of escape; story of escape attempt from working party in Squinzano, including knowledge of Italian language; treatment after recapture; punishment given to other escapers; bartering with items from Red Cross parcels; cigarettes; leisure activities and morale; background of prisoners of war and relations amongst them; memories of Italian camp commandant at Campo PG 85, Colonel Vittorio Calcaterra and other guards; story of visit to church mass; war news.
REEL 11 Continues: nature of Campo PG 57 at Grupignano; opinion of Italian treatment of Soviet prisoners of war; recreational activities and morale; mail; rations; camp perimeter; punishments given to prisoners of war; exercise; arrival of German forces to take over camp, 9/1943. Aspects of period as prisoner of war in Stalag XVIII-A, Wolfsberg and Stalag XVIII-C, Markt Pongau, Austria, 9/1943-5/1945: description of Stalag XVIII-A at Wolfsberg; work undertaken; opinion of Campo PG 57 at Grapignano in Italy; health; war news and Allied air activity; clothing situation; methods of keeping warm; further details of Allied air activity and war news; contents of different types of Red Cross parcels; nature of prisoner of war bartering and visits to brothels in Graz; stories of escapers and own opinion of prospect of escape.
REEL 12 Continues: Aspects of liberation of Stalag XVIII-C, Markt Pongau, Austria, 5/1945: arrival of United States Army troops; orders received from United States Army troops; American rations received; nature of visit to local village; United States Army troops' method for rounding up German forces; health problems after liberation; cigarettes received; impressions of civilians; flight from Austria to GB via Rheims, France, 5/1945. Aspects of period as private with Australian Imperial Force in GB, 1945: issue of uniform; delousing; posting to Eastbourne; accommodation; opinion of posting; recreational activities; relations with civilians during leave.
REEL 13 Continues: Aspects of voyage from aboard HMT Mauretania from GB to Australia, via New Zealand, 1945: scenes in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii; submarine scare; morale; route taken; talk among passengers; arrival and shore leave in Wellington, New Zealand; continuation of voyage to Sydney; reflections on wartime military service; reception on arrival home. Post-war life and employment: question of talking about experiences; settling into civilian life, including marriage; relations with civilians prior to demobilisation; health; reaction to end of Second World War, 8/1945; return to civilian employment; reflections on wartime military service; reflections on Second World War and conflicts since.
REEL 14 Continues: thoughts on international situation, 10/2002; further reflections on wartime military service, including contact with comrades.