Description
Object description
Australian private served as driver with 2/28th Australian Infantry Bn, 24th Australian Infantry Bde, 9th Australian Infantry Div in Middle East and Egypt, 10/1941-7/1942; prisoner of war in Campo PG 116, Benghazi and Campo PG 153, Tripoli, Libya, 8/1942-1/1943, Campo PG 57, Grupignano, Campo PG 73, Fossoli di Carpi and Campo PG 106, Vercelli in Italy, 4/1943-9/1943, Stalag XVIII-A, Wolfsberg and Stalag XVIII-C, Markt Pongau, Austria, 10/1943-5/1945
Content description
REEL 1 Background in Western Australia, 1921-1939: childhood; story of teacher's experiences at Gallipoli, Turkey, 1915; attitude to war and British Empire; effects of Depression on daily life on sheep farm; family; awareness of world events; attitude towards Adolf Hitler and British Government's policy of Appeasement; education; sporting activities; reason for not joining Citizen Military Forces; reaction to declaration of Second World War, 3/9/1939.
REEL 2 Continues: uncle's experiences of First World War. Aspects of enlistment and training with Australian Imperial Force in Australia, 5/1941-10/1941: reason for enlistment with Australian Imperial Force, 21/5/1941; military service of brothers; enlistment procedure in Perth, 21/5/1941; medical examination; attitude to potential length of Second World War; conditions of service; issue of uniform and kit; posting to Northam Camp for basic training; opinion of training received; attitude to prospect of overseas service. Aspects of voyage from Fremantle, Australia to Egypt via Colombo, Ceylon, 1/1941: train journey to Fremantle and embarkation; opinion of living conditions aboard troopship; attitude to patriotism.
REEL 3 Continues: nature of voyage Fremantle, Australia to Colombo, Ceylon including daily routine aboard ship; opinion of food; impressions of Colombo, Ceylon; shore leave; voyage from Colombo, Ceylon to Egypt including sailing for Bombay, India; sailing up Suez Canal, Egypt. Aspects of period as private with 2/28th Australian Infantry Bn, 24th Australian Infantry Bde, 9th Australian Infantry Div in Middle East, 11/1941-6/1942: daily routine; climate; posted to training camp at Gaza, Palestine; driving instruction; opinion of German armed forces; attitude to British Army senior commanders; opinion of Australian officers; description of training; bayonet drill and weapons training; morale.
REEL 4 Continues: training courses; sporting activities; relations with other nationalities; duties as driver; reaction to Japanese entry into Second World War, 7/12/1941; reaction to German invasion of Soviet Union, 6/1941; daily life in Palestine and Lebanon; relations between local civilians and Commonwealth forces; sporting activities with hockey team.
REEL 5 Continues: description of battalion role and duties in French Syria; divisional manoeuvres; reaction to fall of Tobruk, Libya, 6/1942.
REEL 6 Continues: Recollections of operations as private with 2/28th Australian Infantry Bn, 24th Australian Infantry Bde, 9th Australian Infantry Div in Egypt, 7/1942: reaction to death of friends; religious beliefs; description of operations in Ruin Ridge, 7/1942; terrain; use of tanks; casualties; preparations for attack on Ruin Ridge, 26/7/1942-27/7/1942; rations; equipment; description of attack at midnight; casualties; attitude towards Deutsches Afrika Korps prisoners of war; wounding in back; treatment of wounded; opinion of battalion's Company Sergeant-Major Keith Potter; problem of running out of ammunition; question of identifying Deutsches Afrika Korps tanks; problem of communications; story of being captured by Deutsches Afrika Korps troops on Ruin Ridge, 27/7/1942; opinion of Deutsches Afrika Korps troops; surrender of battalion.
REEL 7 Continues: Recollections of period as prisoner of war in Campo PG 116, Benghazi and Campo PG 153, Tripoli, Libya, 8/1942-1/1943: separation of officers and men; physical condition; marched towards Deutsches Afrika Korps rear lines and handing over to Italian Army; journey by truck to Benghazi; morale after capture; rations and water; question of attempting to escape; story of swimming in sea; transfer to Campo PG 116 at Benghazi; opinion of living conditions in camp; opinion of treatment by German and Italian captors; daily routine in camp; problem of contracting dysentery and malaria; clothing; loss of personal possessions; attitude to life as prisoner of war; transfer to hospital in Benghazi; opinion of medical treatment received; description of hospital and facilities; return to Campo PG 116, Benghazi; food and water rations.
REEL 8 Continues: question of rights as prisoner of war; transfer by trucks to Campo PG 153 in Tripoli; memories of South African prisoners of war; accommodation; clothing and headgear; physical condition; rations; evacuation from Campo PG 153, Tripoli, 1/1943; voyage from Tunisia to Naples, Italy, 3/1943. Recollections of period as prisoner of war in Campo PG 57, Grupignano, Campo PG 73, Fossoli di Carpi and Campo PG 106, Vercelli in Italy, 4/1943-9/1943 in Italy, 4/1943-9/1943: reaction of Italian civilians towards prisoners of war arrival at Campo PG 57, Grupignano; camaraderie among different prisoner of war nationalities; train journey in cattle trucks; problem of lack of sanitary facilities and cold weather.
REEL 9 Continues: move to Campo PG 73, Fossoli di Carpi; description of camp and facilities; issue of new uniform; Red Cross parcels; problem of recurring dysentery; daily routine; medical treatment; hutted accommodation; listened to war news on illicit radio; morale in camp; recreational and sporting activities including cricket; opinion of treatment by Italian captors; use of cigarettes as currency; concert parties; exemption from work due to physical condition; question of observance of Geneva Convention in prisoner of war camps; communication with home in Australia.
REEL 10 Continues: opinion of camp commandant; climate; question of bribing guards; awareness of progress of war. Recollections of period as prisoner of war in Stalag XVIII-A, Wolfsberg and Stalag XVIII-C, Markt Pongau, Austria, 10/1943-5/1945: description of journey from Italy to Austria, 9/1943-10/1943; conditions in Stalag XVIII-A, Wolfsberg; accommodation; rations; working parties; description of work building air raid shelters in Graz; attitude to officers and NCOs not having to work; attitude to prisoner of war work; bartering; memories of fellow prisoners of war.
REEL 11 Continues: method of communication with other nationalities; comparison of German treatment of Soviet and Allied prisoners of war; question of contact with female prisoners of war and forced labourers; attitude of Polish prisoners of war towards captivity; Allied bombing raids; relations with civilians; problem of health and hospital treatment in Graz; exemption from heavy work; attitude to escaping; Red Cross parcels; tobacco ration; rumours in camp.
REEL 12 Continues: story of prisoners of war escaping to Hungary; description of conditions in work camps; relations with guards; theft of parcels; dangerous nature of work; recreational activities; story of bribing guard; personal possessions; personal hygiene; memories of work camp in Graz; comparison of treatment by German and Italian guards; treatment of captured Allied airmen; German air raid sirens and Allied bombing raids; air raid shelters.
REEL 13 Continues: description of Allied air raid on railway and marshalling yard near Salzburg; use of slit trenches during Allied air raids; work repairing bomb damage; effects of Allied air raids on railway network; working with carpenter; organisation of work camps; summary of movements between four work camps; prisoner of war number; comparison of conditions in prisoner of war camps and work camps; story of clearing snow from railway line, 11/1944; reaction to news of D-Day landings in Normandy, France, 6/6/1944; German wounded returning from Eastern Front.
REEL 14 Continues: story of speech by German mayor; awareness of progress of war; movement of prisoners of war; question of effects of war in Australia; memories of Christmas, 25/12/1944; awareness of German concentration camps; increase in number of refugees; attitude to being liberated by Soviet forces; transfer to work camp at Bad Hofgastein, 1/1945; work repairing pipeline; visits to local farm.
REEL 15 Continues: story of milking cow; preparations for escape with other prisoners of war, 4/1945; food; civilian clothing. Aspects of period as escaper in Austria and Germany, 4/1945-5/1945: description of leaving work camp at night and walking across countryside; travelling by train posing as Displaced Persons; effects of Allied bombing in Munich, Germany including sewage and dead bodies in streets; recapture and interrogation; story of bribing German Army officer to issue pass allowing passage through German lines, 5/1945; meeting up with United States Army troops and removal to reception centre; flight over Germany to Brussels, Belgium.
REEL 16 Continues: description of conditions in Germany; reaction to end of Second World War and liberation, 8/5/1945; delousing procedure. Aspects of period as former prisoner of war in GB, 5/1945-8/1945: flight from Brussels, Belgium to GB; reflections on wartime experiences; medical examination; physical condition; processing procedure in Chelmsford; issue of Australian military uniform; leave; VE Day celebrations, 8/5/1945; voyage from GB to Australia, 8/1945.
REEL 17 Continues: Post-war life and employment in Australia: daily life in Perth; state of health; problem of adjustment to civilian life and finding employment; effects of wartime experiences on health; attitude to outcome of Second World War; death of brother; activities with veterans welfare associations; reflections on wartime experiences; employment with Customs Department in processing Displaced Persons from Europe.
REEL 18 Continues: memories of Company Sergeant-Major Keith Potter.