Interview with Leslie Edward Mitchell Claxton

British officer served as chaplain with Royal Army Chaplains' Department attached to 2nd Bn Dorsetshire Regt, 5th Infantry Bde, 2nd Infantry Div in France, Belgium, GB, India and Burma, 1939-1945; served as senior chaplain with Royal Army Chaplains' Department in GB, Germany, East Africa and Singapore, 1946-1969

REEL 1 Background in India and GB, 1910-1939: family; education; anticipation of Second World War, 1938. Aspects of enlistment and training with Royal Army Chaplains' Department, British Army in GB, 1939: enlistment; degree of training; character of recruits to Royal Army Chaplains' Department. Recollections of period as chaplain with Royal Army Chaplains' Department attached to 2nd Bn Dorsetshire Regt, 5th Infantry Bde, 2nd Infantry Div in France, 9/1939-5/1940: duties with battalion; initial reception at unit; singing regimental songs; other chaplains in brigade; uniform worn; messing arrangements; visits to Lille; story of how he received his nickname 'Gus'; taking Church of England services for whole of 5th Infantry Bde; role as sports and entertainments officer; lack of contact with French clergy; acted as president of company mess committee; degree to which soldiers interested in religion and morality; story relating to issue of contraceptives in British Army. REEL 2 Continues: Recollections of operations as chaplain with Royal Army Chaplains' Department attached to 2nd Bn Dorsetshire Regt, 5th Infantry Bde, 2nd Infantry Div in France and Belgium, 5/1940: reaction to initial attachment to Advanced Dressing Station; move into Belgium, 10/5/1940; story of French landlord handing over keys of tavern him; loading car with alcohol; discovery of 2nd Bn Dorsetshire Regt on canal at Festubert, France; moving alcohol onto wheelbarrow; move to Dunkirk, France; embarkation aboard Royal Navy destroyer at Dunkirk, France; duration of march from Festubert to Dunkirk, France; evacuation from Dunkirk, France to Dover, GB. Recollections of period as chaplain with Royal Army Chaplains' Department attached to 2nd Bn Dorsetshire Regt, 5th Infantry Bde, 2nd Infantry Div in GB, 6/1940-4/1942: arrival at Bulford Camp; attitude of Australian Imperial Force troops stationed in GB; rejoining unit at Hornsea; off duties activities in Hornsea; role during exercises; social activities; question of who he was answerable to; attitude of troops towards training and reaction to overseas posting, 4/1942; conditions during winter, 1940-1941; embarkation on troopship in River Clyde, 4/1942. REEL 3 Continues: relations with civilian clergy in East Yorkshire. Aspects of period as chaplain with Royal Army Chaplains' Department attached to 2nd Bn Dorsetshire Regt, 5th Infantry Bde, 2nd Infantry Div in in India, 7/1942-1/1944: voyage from GB to India, 4/1942-7/1942; morale on arrival in Bombay; move to tented camp near Poona then Ahmednagar; relations with Indian civilians; acquiring sports equipment and piano in Secunderabad; training for Combined Operations; role as education officer; character of padres hour. Recollections of operations as chaplain with Royal Army Chaplains' Department attached to 2nd Bn Dorsetshire Regt, 5th Infantry Bde, 2nd Infantry Div at Kohima in India, 4/1944-6/1944: move by railway to Dimapur; state of road to Kohima; chaplain's equipment carried; rate of march on route to Kohima; role of 4th Bn Royal West Kent Regt at Kohima; method of clearing Imperial Japanese Army bunker; initial impressions of Kohima; casualties to A Coy during attack on Tennis Court; role in burial of dead; memories of Captain Michael Morice. REEL 4 Continues: death and burial of Captain Michael Morice, 28/5/1944; method of getting M3 Lee/Grant Tank onto Tennis Court; burial of dead bodies on Kohima Ridge; disruption of burial service by Imperial Japanese Army artillery fire; church parade in Dimapur; burial of Imperial Japanese Army dead; attack on Big Tree Hill; period in charge of Regimental Aid Post and 1st Bn Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders casualties; description of 'Kohima Bird'; facilities at Regimental Aid Post; carrying personal weapon; meeting troops from Imphal; leave in Darjeeling; construction of church by unit; anti-clerical bell-ringer Private Kerr; contact with Naga hill people; Kohima War Cemetery; attitude towards Japanese and opinion of their defensive works. Recollections of operations as chaplain with Royal Army Chaplains' Department attached to 2nd Bn Dorsetshire Regt, 5th Infantry Bde, 2nd Infantry Div in Burma, 12/1944-8/1945: advance over River Chindwin, 12/1944; crossing River Irrawaddy. REEL 5 Continues: dealing with case of battle fatigue prior to crossing River Irrawaddy; story of recovering wounded officer on stretcher; crossing River Irrawaddy in powered boats; visit by singer Frances Day; advance to Mandalay; story of near miss during heavy Imperial Japanese Army artillery bombardment; attack on Mount Popa. Aspects of period as chaplain with Royal Army Chaplains' Department attached to 2nd Infantry Div and Madras Area in India, 1945-1946: break-up of 2nd Infantry Div; affairs of the heart and marriage in Madras; political situation in India, 1945; reaction to dropping of atomic bombs on Japan, 8/1945. Recollections of period as chaplain with Royal Army Chaplains' Department, British Army in GB, Germany, East Africa and Singapore, 1946-1969: decision to stay in British Army, 1946; posting to Colchester Garrison; attractions of military life; subjects discussed during 'padre hours'; posting to Church House at Preetz, Germany, 1948-1949; arrangement for troops to attend short courses; character of courses at Church House; attitude of troops to attending courses. REEL 6 Continues: prior recollection of experiences with Brotherhood of St Francis in GB, 1932; advanced courses at Church House; move to schloss; relations with German civilians; move to Solent Garrison at Portsmouth; area of responsibilities; posting to Headquarters, British Army of the Rhine at Rheindahlen; orders from Commander-in-Chief to omit jokes from sermons; background to posting to East Africa, 1956; security precautions against Mau Mau insurgents in Kenya, 1956; memories of Governor of Kenya, Sir Evelyn Baring; royal visit by Queen Mother; African chaplains serving with King's African Rifles; degree of attendance of 'padre hours' by British Army troops. REEL 7 Continues: posting to Woolwich, GB, 1/1961; setting up of youth club for soldier's children; sight of West Indian troops attending church parade; activities of Guild of St Helena; visit to St Helena; promotion and posting to Singapore, Malaysia; extent of his parish; visit to Nepal via Calcutta, India; impressions of Nepal; visit to Gurkha school; visits to South Korea, South Vietnam and Thailand; visits to Borneo, Malaysia; an example of 1st Bn Scots Guards discipline in Borneo, Malaysia, 1965; incident of hurried departure by helicopter; morale in Borneo, Malaysia; opinion of American service personnel; question of South Korean discipline of children; his role based on Singapore, Malaysia; refusal to commanding officer's request to change unit chaplain; problem with chaplain of 1st (Nyasaland) Bn King's African Rifles in Kenya; character of East African chaplains and catechists; posting to Guards Chapel in GB including contact with Duke of Edinburgh; marriages at Guards Chapel. REEL 8 Continues: Aspects of post-service life and career: adjustment to civilian life as rector of St Olave's Church, London; appointment to Patronage Trust; advice on health from Barbara Cartland; contacts with Trinity House; family and reunion services; Norwegian connections; advantages of military service; reaction to service at St Paul's Cathedral, London after Falkland's War, 1982; attending lunch at Guildhall after Falkland's War; visit to Falkland Islands.