Interview with Denis Ivo Exley Edwards

British private served with 70th Bn Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry in GB, 1941-1942; private and NCO served with D Coy, 2nd Bn Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry, 6th Airlanding Bde, 6th Airborne Div in GB and North West Europe, 1942-1945

REEL 1 Background in GB, 1923-1941: family; education; employment; Army Remount system, 1939; work with horses, 1939-1941; enlistment in British Army after horse riding accident, 3/1941. Aspects of period as private with 70th Bn Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry in GB, 1941-1942: basic training; airfield defence duties; reception on move to Northern Ireland, reasons for volunteering for airborne forces, 1942. Aspects of period as private with D Coy 2nd Bn Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry, 6th Airlanding Bde, 6th Airborne Div in GB, 1942-1944: method of passing eye test to join battalion; formation of 6th Airlanding Bde; attitude to military life; character of training at Bulford Camp; march to Devonshire; memories of Major John Howard; selection of D Coy for attack on Bénouville Bridge in Normandy, France; training for attacks on Bénouville Bridge at Exeter, 5/1944. REEL 2 Continues: move to RAF Tarrant Rushton; briefing for operation; proposed role of 25 Platoon. Recollections of operations as private with 25 Platoon, D Coy, 2nd Bn Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry, 6th Airlanding Bde, 6th Airborne Div at Bénouville Bridge, Normandy, France, D-Day, 6/6/1944: nature of glider flight and landing; choice of glider seat 12A; method of getting out of glider; nature of action at Bénouville Bridge including fate of number three glider and casualties; digging in at Bénouville Bridge; method of dealing with German counter-attack with tanks; scattering of 7th Bn Parachute Regt; arrival of 7th Bn Parachute Regt; arrival of 1st Special Service Bde. Recollections of operations as private with 25 Platoon, D Coy, 2nd Bn Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry, 6th Airlanding Bde, 6th Airborne Div in Normandy, France, 6/1944-8/1944: character of static warfare in bridgehead; nature of sniper work. REEL 3 Continues: acquisition of German Army equipment; sniping techniques; opinion of German opposition; his sniping success; threat from German snipers and how it was counteracted; importance of artillery and air power; German Air Force attacks on rest areas; threat from German self-propelled guns during breakout from bridgehead; return to GB, 3/9/1944. Recollections of operations as NCO with D Coy, 2nd Bn Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry, 6th Airborne Div in North West Europe, 12/1944-5/1945: return to Belgium, 24/12/1944; fate of Major John Howard; story of United States Army troops' fear of German Tiger Tank; engaging Tiger Tanks in Dinant area during Ardennes Offensive, Belgium. REEL 4 Continues: reaction to discovery of satellite camp of Bergen-Belsen Concentration Camp, Germany, 4/1945; meeting with Soviet Army troops in Germany; sight of vast numbers of German forces fleeing west, 5/1945; German reports of atrocities carried out by Soviet Army; relations with Soviet forces; Soviet Army officer's summary execution of one of his men. Aspects of period as private with 2nd Bn Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry, 6th Airlanding Bde, 6th Airborne Div in India and Palestine, 1945-1947: arrival in India, 7/1945; anticipations of having to invade Japan; character of move to Palestine; amount of danger money payed for airborne forces; conditions in Palestine; return to GB to become paratrooper with Parachute Regiment. Aspects of period as NCO with 6th Airborne Div in Palestine, 1947-1948: reasons for leaving British Army, 1948; Jewish populace's attitude towards British airborne troops; degree of threat faced in Palestine.