Interview with Donald Arthur Walton

Sound: © IWM (24832)

715027158
Use this audio under Non-Commercial licence

Embed this sound recording for online use under the IWM Non-Commercial Licence
By embedding this audio file you agree to the terms and conditions of the IWM Non-Commercial Licence, including your use of the attribution statement specified by IWM. For this item, that is:

Sound: © IWM (24832)

Accepted Non-commercial Use

Permitted use for these purposes:
Personal use for non-commercial research and private study and other uses under the UK’s exceptions to copyright and those exceptions to copyright in place where the user is located.
Use on websites that are primarily information-led, research-oriented and not behind a paywall.
Use on personal social media accounts, provided the individuals are not promoting themselves commercially.
Non-Commercial educational use for the purpose of teaching and instruction, including internal training.
Downloading audio-visual for non-commercial offline listening or viewing.
Free exhibitions held in venues, which do not charge an entry fee.

If you would like to use IWM collections materials in a way that is not covered above, require a commercial licence, high-resolution copies, or have manipulation requests, please contact the Image and Film Licensing Team. Digital files of films and sound recordings are available at cost depending on intended use.

Embed

<iframe src="https://www.iwm.org.uk/embed/?id=80023517&media_id=189484" height="430" width="480" frameborder="no" scrolling="no"></iframe>
1810463989
Use this audio under Non-Commercial licence

Embed this sound recording for online use under the IWM Non-Commercial Licence
By embedding this audio file you agree to the terms and conditions of the IWM Non-Commercial Licence, including your use of the attribution statement specified by IWM. For this item, that is:

Sound: © IWM (24832)

Accepted Non-commercial Use

Permitted use for these purposes:
Personal use for non-commercial research and private study and other uses under the UK’s exceptions to copyright and those exceptions to copyright in place where the user is located.
Use on websites that are primarily information-led, research-oriented and not behind a paywall.
Use on personal social media accounts, provided the individuals are not promoting themselves commercially.
Non-Commercial educational use for the purpose of teaching and instruction, including internal training.
Downloading audio-visual for non-commercial offline listening or viewing.
Free exhibitions held in venues, which do not charge an entry fee.

If you would like to use IWM collections materials in a way that is not covered above, require a commercial licence, high-resolution copies, or have manipulation requests, please contact the Image and Film Licensing Team. Digital files of films and sound recordings are available at cost depending on intended use.

Embed

<iframe src="https://www.iwm.org.uk/embed/?id=80023517&media_id=189485" height="430" width="480" frameborder="no" scrolling="no"></iframe>
977757644
Use this audio under Non-Commercial licence

Embed this sound recording for online use under the IWM Non-Commercial Licence
By embedding this audio file you agree to the terms and conditions of the IWM Non-Commercial Licence, including your use of the attribution statement specified by IWM. For this item, that is:

Sound: © IWM (24832)

Accepted Non-commercial Use

Permitted use for these purposes:
Personal use for non-commercial research and private study and other uses under the UK’s exceptions to copyright and those exceptions to copyright in place where the user is located.
Use on websites that are primarily information-led, research-oriented and not behind a paywall.
Use on personal social media accounts, provided the individuals are not promoting themselves commercially.
Non-Commercial educational use for the purpose of teaching and instruction, including internal training.
Downloading audio-visual for non-commercial offline listening or viewing.
Free exhibitions held in venues, which do not charge an entry fee.

If you would like to use IWM collections materials in a way that is not covered above, require a commercial licence, high-resolution copies, or have manipulation requests, please contact the Image and Film Licensing Team. Digital files of films and sound recordings are available at cost depending on intended use.

Embed

<iframe src="https://www.iwm.org.uk/embed/?id=80023517&media_id=189486" height="430" width="480" frameborder="no" scrolling="no"></iframe>

Description

Object description

British NCO served with Royal Engineers in GB, 9/1939-1/1942; served with 1st Air Troop, Royal Engineers during Operation Biting, the Bruneval Raid, France, 27/2/1942-28/2/1942; served with 68th Chemical Warfare Coy, Royal Engineers in GB and North Africa, 3/1942-5/1943; served with 68th Field Coy, Royal Engineers, Eighth Army in Italy and Austria, 1/1944-5/1945

Content description

REEL 1 Background in Frome, GB, 1918-1939: family; education; employment; training with Royal Engineers, Territorial Army, 1936-1939; mobilisation to Stratford-upon-Avon, 9/1939. Aspects of training with Royal Engineers in GB, 1939-1942: call up for military service at Straford-upon-Avon, 9/1939; training at Warminster; attitude towards military service; drafting to No 3 Chemical Warfare Group at Tidworth Camp; training in Lake District; firing gas rockets and mortars; gas training; background to volunteering for Combined Operations training; composition of unit; posted to Portsmouth. Aspect of operations as NCO with 1st Air Troop, Royal Engineers during Operation Biting, the Bruneval Raid, France, 27/2/1942-28/2/1942: voyage across English Channel and landing at Bruneval; role in operation sweeping for mines on beach; story of the parachute drop and capture of radar; return voyage to GB; debriefing. Aspects of period as NCO with 68th Chemical Warfare Coy, Royal Engineers at Barton Stacey, GB, 3/1942-11/1942: marriage; continuation of training with Royal Engineers; mines and bridges; attitude to prohibition of chemical warfare by Geneva Convention; voyage from Gourock, GB to Algiers, French Algeria, 11/1942. Aspects of operations as NCO with 68th Chemical Warfare Coy, Royal Engineers, First Army in North Africa, 11/1942-5/1943: journey by road into Tunisia; incident of first unit casualty caused by United States Army Air Force aircraft; attachment to 6th Armoured Div; duties checking for mines and booby-traps; rejoining company at Longstop Hill, Tunisia, 4/1943; living conditions. REEL 2 Continues: rations; toilet paper; moved to Carthage, Tunisia; story of visit by Prime Minister Winston Churchill and nature of his speech. Recollections of operations as NCO with 68th Field Coy, Royal Engineers, Eighth Army in Italy and Austria, 1/1944-5/1945: voyage from North Africa to Bari, 2/1944; attachment of company to various infantry units on River Sangro, 2/1944; opinion of General Bernard Montgomery; memories of Mount Vesuvius erupting, 3/1944; move to Monte Cassino area, 1944; initial impressions of Monte Cassino; problem of bad weather and rain; description of ammonal 'pumpkin' mine; method of probing for mines and location of minefields; mine detecting; German shoe mines; Royal Engineers casualties; working in groups of three; location, identification and defusing of mines; relations with personnel from infantry regiments; memories of Hangman's Hill, Monte Cassino; opinion of Polish forces; move to Florence; discovery that all bridges were destroyed except Ponte Vecchio in Florence; journey through Po Valley to Venice and across Brenner Pass into Austria; communication with home; rations; entering Klagenfurt, Austria, 5/1945; reaction to news of VE Day, 8/5/1945; home leave; demobilisation at Aldershot Garrison; opinion of training received with Royal Engineers. REEL 3 Continues: Post-war life and employment: importance of comradeship; adjustment to civilian life; value of Royal Engineers training in civilian employment; effects of war; story of shell shock case; post-war treatment for shrapnel wound; story of giving up smoking. Reflections on military service with Royal Engineers: opinion of chaplain; religious beliefs; opinion of American forces; attitude towards Germans; story of incident at Brompton Barracks, Chatham, GB; opinion of officers.

Object Details

Category: Sound
Related period: 1990 to the present day (production), Second World War (content), Second World War (association)
Creator: IWM (Production company)
Baker, Lindsay (Recorder)
Walton, Donald Arthur (Interviewee/Speaker)
Production date: 2003-03-18
Dimensions: whole: Duration 90, Number Of Items 3
Catalogue number: 24832

Object associations

Our collections information

We have over 1.7 million object records online, and we are adding to this all the time. Our records are never finished. Sometimes we discover new information that changes what we know about an object, such as who made it or used it. Sometimes we change how an object is interpreted. We sometimes make mistakes in our spelling, transcription or categorisation, or miss information out of our records.

Read more about our collections and the information we hold. Developing our collections information

If you have concerns about the language in this record, or you have information to improve it, please share your feedback.

We receive a lot of comments and can't respond to each one, but we do read them all and will respond where we can.

Interview with Donald Arthur Walton

Description

Object description

Content description

Object Details

Object associations

Associated people and organisations

Associated places

Associated themes

Our collections information

Related content

The Medics Who kept Duxford's Pilots in the Air During the Second World War