Interview with Harry Girton Hall

British officer served with 2nd Bn Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders, 228th Independent Infantry Bde (Home) on Shetland Islands, GB, 1943; served with 2nd Bn Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders, 11th Indian Infantry Bde, 4th Indian Infantry Div in Egypt, Italy and Greece, 12/1943-5/1945

REEL 1 Background in Walthamstow, GB, 1920-1939: family; education; employment. Aspects of period with 1st Bn London Scottish in GB, 1939-1941: reasons for joining Territorial Army, 4/1939; training with mortar platoon; mobilisation at Headquarters Coy at Buckingham Gate on declaration of Second World War, 3/9/1939; guard duties at West India Docks; opinion of NCOs and officers; training in Epping Forest; story of guarding ammunition dump. Aspects of training as officer cadet with No 167 Officer Cadet Training Unit, Great Malvern, GB, 1941: attitude to military life and discipline; physical training; weapons training; tactics; opinion of training. Recollections of training as officer with 4th Bn Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders and 7th Bn Seaforth Highlanders (Ross-shire Buffs, The Duke of Albany's) in GB, 1941-1942: joining Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders at Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders Highlanders Regimental Depot, Cameron Barracks, Inverness; posting to Fort George; opinion of company commander; question of wearing whistle; opinion of adjutant; question of Scottish ancestry; duties as mortar officer training recruits; suicide of recruit; opinion of conditions in Fort George; length of training; method of mortar instruction; learning to drive Universal Carrier; relations with Seaforth Highlanders (Ross-shire Buffs, The Duke of Albany's); selection of recruits; description of mortar carrier. REEL 2 Continues: further description of mortar training; live firing; duties of mortar team; range and accuracy of mortar; safety procedures; method of removing unfired mortar bomb; tactical exercises with rifle companies; story of incident during battle course; attachment to 7th Bn Seaforth Highlanders (Ross-shire Buffs, The Duke of Albany's); description of street fighting course in Great Yarmouth; posting to Cromer; duties as instructor with Carrier platoons; attitude to promotion. Aspects of period as officer with 2nd Bn Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders, 228th Independent Infantry Bde (Home) on Shetland Islands, GB, 1943: posting to battalion; duties. Aspects of voyage from Gourock, GB to Port Said, Egypt, 12/1943: conditions on board troopship; disembarkation at Port Said, Egypt. 31/12/1943. REEL 3 Continues: Aspects of operations as officer with 2nd Bn Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders, 11th Indian Infantry Bde, 4th Indian Infantry Div in Egypt, 1/1944: accommodation at Mena Camp; receiving news of posting to Italy. Aspects of operations as officer with 2nd Bn Cameron Highlanders, 11th Indian Infantry Bde, 4th Indian Infantry Div in Italy, 1/1944-10/1944: voyage from Alexandria, Egypt to Taranto, Italy, 1/1944; move to Monte Cassino; story of leading advance party to liaise with Headquarters, 5th Infantry Bde at San Michele, Monte Cassino; memories of batman; duties delivering ammunition to troops on Point 593, Monte Cassino; opinion of American forces; story of contracting trench foot and medical treatment; question of returning to own battalion; description of positions on Point 593, Monte Cassino; treatment of wounded; rations; daily routine and duties. REEL 4 Continues: rejoined battalion at Poggiofiorito; taking command of B Coy; use of cemetery as headquarters; story of killing Germans in farmhouse; capture of San Marino, 9/1944; description of attack on hill on Gothic Line, 9/1944; casualties; voyage from Taranto to Patras, Greece. Aspects of operations as officer with B Coy, 2nd Bn Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders, 11th Indian Infantry Bde, 4th Indian Infantry Div in Greece, 11/1944-5/1945: posting to Mount Olympus area; attitude towards Greek Communists; relations with Greek civilians; withdrawal to Patras and move on to Salonika; patrols on border with Yugoslavia; memories of VE Day celebrations, 8/5/1945. Aspects of period as officer with 2nd Bn Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders in Austria and Italy, 1945-1946: move to Klagenfurt, Austria; occupation duties story of obtaining former Cossack horses; posted to Verona, Italy; attitude to prospect of serving in Far East; demobilisation in GB, 8/1946. REEL 5 Continues: attitude to continuing service with British Army; post-war teaching career. Reflections on military service during Second World War: story of shell shock case; attitude to self-inflicted wounds; story of acting for defence in court martial; opinion of German forces; adjustment to civilian life; recurring dreams about wartime experiences; post-war activities with Territorial Army; opinion of value of military experience.