Description
Object description
British officer served with 4th Cameron Highlanders, 9th Bn Seaforth Highlanders and 2nd Bn Cameron Highlanders in GB, 1941-1943; served with 2nd Bn Cameron Highlanders, 11th Indian Infantry Bde, 4th Indian Infantry Div in Egypt, Italy and Greece, 12/1943-5/1945
Content description
REEL 1: Background in Walthamstow, London, 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 outbreak of Second World War, 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, Pale Manor, Great Malvern, GB, 1941: attitude to army life and discipline; physical training; weapons training; tactics; opinion of training. Aspects of period as officer with 4th Bn Cameron Highlanders and 7th Bn Seaforth Highlanders in GB, 1941-1942: joining Cameron Highlanders at Regimental Depot at Cameron Barracks in 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 Bren Gun Carrier; relations with Seaforth Highlanders; 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; description of street fighting course in Yarmouth; posting to Cromer; duties as instructor with Bren Gun Carrier platoons; attitude to promotion. Aspects of period as officer with 2nd Bn Cameron Highlanders, 228th Independent Infantry Bde on Shetland Islands, GB, 1943: posting to battalion; duties. Aspects of voyage from Gourock, Scotland, to Port Said, Egypt, 12/1943: conditions aboard ship; disembarkation at Port Said, 31/12/1943.
REEL 3 Continues: Aspects of operations as officer with 2nd Bn Cameron Highlanders, 11th Indian Infantry Bde, 4th Indian Infantry Div in Egypt, 1/1944: accommodation at Mena Camp; 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: voyage from Alexandria, Egypt to Taranto, Italy, 1/1944; posting to Monte Cassino sector; story of leading advance party to liaise with 5 Bde Headquarters in Sanmicheli; memories of batman; duties delivering ammunition to troops on Point 593; opinion of Americans; story of contracting trench foot and medical treatment; question of returning to own battalion; description of positions on Point 593; 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 Morino; description of attack on hill at Germano; casualties; sailed from Taranto to Patras, Greece. Aspects of operations as officer with B Coy, 2nd Bn Cameron Highlanders, 11th Indian Infantry Bde, 4th Indian Infantry Div in Greece, 11/ 1944-5/1945: posted to Olympia area; attitude to Greek Communists; relations with civilians; withdrawal to Patras and posting to Salonika; patrols on Yugoslav border; memories of VE Day celebrations, 8/5/1945. Aspects of period as officer with 2nd Bn Cameron Highlanders in Austria and Italy, 1945-1946: move to Klagenfurt, Austria; duties with Army of Occupation; story of obtaining Cossack horses; posted to Verona, Italy; attitude to prospect of serving in Far East; demobilised in GB, 8/1946.
REEL 5 Continues: attitude to remaining in 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 Germans; adjustment to civilian life; dreams about war; post-war activities with Territorial Army; opinion of value of military experience.