Description
Object description
Australian private served as signalman with 2/11th Australian Infantry Bn, 19th Australian Bde, 6th Australian Div in North Africa and Crete, Greece, 3/1940-6/1941; prisoner of war on Crete, Dulag 183, Salonika, Greece and Stalag VII-A, Moosburg, Germany, 6/1941-4/1945
Content description
REEL 1 Background in Sydney and Perth, Australia, 1918-1940: family; father's service in First World War; childhood in Sydney and Perth; employment; attitude to GB and British Empire; reason for serving with 16th (Cameron Highlanders of Western Australia) Infantry Bn in Citizen Military Forces; duties with horse transport section; uniform; pride in regiment; attitude to Adolf Hitler and Nazis in Germany; reaction to declaration of Second World War, 3/9/1939. Aspects of period as signalman with 2/11th Australian lnfantry Bn, Australian Imperial Force in Australia, 10/1939-3/1940: remustering as signalman; preparations for overseas service; patriotism; reaction of parents; journey to Fremantle.
REEL 2 Continues: Aspects of voyage from Fremantle, Australia to Egypt, 4/1940-5/1940: ashore in Colombo, Ceylon; attitude to local civilians on Ceylon; disembarkation in Egypt, opinion of rations available on board troopship; opinion of officers and politicians. Aspects of operations as signalman with 2/11th Australian Infantry Bn, 19th Australian Bde, 6th Australian Div in North Africa, 5/1940-4/1941: initial move to camp at Beit Jirja, near Gaza, Palestine; training; signal equipment and role of signal platoon; Christmas, 25/12/1940; further comments on training as signaller; opinion of Italian forces; attitude to prospect of killing; role in operations at Bardia, Libya, 5/1/1941; attitude towards Italian Army prisoners of war.
REEL 3 Continues: treatment of Italian prisoners of war; capture of Italian Army motorcycles; morale; role in operations at Tobruk, Libya, 21/1/1941-22/1/1941; accommodation in quartermaster's store; amusing story of Italian prisoners of war; attachment to D Coy; character of Tobruk, Libya; role in operations at Derna airfield, Libya, 25/1/1941; first experience of being under fire; religious beliefs; personal morale; daily routine; opinion of rations; state of health; battalion morale; role in operations around Benghazi, Libya, 1/1941-2/1941; duties guarding prisoners of war; attitude towards Germans; football matches; opinion of senior commanders. Aspects of operations as signalman with 2/11th Australian Infantry Bn, 19th Australian Bde, 6th Australian Div in Greece, 4/1941: voyage from Egypt to Greece, 4/1941; disembarkation at Piraeus, 4/1941; initial impressions of Greece.
REEL 4 Continues: relations with Greek civilians; opinion of organisation; summary of movements; problem with boil on leg; nature of German Air Force attacks; role in operations at Brallos Pass; evacuation from and voyage to Crete. Aspects of operations as signalman with Australian Infantry Bn, 19th Australian Bde, 6th Australian Div on Crete, Greece, 5/1941-6/1941: role in defending airfield at Retimo; terrain and disposition of forces; opinion of rations; description of landings by German airborne troops during invasion of Crete, 20/5/1941; location of signal platoon; treatment of wounded; story of retreat to coast and capture by German forces.
REEL 5 Continues: Aspects of period as prisoner of war on Crete and Dulag 183, Salonika, Greece, 6/1941-8/1941: attitude to being captured; opinion of officers; opinion of Prime Minister Winston Churchill; march to airfield at Retimo, Crete; opinion of treatment by Germans; voyage from Crete to Salonika; accommodation in barracks at Dulag 183, Salonika; opinion of living conditions and treatment by German captors; train journey in cattle trucks from Salonika to Moosburg, Germany. Aspects of period as prisoner of war in Stalag VII-A, Moosburg, Germany, 8/1941-4/1945: showering and shaving of head; issue of new clothing; registering with Red Cross; comradeship and sense of nationality; question of rights as prisoners of war; opinion of treatment by German guards and examples of brutality; removal to work camp in Munich; daily routine in camp; description of camp and facilities; discipline; question of work; opinion of German Army camp commanders; question of saluting German Army officers.
REEL 6 Continues: description of work camp in Munich and work parties on road repair; working in machine shop for German firm; relations with German civilian workers; issue of new clothing; Red Cross parcels; bartering with Germans; story of making tea; cigarettes; soap; discipline; medical facilities; opinion of German civilians; examples of sabotage in factory; amusing story of prisoners of war leaving camp; fraternisation with German woman; escape attempts and punishments; awareness of progress of war; communication with family in Australia; educational opportunities as prisoner of war; recreational activities; role in organising pantomime.
REEL 7 Continues: German camp newspaper; working in coal mine; reaction to news of D-Day, 6/6/1944; relations with German guards; pay; story of being marched from camp into Bavarian countryside, 1945; accommodation on farms; living conditions; memories of other prisoners of war; story of stealing potatoes; work clearing bomb damage in Regensburg; physical condition; sight of Allied aircraft flying over Germany; liberation by United States Army troops, 4/1945; story of K-rations; story of tea room; riding on tractor into Regensburg.
REEL 8 Continues: Aspects of journey from Germany to GB via Brussels, Belgium, 4/1945-5/1945: role in organising prisoners of war; flight from Germany to Brussels, Belgium; VE Day celebrations in Brussels, Belgium, 8/5/1945; problem with aircraft taking off on flight to GB; attitude to going to GB. Aspects of period as signalman with Australian Imperial Force in GB, 5/1945-9/1945: reception from civilians in Eastbourne; story of dance; attitude of civilians to former prisoners of war; visiting relatives.
REEL 9 Continues: working on telephone exchange in hotel; daily life in Eastbourne; reaction to dropping of atomic bombs on Japan, 8/1945; attitude to Japanese treatment of prisoners of war in Second World War; voyage on troopship from GB to Australia; reception on arrival in Sydney. Post-war life and employment in Australia: employment as welder with shipping company; problem of adjustment to civilian life; reunion with army friends; attitude to discussing wartime experiences; reflections on outcome of Second World War.
REEL 10 Continues: patriotism; attitude to immigrants in Australia; attitude to reconciliation with Japanese and Germans; further reflections on Second World War; family life; story of post-war visit to battlefields in Greece and Crete.