Description
Object description
British NCO served with 4th Battalion Dorsetshire Regt in North-West Europe, 1944-1947; served with 1st Bn Gloucestershire Regt, 29th British Infantry Bde in South Korea, 1/1951-4/1951; prisoner of war in Camp 1 Choksong, North Korea, 4/1951-8/1953
Content description
REEL 1 Background in Ilkeston, GB, 1925-1944: family; education; recreational and sporting activities; memories of period prior to outbreak of war; employment in hosiery factory and attitude to working in mining industry. Aspects of period of training as private with 8th Bn Sherwood Foresters (Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire Regt) in GB, 1944: call-up and basic training at Sobraon Barracks, Lincoln: story of Methodists avoiding church parades; description of training including anti-tank courses; attitude towards military discipline; physical training and route marches; recreational activities.
REEL 2 Continues: Recollections of operations as private with 4th Bn Dorsetshire Regt, 130th Infantry Bde, 43rd (Wessex) Infantry Div in North West Europe, 10/1944-5/1945: arrival at transit camp in Ostend, Belgium, 10/1944; posting to D Coy; role of battalion as reinforcements following Operation Market Garden in Netherlands; amusing story of mistaking a greatcoat for a German Army soldier; operation to capture wood near Geilenkirchen, Germany, 11/1944; conditions at Geilenkirchen, Germany, 11/1944; heavy rain and German fire; story of getting lost in wood while delivering message; attitude to role as platoon runner; move to Reichswald Forest, Germany, 2/1945; opinion of German airborne forces; under artillery and mortar fire; problem of using 'Easter Bonnet' password; involvement in crossing River Rhine, Germany, 3/1945; story of German prisoners of war with knives.
REEL 3 Continues: crossing River Issel and movement across North German Plain, Germany; missing Battle of Bremen due to leave, 5/1945; hearing of German surrender whilst at Bremerhaven, Germany, 5/1945; sight of Hawker Typhoon firing rockets at German Army tank. Aspects of period as NCO with British Army in Italy and Germany, 1945-1950: posted to Trieste, Italy, 1945-1947; amusing story of Yugoslav Partisans copying drill movements; disbandment of 4th Bn Dorsetshire Regt and posting as guard to prisoner of war camp at Rimini, Italy; posting to staff of reinforcement holding unit in Bielefeld, Germany, 1947-1950; signing on for further period of military service; posting to Hong Kong and diversion to Japan at outbreak of Korean War, 8/1950. Recollections of operations as NCO with A Coy, 1st Bn Gloucestershire Regt, 29th British Infantry Bde in Korea, 1/1951-4/1951: spending Christmas period in Japan, 12/1950; opinion of Gloucestershire Regiment; journey from Japan to South Korea, 1/1951; attitude of reservists to being recalled; reaction to outbreak of Korean War; opinion of American forces; communication with family; prior recollections of Yugoslav Partisans in Trieste, Italy, 1945; story of preventing cigarettes being stolen.
REEL 4 Continues: description of attack by Chinese People's Volunteer Army at Castle Hill on River Imjin, 4/1951; setting trip flares and clearing bunker of Chinese People's Volunteer Army troops; memories of Lieutenant Philip Curtis earning Victoria Cross, 23/4/1951; deaths of platoon officers and sergeants during Battle of River Imjin, 4/1951; move to new positions on Hill 235; conditions on Hill 235 and air-supply drops; amusing story of bugle calls; opinion of Captain Anthony Farrar-Hockley; receiving congratulatory signal from brigade commander; Chinese People's Volunteer Army attacks on Hill 235; deaths caused by United States Army tanks. Aspects of capture by Chinese People's Volunteer Army at River Imjin, South Korea, 4/1951-5/1951: attitude to being taken prisoner; propaganda speech to prisoners from Chinese People's Volunteer Army officer and promise of lenient treatment; living conditions; trek on foot into North Korea; prisoners of war rations.
REEL 5 Continues: bombing by United States Air Force aircraft; further details of trek in North Korea; role as squad leader and collecting rations for squad; amusing stories of Chinese interpreter; problem of attacks by United States Air Force aircraft; treatment of wounded by Chinese People's Volunteer Army guards during trek into North Korea. Recollections of period as prisoner of war in Camp 1, Choksong, North Korea, 5/1951-8/1953: arrival at camp, 5/1951; reaction to condition of American prisoners of war; opinion of rations; confiscated personal belongings; indoctrination lectures by Chinese captors including accusations of germ warfare by Americans; contents of camp library including British communist papers and literary classics; attitude to being separated from fellow servicemen; opinion of American prisoners of war; amusing story of Mona Lisa painting; sporting activities and opinion of American prisoners of war as sportsmen.
REEL 6 Continues: problems faced by Chinese-American serviceman; story of construction of beds; amusing story of black prisoner of war and snake; opinion of medical treatment; interrogation sessions; recreational activities; attitude to escape attempts; condition of latrines and effects on health; rumours; methods of punishment; amusing story of sentry box; comparison of North Korean and Chinese guards; opinion of camp rations; communication with home.
REEL 7 Continues: Chinese captors control of letters home and use for propaganda; personal health; sleeping arrangements; effects of period of captivity; memories of end of Korean War, 7/1953; story of journey to Panmunjom, South Korea and release, 8/1953; attitude to captivity; reflections on period as prisoners of war; return to GB and discharge from military service, 3/1954.