Description
Object description
British officer served with 1st Bn Suffolk Regt in GB and India, 1936-1940; served with 8th and 30th Bns Suffolk Regt and Monmouth Regt in GB, 1940-1944; served with Royal Army Service Corps, XII Corps in North West Europe, 1944-1945; served with Royal Army Service Corps in Germany, 1945-1947; commanded Malay Transport Coy, Royal Army Service Corps in Federation of Malaya, 1948-1949; commanded No 55 (Air Despatch) Coy, Royal Army Service Corps in Federation of Malaya, 1950-1952; served as staff officer with Headquarters, British Middle East Land Forces in Cyprus, 1958-1959
Content description
REEL 1 Background in GB, 1915-1934: family; membership of Officer Training Corps at Ampleforth College. Recollections of period as officer cadet at Royal Military College Sandhurst, Camberley, GB, 1934-1936: taking army examination and interview; arrival and measurement for uniform; spit and polish; treatment of rifles; issue of bicycle; emphasis on riding; bicycle drill and physical training; inspection by Prince of Wales; reasons for choosing mechanical engineering; ban on driving; metalwork inspection; passing out in front of Duke of Connaught; promotional prospects and reasons for choosing Suffolk Regiment; need for private financial means; studying history of First World War; lack of tactical training; physical training; character of training at Royal Military College Sandhurst; social life.
REEL 2 Continues: discipline; methods of assessment; anticipation of war. Recollections of period as officer with 1st Bn Suffolk Regiment in GB and India, 1936-1940: joining battalion at Plymouth; training activities; signing passes; character of platoon members; amphibious landing exercise on coast; posting to India; social life in battalion; question of marriage; joining battalion at Mhow; layout of cantonment at Mhow; instructions and lectures; platoon strength and weapons; practising internal security drills; use of heliograph; exercise when company was caught asleep; harbour protection duties on Butcher Island, Bombay on declaration of Second World War, 3/9/1939.
REEL 3 Continues: precautionary measures taken in Bombay; visits to Indian battalions; nationalist and religious agitation; circumstances at time of outbreak of war; provision of canteen services by contractor; pay and promotion; lectures on frontier warfare; terrain at Mhow; protection of roads on 'road opening days'; defences at Razmak; length of tour of duty at Razmak; character of columns and piquet deployments; method of withdrawing from piquets; use of mountain guns for support; use of clock code; recreation at Razmak; origins of interest in filming; return to GB. Aspects of period as officer with 8th and 30th Bns Suffolk Regt and 2nd Monmouthshire Regt in GB, 1940-1944: joining 8th Bn Suffolk Regt; amusing story relating to Second Lieutenant Woodrow Wyatt; battalion transport.
REEL 4 Continues: character of coastal defence duties; transfer to 30th Bn Suffolk Regt; encounter with General Oliver Leese; character of troops in unit; transfer to 2nd Bn Monmouthshire Regt; characteristics of Monmouthshire Regiment; training; reasons for transfer to Royal Army Service Corps and subsequent training. Recollections of period as officer with Royal Army Service Corps, XII Corps in North West Europe, 1944-1945: chain of command; landing in Normandy, France, 8/6/1944; description of tippers used in Tipper Coys; organisation of Forward Maintenance Areas; discovery of mass burial pit in Germany; strength of Forward Maintenance Areas; manual unloading; ration strength systems; daily routine; contact with French civilians.
REEL 5 Continues: effect of Allied air superiority on movement; time taken to move Forward Maintenance Areas; living conditions in Germany; crossing River Rhine, Germany; relations with German civilians. Recollections of period as officer with Royal Army Service Corps in Germany, 1945-1947: move into Hamburg on German surrender; requisitioning house; opening hotel in Kiel; dealing with German who said 'Heil Hitler'; role commanding Möhnesee Leave Centre; recreational facilities; requisitioning houses for families; opening leave centre in Harz Mountains; posting to tank transporter company; temptations available to tank transporter drivers; damage to pontoon bridge over River Rhine; strength of company; task system for maintenance of vehicles.
REEL 6 Continues: prevalent cause of breakdown; effects of demobilisation; character of German Transport Companies; use of car and driver; comparison between German and British barracks; theft of coal; a case of looting from German schloss. Aspects of period commanding Malay Transport Coy, Royal Army Service Corps in Federation of Malaya, 1948-1949: character of unit; composition of unit; incidents of theft; incident when incompetent driver caused fatal accident. Recollections of operations as commanding officer of 55th (Air Despatch) Coy, Royal Army Service Corps in Federation of Malaya, 1950-1952: posting to Federation of Malaya; initial role commanding Malay Transport Company; operational role of unit; air resupply of troops in jungle including construction of drop zones.
REEL 7 Continues: size of practicable dropping zone and frequency of supply drops; incident of supply aircraft crashing; visits to Fraser's Hill; story of priest's encounter with Malayan National Liberation Army insurgents; personal security precautions; relations with Royal Air Force; living conditions in Singapore; character of Maria Hertogh riots in Singapore, 12/1950; deployment on internal security duties in Singapore city centre; lack of opposition and withdrawal after three days; troops' attitude to Federation of Malaya Police; effect of martial law; options available on reduction of Royal Army Service Corps.
REEL 8 Continues: Aspects of period as staff officer with Headquarters, British Middle East Land Forces in Cyprus, 1958-1959: posting to Nicosia; role managing married quarters; applying for retirement and problems with pension; situation in Nicosia; problems of returning to civilian life, 1959.