Description
Object description
British NCO served with 1st Bn Cambridgeshire Regt, 55th Infantry Bde, 18th Infantry Div in GB, 9/1939-2/1940; served with No 11 Independent Coy and No 1 Commando in GB, 1940; served with 1st Bn Cambridgeshire Regt, 55th Infantry Bde, 18th Infantry Div in GB, India and Singapore, Malaya, 1940-1942; prisoner of war in Changi and River Valley Road Camps, Singapore, Malaya, Burma-Thailand Railway and Pechaburi Camp, Thailand, 2/1942-8/1945
Content description
REEL 1 Recollections of period as private with 1st Bn Cambridgeshire Regt in GB, 1938-1939: family's military service; attempt to join Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve then Territorial Army; story of conversation with Imperial Japanese Army soldier during period on Burma-Thailand Railway; character of medical; fate of friend who joined at same time; issue of uniform and kit; drill nights in Cambridge; story of unarmed combat training; opinion of Territorial Army officers, NCOs and old soldiers in action; story of scruffy former Territorial Army soldier's behaviour when attacked by dive-bombers.
REEL 2 Continues: character of training at weekend camps; mobilisation of unit, 8/1939; guarding RAF Duxford and question of strength of defences; issue of Lewis Gun. Recollections of period as NCO with 1st Bn Cambridge Regt in GB, 9/1939-2/1940: vaccine fever; billeting in Cambridge; guard duties in sandbagged emplacements at RAF Duxford; effects of discovery of colour blindness during exercises on Gog Magog Hills; route marches; character of tactical training; exercise against Czech 'enemy' forces; bayonet training and Imperial Japanese Army technique with the bayonet; later story of bayonet fighting and wrestling with Imperial Japanese Army guards when prisoner of war; reasons for refusing invitation to Officer Cadet Training Unit and subsequent promotions.
REEL 3 Continues: role as drill instructor and case of Polish Jewish recruit; casualty of reckless discharge at Weeting Hall; dealing with smoking fireplace at Weeting Hall; amusing story of waste disposal; digging trenches; integration of recruits from Birmingham area. Aspects of period as NCO with No 11 Independent Coy and No 1 Commando in GB, 1940: drafting to No 11 Independent Coy at Southampton, 2/1940; character of his officer and consequences of his actions; discipline; instruction on boat discipline by Royal Navy; reforming of No 11 Independent Coy as No 1 Commando, 6/1940; coastal defence role in Cornwall; opinion of radio sets; proposed role of Independent Coys; explosive training and using Thompson Machine Gun; character of NCOs in Independent Coys.
REEL 4 Continues: story of consequences of teaching Sergeant Frank 'Tupenny' Rice to drive; playing rugby for Redruth; defence measures in Cornwall. Aspects of period as sergeant with Carrier Platoon, 1st Bn Cambridgeshire Regt, 55th Infantry Bde, 18th Infantry Div in GB, 1940-1941: recall to battalion; prior recollections of airfield defence duties at RAF Lakenheath, 12/1939; training Royal Air Force officers in use of Bren Gun; flying experience in Airspeed Oxford; characteristics of Bren Gun Carriers; volunteering for pilot training; training for desert warfare; prior recollection of embarkation with No 11 Independent Coy for Norway, 4/1940; drinking incident in Glasgow; attending military tattoo at Nuneaton; embarking aboard HMT Orcades at Gourock, 10/1941.
REEL 5 Continues: Aspects of voyage aboard HMT Orcades and USS West Point from GB to India, 1941: collection of tropical headwear and clothing; conditions on board HMT Orcades; transfer to USS West Point; submarine watch on bridge and shore leave in Cape Town, South Africa; behaviour of American crew aboard USS West Point. Aspects of period as NCO with 1st Bn Cambridgeshire Regt, 55th Infantry Bde, 18th Infantry Div in India, 12/1941-1/1942: arrival in Bombay; use of Indian servants; story of visit by Indian doctor to Sergeant Reginald Austin; unsatisfactory pair of shoes made to order; drilling at Ahmednagar; opinion of supply system in India. Recollections of operations as NCO with 1st Bn Cambridgeshire Regt, 55th Infantry Bde, 18th Infantry Div in Singapore, Malaya, 1/1942-2/1942: Imperial Japanese Army Air Service bombing of convoy, 28/1/1942; sight of Royal Air Force Hawker Hurricane aircraft leaving Singapore, 28/1/1942; problems digging slit trenches; presence of Imperial Japanese Army snipers in palm trees; behaviour of his platoon officer in RAF Seletar area; deployment of sections; narrow escapes during first action.
REEL 6 Continues: behaviour of corporal; view forward from positions; unaware of Imperial Japanese Army troops' presence until machine gun fire started; loss of runner sent to contact section; discovery of bodies of 5th Bn Suffolk Regt troops; grenade attack made on Imperial Japanese Army positions; lack of Japanese targets; orders to cross barbed wire; looking for stragglers and wounded over barbed wire; carrying wounded man to aid post; Japanese infiltration around unit positions; appearance of Imperial Japanese Army tank and it's subsequent destruction; fate of Sergeant Victor Wilson; reception on reporting to battalion headquarters; encounter with Imperial Japanese Army troops in which Regimental Aid Post was set on fire; reaction of orders to surrender, 15/2/1942; lack of information on available on Imperial Japanese Army; Imperial Japanese Army rank system; story of public humiliation of Imperial Japanese Army officer.
REEL 7 Continues: Recollections of period as prisoner of war in Changi and River Valley Road Camps, Singapore, Malaya, 2/1942-10/1942: example of Japanese military discipline on Burma-Thailand Railway; conditions in first prisoner of war holding area in Singapore; physical manifestation of skin complaint; march to Changi; conditions in Changi Camp; officers messing arrangements; attempts to keep ducks; move to River Valley Road Camp; conditions in camp; behaviour of Australian prisoners of war; primitive shaving and consequences; items acquired for crystal set; incident of being spotted with earphones by Kempeitai; acquiring cooking oil.
REEL 8 Continues: fate of other prisoners of war who broke out of camp; foot infection; breaking of watch in hospital; organising rugby team; enforced confinement in Selarang Barracks after prisoner of war refusal to sign document not to escape; question of escape; behaviour of Chinese towards prisoners of war; Imperial Japanese Army troops' behaviour to old Chinese trader. Aspects of period as prisoner of war on Burma-Thailand Railway, 9/1942-2/1945: items carried on train journey to Thailand, 10/1942; move to Ban Pong Camp, 10/1942; salvaging buckets from well; loading barges with rations for Japanese; system of propulsion of Thai barges; physical condition in Chungkai Camp.
REEL 9 Continues: effects of malaria and dysentery; Allied bombing of railway bridge; precautions against malaria and types of malaria; employment railway maintenance duties at Kinsaiyok Camp including presence of Tamil forced labourers; Imperial Japanese Army captors' shooting of tiger and his making of digits into cigarette holders. Aspects of period as prisoner of war in Pechaburi Camp, Thailand, 2/1945-8/1945: allocation to working party on construction of aerodrome; background to taking over Australian prisoner of war work gang; finding source of fresh water; improvement in health; attempts to make crystal set; changes in Japanese behaviour towards end of war; forming up on square; arrival of Allied parachutist, 8/1945; Japanese captors' opening store of Red Cross parcels; parade in Pechaburi Camp cemetery; flight out of Rangoon, Burma, 9/1945.
REEL 10 Continues: return to GB and resettlement course; question of advantages of military service; character of Imperial Japanese Army guards; behaviour of Dutch Eurasians; learning Old Dutch language and attending funerals conducted in Dutch at Tamarkan Camp, Thailands; attitude towards Japanese; question of ex-Far Eastern Prisoners of War attitude towards Japanese.
