Description
Object description
British officer served with Royal Indian Army Service Corps, 7th and 23rd Indian Infantry Divs in India and Burma, 1942-1943; staff officer served as Director of Transport, 11th Army Group in India, 10/1943-3/1944; staff officer served as Director of Air Supplies, IV Indian Corps at Imphal, India, 3/1944-7/1944; staff officer served with South East Asia Command in India, 7/1944-5/1945; staff officer served as Assistant Director Supply with Headquarters, Twelfth Army in Burma, 1945-1946; served as civil servant with Colonial Administrative Service in Kenya, 1949-1969; worked for United Nations Commission on Trade and Development in Geneva, Switzerland, 1969-1984
Content description
REEL 1 Background in GB, 1920-1939: family and childhood in Warrington; education; further education at Oriel College, University of Oxford; joined Officer Training Corps at University of Oxford at time of Munich Crisis, 9/1938; obtaining wartime degree. Aspects of enlistment and training with British Army, 1940-1941: call-up for military service, 12/1940; reason for wanting to join Colonial Administrative Service; basic training at Aldershot Garrison; description of voyage to Durban, South Africa and Bombay, India. Aspects of training as officer with Royal Indian Army Service Corps in India, 1941-1942: voyage from GB to Bombay, India, via Durban, South Africa; nature of training in Bangalore; attitude to service with British Indian Army.
REEL 2 Continues: nature of training with Royal Indian Army Service Corps on North West Frontier; daily life and living conditions; promotion and posted to Attock Fort; joining 7th Indian Infantry Div, 1942; changes in lifestyle; strategic importance of and description of North West Frontier Province; posting to Lohaedaga. Recollections of operations as officer with Royal Indian Army Service Corps, 7th and 23rd Indian Infantry Divs in India and Burma, 1942-1943: move to East Bengal during withdrawal from Burma; construction of road to aid evacuation of British forces; living conditions for Indian refugees; Imperial Japanese Army Air Service bombing of Imphal, India, 1942; reason for Imperial Japanese Army Air Service air superiority, 1942; setting up advanced supply depot at Palel, India; sabotage of railway system Indian nationalists in Assam, India; purchase of fresh supplies; problem of malaria; transfer to 23rd Indian Infantry Div at Manipur, India; depot in Kabaw Valley, Burma; condition of retreating troops; nature of skirmish fighting; opinion of changes introduced by Lord Louis Mountbatten, 1943. Aspects of period as Director of Transport, 11th Army Group in India, 10/1943-3/1944: role as Director of Transport, 11th Army Group; posting to New Delhi, India, 10/1943; nature of Chindit operations; story of IV Indian Corps being cut off at Imphal, India; role of Lieutenant-Colonel James 'Elephant Bill' Williams in supplying elephants to Force 136, Special Operations Executive. Recollections of operations as Director of Air Supplies, IV Indian Corps at Imphal, India, 3/1944-7/1944: flight from New Dehli to Imphal, 3/1944; situation in Kohima/Imphal, 3/1944-6/1944; role directing air supplies during Siege of Imphal.
REEL 3 Continues: further details of air-supply operations at Imphal; social life; opinion of rations; landing strips; description of air-supply drops for advance troops; further details on the supply of elephants to Force 136, Special Operations Executive; description of field hospital at Imphal; communications; radio; story of 'joke' by Subhas Chandra Bose, leader of Indian National Army; Japanese radio content; attitude to threat posed by Indian National Army. Recollections of period as staff officer with South East Asia Command in India, 7/1944-5/1945: return to New Delhi at end of Siege of Imphal, 7/1944; role in planning advance to Mandalay; opinion of Lord Louis Mountbatten and General William Slim; nature of South East Asia Command; role of Americans with Chinese National Revolutionary Army; move to Barrackpore; reason for introducing use of Marchant Calculator; promotion to lieutenant-colonel; opinion of rations; story of reopening brewery in Mandalay, Burma; cultural problems with rations in British Indian Army; role of Royal Canadian Air Force in air-supply in Burma; story of African troops being referred to as cannibals; condition of Imperial Japanese Army troops. Aspects of period as Assistant Director Supply with Headquarters, Twelfth Army in Burma, 1945-1946: move Rangoon after liberation, 5/1945; role as Assistant Director Supply to Twelfth Army; working with Women's Auxiliary Service (Burma) personnel; opinion of canteen facilities; question of associating only with officers.
REEL 4 Continues: story of leave in Tibet, 1946; memories of writer and Tibetologist David Macdonald; return to GB and demobilisation, 8/1946; conditions in Rangoon after liberation; description of destruction in Mandalay. Aspects of period as student at Oriel College, University of Oxford in GB, 1946-1949: return to University of Oxford; changing course from Law to Politics, Philosophy and Economics; opinion of Devonshire Course for entry into Colonial Administrative Service; attitude towards Independence for India and other colonies; meeting with future wife Elizabeth Watkins and family connections with Kenya; reason for move to Kenya; prior recollections of James 'Elephant Bill' Williams, Major-General Reginald Scoones and Lord Louis Mountbatten.
REEL 5 Continues: attitude to success of operations at Kohima/Imphal; question of Burma Campaign being forgotten about until arrival of Lord Louis Mountbatten; communications with GB; censorship of letters; social life; improvements in air supplies; attitude towards role of Indian National Army in Bengal. Recollections of period as civil servant with Colonial Administrative Service in Kenya, 1949-1969: initial impressions of Turkana and Lodwar; organisation and duties as District Officer; description of working safaris on borders with Uganda and Sudan; collection of token taxes from headmen; aims of British policy in Kenya; problem of disputed border areas; move to Lokitaung; marriage; lifestyle; language situation.
REEL 6 Continues: description of work as 3rd Class Magistrate; story of execution; further comments on working safaris; changes in Turkana since 1950s; story of missionaries being initially banned; description of food self-sufficiency campaign; story of teaching Africans to catch and eat fish; moved to Malindi; administrative and ceremonial duties; relations with members of Somali Youth League; memories of 'Happy Valley' society; attitude towards murder of Lord Erroll, 24/1/1941; problem of ivory poaching; role in improving living conditions for people of Malindi; problem with Muslim estates and inheritance laws; move to Kiambu for health reasons; story of Jomo Kenyatta offering wife June Knowles a job; relations with Jomo Kenyatta; contact with Mau Mau issues; amusing story of oath taking ceremony; further comments on Mau Mau.
REEL 7 Continues: role in establishment of Central Secretariat; move to Kisii; story of developing sport and producing first long distance Olympic runners; move to Nairobi; duties with Treasury; opinion of staff and ministers; role in move towards Kenyan Independence; question of links between Jomo Kenyatta and Mau Mau; organisation of Mau Mau; opinion of Jomo Kenyatta; opinion of Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia; description of Treasury Development Plan; reason for influx of Soviets, Chinese and German after independence; story of politician Tom Mboya and Central Intelligence Agency; links between politician Jamamogi Oginga Odinga and Communist Party of China; growth rates in Kenya after Independence; role in heading Maize Commission Inquiry, 1967; role in producing 'Little Red Book' on African socialism; opinion of politician Tom Mboya and reaction to his murder, 5/7/1969; reason for failure of East Africa Commission; story of obtaining post with United Nations Commission for Trade and Development, 1969.
REEL 8 Continues: reflections on British colonialism; comparison of readiness for Independence in India and Africa; opinion of democratic elections in Kenya, 2003; opinion of current writing about colonial history; importance of appreciating ethnic and cultural problems on the ground. Recollections of period with United Nations Commission for Trade and Development in Geneva, Switzerland, 1969-1984: story of moving to Geneva to work for United Nations, 1969; problem with salary; question of necessary training for United Nations work; first missions; description of role in formation of Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN); aims and organisation of Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) including opinion of it's success, reason for formation and help from United States of America in formation; question of Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) providing good model for African states; importance of United Nations; comparison of differences between Asia and Africa; need for effective customs departments and civil service in developing nations; opinion of Independence in Zaire and Angola; role of superpowers and industries in creating conflict for resources; opinion of current situation in Kenya.