Interview with Aubrey Bruce Coombs

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Description

Object description

British private served with 6th Bn Royal Welch Fusiliers, 158th Infantry Bde, 53rd (Welsh) Infantry Div in GB and Normandy, France, 10/1943-8/1944; served with 6th Bn Royal Welch Fusiliers, 160th Infantry Bde, 53rd (Welsh) Infantry Div NCO served with 4th Bn Welsh Regt and Royal Corps of Military Police in Germany, 1945-1947

Content description

REEL 1 Background in Kidwelly, GB, 1925-1943: family; education; employment. Aspects of enlistment and training with Royal Welch Fusiliers in GB, 1943: background to enlistment and parent's reaction; drill and physical training; pattern of training. Aspects of period as private with 6th Bn Royal Welch Fusiliers, 158th Infantry Bde, 53rd (Welsh) Infantry Div in GB, 10/1943-6/1944: joining battalion in Whitstable; exercises; deployment of 158th Infantry Bde in Kent. Recollections of operations as private with 6th Bn Royal Welch Fusiliers, 158th Infantry Bde, 53rd (Welsh) Infantry Div in Normandy, France, 6/1944-8/1945: arrival in Normandy; sketch of first engagement. REEL 2 Continues: landing with advance party in Normandy; relieving 15th (Scottish) Infantry Div; precautions taken in front line; use of Projector Infantry Anti-Tank (PIAT); capture of German prisoners of war; targeting of battalion officers by German forces; post-war psychological effects of looking for cover experienced in Normandy; battalion casualties; reaction to loss of comrades; story of casualties caused by German machine gun fire from farmhouse; how his family were informed of minor wound; presence of Canadian Army Canloan officers in battalion. REEL 3 Continues: Recollections of operations as private with 6th Bn Royal Welch Fusiliers, 160th Infantry Bde, 53rd (Welsh) Infantry Div in North West Europe, 8/1944-5/1944: advance to Antwerp, Belgium; stand to and lack of sleep; under sniper fire on Albert Canal, Belgium; German V2 Rocket attacks on Antwerp, Belgium; crossing Lommel Canal, Belgium; story of aiding civilian child who hadn't experienced chocolate; move to The Island, Netherlands, 9/1944; night attack on Germans at s'Hertogenbosch, Netherlands, 10/1944; capture of large group of German Army troops; rapid move to Ardennes, Belgium, 12/1944; problems with German wooden S-mines; positions on River Maas, Netherlands, 1/1945; move to Nijmegen, Netherlands, 2/1945. REEL 4 Continues: character of Reichswald Forest, Germany, 2/1945; conditions in Reichswald Forest, Germany, 2/1945; opinion of German forces; Allied firepower; period of time division spent in front line; crossing River Rhine, Germany, 3/1945; reaction to hearing of end of Second World War in Hamburg, Germany, 8/5/1945; discussion with German civilian about Allied bombing of city. Aspects of period as NCO with 6th Bn Royal Welch Fusiliers, 4th Bn Welsh Regt and Royal Corps of Military Police in Germany, 1945-1946: German fear of Soviet forces; move to Düsseldorf; visit to doctor whilst on leave in GB; guarding war criminals at Sennelager; incident of being chased by guard dog; transfer to Royal Corps of Military Police. REEL 5 Continues: attending Royal Corps of Military Police Training College; duties guarding hangman Albert Pierrepoint; despatch rider duties; character of 4th Bn Welsh Regt; attitude to leaving British Army; return to civilian life. Reflections on military service in Second World War: psychological cases; opinion of front line officers; degree of contact with other Allied troops; adjusting to return to civilian life. REEL 6 Continues: question of physical and psychological effects of military service; incident of suspected gas attack; amusing story of dim-witted soldier who joined patrol to demolish farmhouse in Normandy, France; capture of German motorcycle in Normandy, France; story of comrade who was run over by tank in Reichswald Forest, Germany, 2/1945; field craft and reliance on comrades; incident of soldier who fell asleep in trench; incident of being accidentally fired on by Royal Air Force Hawker Typhoons; visits by General Bernard Montgomery; sight of air activity; attending Victory Parade with 6th Bn Royal Welch Fusiliers, Paris, France, 16/5/1946.

Object Details

Category: Sound
Related period: 1990 to the present day (production), Second World War (content), Second World War (association)
Creator: IWM (Production company)
Baker, Lindsay (Recorder)
Coombs, Aubrey Bruce (Interviewee/Speaker)
Production date: 2001-03-09
Dimensions: whole: Duration 180, Number Of Items 6
Catalogue number: 21106

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Interview with Aubrey Bruce Coombs

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