Description
Object description
British private served with 1st Bn Hampshire Regt in Egypt, 10/1940-11/1940; NCO served with Headquarters, 14th Infantry Bde, Creforce on Crete, Greece, 11/1940-6/1941; prisoner of war on Crete and Dulag 183, Salonika, Greece, Stalag III-A, Luckenwalde, Arbeitskommando E415, Glashütte, Arbeitskommando E714, Staaken, Arbeitskommando E528, Teltow, Arbeitskommando E329, Wulheide and Stalag IV-B, Mühlberg, Germany, 6/1941-5/1945
Content description
REEL 1 Background in Gosport, GB, 1917-1940: family; education; employment; reaction to declaration of Second World War, 3/9/1939. Aspects of enlistment and training as private with Hampshire Regiment in GB, 1/1940-7/1940: nature of Albany Barracks, Newport, Isle of Wight; uniform worn; treatment received from NCOs; treatment against flu epidemic; opinion of rations; memories of fellow recruits; weapons training; pay and training; posting to Seaford; possibility of draft to France; coastal defence duties. Aspects of period as private with 9th Bn Hampshire Regt in GB, 7/1940-9/1940: role of battalion at Freshwater, Isle of Wight; guard duties on bridge; issue of tropical kit; reaction to overseas posting. Aspects of voyage aboard HMT Ormonde from GB to Egypt via South Africa, 9/1940-10/1940: embarkation at Liverpool; nature of voyage; ashore in Cape Town, South Africa. Aspects of period as private with 1st Bn Hampshire Regt in Egypt, 10/1940-11/1940: description of camp at Ismailia; training undertaken; brief period with battalion, including attending water purification course undertaken; period in Cairo confined to barracks; visits into Cairo; journey from Cairo to Port Said; voyage aboard HMAS Sydney from Egypt to Crete, Greece, 11/1941.
REEL 2 Continues: Recollection of operations as NCO with Headquarters, 14th Infantry Bde, Creforce on Crete, Greece, 11/1940-6/1941: disembarkation in Suda Bay, 11/1940; composition of brigade; accommodation; other Hampshire Regiment members present at headquarters; water supply; duties with stores; knowledge of situation in Balkans; animals kept by unit; relations with civilians; plans for defence of Crete; posting in Chania; promotion to corporal; recreational activities; arrival of reinforcements; troops evacuated from mainland Greece, 4/1941; redeployment of weapons to infantry; Royal Air Force presence on Crete; details of air raids; description of German airborne invasion, 20/5/1941; attacks made against German airborne troops and glider pilots; leaflets later distributed by German forces.
REEL 3 Continues: problems faced by Royal Artillery batteries; relief from 1st Bn Welch Regt; story of territorial battalion; stand to; withdrawal to Suda Bay; confusion of situation; renaming of streets; situation at Chania; story of drive to Chania for supplies; arrival No 7 Commando at Suda Bay; withdrawal and reason for staying behind; nature of trek to Sfakia, including crossing of ravine and water supply; reaction to being made prisoner of war; evacuation of wounded; reason for missing evacuation; move to Sfakia and surrender, 1/6/1941. Aspects of period as prisoner of war on Crete and Dulag 183, Salonika, Greece, 6/1941-8/1941: march to 7th British General Hospital; description of compound built; sleeping arrangements; rations; washing facilities and health problems; march to Suda Bay; treatment received from German guards; accommodation and rations in Dulag 183, Salonika; escape attempts and German reaction to them; suicides; personal morale; conditions during train journey from Greece to Germany. Recollections of period as prisoner of war in Stalag III-A, Luckenwalde, Arbeitskommando E415, Glashütte, Arbeitskommando E714, Staaken, Arbeitskommando E528, Teltow, Arbeitskommando E329, Wulheide and Stalag IV-B, Mühlberg, Germany, 8/1941-4/1945: arrival at Stalag III-A, Luckenwalde; recording of dates during imprisonment; German captors' sorting out of Jewish prisoners of war.
REEL 4 Continues: processing on arrival, including items confiscated; description of Arbeitskommando E415, Glashütte; health problems; rations including division of bread and supply of meals; uses of ersatz coffee; sleeping arrangements; winter conditions; clothing and clogs worn, including problems suffered by Lance Corporal Charlie Lustead; sick allowance; nature of work undertaken and relations with German civilian; wounds suffered during attack by German Army guard; infection of wounds and medical treatment received; camp doctor and further details of medical treatment received; visit from Red Cross and transfer to hospital in Berlin; reflections on attack by German Army guard; contents of Red Cross parcels; bribery of German Army guards; story of giving chocolate to German Army guard's son; working week; physical and psychological state; mail; memories of Lance Corporal Charlie Lustead; prisoner of war health; heating; brewing of tea.
REEL 5 Continues: continuing problems with wounds; details of war pension; recovery period; posting to Arbeitskommando E714, Staaken; setting-up of escape committee; character of senior NCOs in camp; organisation and details of an escape attempt; story of Lance Corporal Charlie Lustead's escape attempt and punishment; difficulties with escape; help from escape committee; organisation of own escape attempt; capture, return to camp and punishment received; description of Arbeitskommando E528, Teltow; story of Allied air raid, 16/1/1943; transport of possessions between camps; story of strike at Arbeitskommando E714, Staaken and German captors' reaction; period at Arbeitskommando E329, Wulheide; reasons for not trying to escape again; reason for move out of Berlin; train journey to Stalag IV-B, Mühlberg; events on arrival and forced march to Jacobstahn; period in Stalag IV-B, Mühlberg; delousing at Stalag IV-B, Mühlberg.
REEL 6 Continues: problems with lice; story of argument with German captors and resulting strike at Stalag IV-B, Mühlberg; contact with airmen prisoners of war; relations with German guards; obtaining news of progress of war; issue of Red Cross parcels; use of labels from tins; entertainments and sporting activities; visits to other camps for football matches; work in timber yard in Leipzig; news of departure from Stalag IV-B, Mühlberg; cart taken on march; hearing sounds of fighting; arrival on farm and initial contact with United States Army. Aspects of liberation and return to GB, 5/1945: disarming of German Army guards; nature of journey to Magdeburg, Germany; accommodation; rations and health problems; flight in Douglas Dakota aircraft to Brussels, Belgium; prisoner of war processing in Brussels, Belgium.
REEL 7 Continues: flight in Royal Air Force Avro Lancaster to Billingshurst, GB; reception and debriefing on arrival; events before departure for home and contact with family; journey to Gosport; reception on arrival home. Post-war life and employment: problems settling into civilian life; psychological effects of wartime military service; story of contact with future wife during Second World War; further details of psychological effects of wartime military service; return visit to Crete, Greece, 1986.
