Cowan, James Alan Comrie (Oral history)

British officer served with King's Royal Rifle Corps in GB, 1941-1942; served with 2nd Motor Training Bn, Rifle Bde in GB, 1942-1943; served with 2nd Bn Rifle Bde in Italy, 1944-1945; served as adjutant with 7th Bn Rifle Bde in Egypt, 1945-1946; served as staff officer with General Headquarters, Middle East in Egypt, 1946; served as adjutant with Oxford University OTC in GB, 1947-1949; served with 1st Bn Rifle Bde in Germany, 1949-1952; student at Staff College, Camberley, GB, 1953; served as staff officer with Military Operations, B/4, Middle East at War Office, London, GB, 1954-1955; served as Military Assistant to Vice Chief of Imperial General Staff at War Office, London, GB, 1955; commanded C Coy, 1st Bn Rifle Bde in Kenya and Malaya, 1956-1957; served as staff officer with 12 Infantry Bde in Germany, 1958-1960; served as Brigade Recruiting Officer with Greenjackets Bde in GB, 1961; served as instructor on Directing Staff at Staff College, Camberley, GB, 1961-1963; commanded 1st Bn Royal Leicestershire Regt and 4th Bn Royal Anglian Regt in GB, Aden and Malta, 1964-1966; served as staff officer with 17 Div in Malaysia, 1966-1967; served as staff officer with Army Staff Duties 4 at Ministry of Defence, London, GB, 1967-1969; commanded 8 Bde in Northern Ireland, 1970-1971; served as Deputy Adjutant General with Headquarters United Kingdom Land Forces in GB, 1972-1975. Civil servant with North Ireland Office in GB, 1975-1980; secretary with Government Hospitality Fund in GB, 1980-1993

REEL 1 Background in GB, 1923-1941: family; membership of OTC at Rugby School; degree of awareness of political situation in Europe; memories of outbreak of Second World War, 3/9/1939; impact of war; duties with Rugby School Home Guard; tactical training and drill with Home Guard. Aspects of enlistment and training as rifleman with Kings Royal Rifle Corps in GB, 12/1941-5/1942: initial recruitment, 12/1941; medical examination; move to Bushfield Camp near Winchester; origins of recruits; style of discipline; emphasis on teamwork; character of NCOs. REEL 2 Continues: role of NCOs and officers; adjustment to discipline; punishment for minor misdemeanours; quality of rations and arrangements of mealtimes; weapons training and shooting; map reading; training with Motor Training Bn; cross country driving; re- badging to Rifle Bde. Period as officer cadet at OCTU at Perham Down and Motor OCTU, York, 5/1942-9/1942: syllabus of training; route marches and physical tests; size of intake; opinion of training; move to Motor OCTU at York. Aspects of period as officer with B Coy, 2nd Motor Training Bn at Ranby Camp, 9/1942-9/1943: posting to unit. REEL 3 Continues: arrival at unit; disembarking from motor vehicles; personnel in demonstration platoon; lack of large scale training or exercises. Period as Lieutenant with 2nd Bn Rifle Bde in Egypt, 1943-1944: arrival in Egypt, 10/1943; intelligence officer's course; management of patrols; leave in Cairo; recreation for troops; introduction to 4 Platoon; story of digging in in Italy; role of sergeant and quality of corporals; training in desert; degree of involvement in Greek Army mutiny, 4/1944. Recollections of operations as officer with 2nd Bn Rifle Bde, 61 Bde in Italy, 1944-1945: move to Italy; composition of 61 Bde; winter in Apennines. REEL 4 Continues: effects of over optimism at Tosignano; degree of knowledge as intelligence officer of situation at Tosignano; German use of horse drawn transport; sources of intelligence; fighting patrol on twenty first birthday; character of patrols; selection on men for patrols; use of aerial photographs; encounter with senior German officer POW; contact with civilians; location of battalion headquarters; commanding officer's method of giving orders; composition of Intelligence Section and quality of maps; information supplied to troops; character of merging of 2nd and 10th Bns; advance northwards from Tosignano. REEL 5 Continues: attack by German self propelled gun on battalion headquarters; use of Daimler Dingo as personal vehicle; issue of cold weather sleeping bags; eating arrangements; booby trapping of peach orchard; accelerated advance in Po Valley; impact of D-Day; visits by brigadier; advance into Austria; awareness of potential clash with Yugoslavians; return to GB for leave. Aspects of period as adjutant with 7th Bn Rifle Bde in Egypt, 1945-1946: background to posting to unit; impressions of GB; deployment of unit on guard duties. REEL 6 Continues: theft of cigarette case from barracks; mugging in Alexandria; duties as adjutant; relations with commanding officer; working routine; rotation of companies; disbandment of battalion; adjutant's staff; liaison with General Headquarters, Middle East over disbandment; decision to stay in army and issue of regular commission. Period as GSO 3 Staff Duties at General Headquarters, Cairo, Egypt, 1946: duties; character of work; division of labour; keeping of battalion war diary by unit intelligence officer; recreational activities and health. Period as adjutant with Oxford University OTC, 1947-1949: establishment of OTC; lack of cadets. REEL 7 Continues: contacts with local public schools. Recollections of period as signals officer with 1st Bn Rifle Bde in Germany, 1949-1952: attending signals course at Catterick Camp prior to posting, 1949; characteristics of 19 and 22 radio sets; ranges and aerials; emphasis on procedure; morse and line technique; chargers on command vehicles; quality of regimental signallers in contrast to Royal Signals personnel; state of signals platoon on arrival at unit; methods of overcoming problems with weather; number of radio sets in unit; selection of signallers; use of line; length of signals training; interference on sets at night time; character of exercises; co-operation with tanks. REEL 8 Continues: question of relative quality of brigade signals; use of training areas; challenge of training National Servicemen; move from Minden to Celle; posting as second in command of 1 Coy, 1952; duties; strength of company; degree of contact with senior officers; character of autumn manoeuvres; question of German rearmament. Aspects of period as student at Staff College, Camberley, 1953: cramming prior to course; syllabus of course; character of telephone battles; presence of foreign students on course. REEL 9 Continues: sources of overseas students; Directing staff; flight in jet aircraft during visit to RAF; written work; development of latent skills; assessment; length of terms. Recollections of period as GSO 2, Military Operations 4/B, Middle East at War Office, 1954-1955: posting to War Office; visit to Middle East; visit to Jordan; reasons for presence of British forces in Jordan; visit to Iraq; visit to Persian Gulf; impressions of youthfulness of signallers at Sharjah; visit to Buraimi Oasis across sand sea; impressions of Sheikh Zaid. REEL 10 Continues: character of stay at fort at Buraimi Oasis; briefing at GHQ, Middle East; policy of strategic presence in Middle East; production of papers and briefings for Chiefs of Staff; character of briefing papers; liaison within MO4; daily updates; lack of operations in his section; concern over Indian and Pakistan relations; working hours; relations with Foreign Office personnel. Period as Military Assistant to Vice Chief of Imperial General Staff at War Office, 1955: duties; organisation of staff; division of labour between Chief and Vice Chief; backgrounds of John Harding, Dixie Redman and Bill Oliver and their degree of involvement in regimental affairs; paperwork including writing cover notes. REEL 11 Continues: questioning of stationing an armoured brigade in Jordan; vital telegram initiating CENTO; reaction to hearing of Suez operation whilst in Malaya; system of appointments and return to regimental duties. Recollections of operations as commander of C Coy, 1st Bn Rifle Bde in Kenya and Malaya, 1956-1957: reception on arrival at unit; headquarters in logging station in hills; effects of altitude; character of patrol in forest; versatility of troops; contrast between Kenyan forest and Malayan jungle; jungle training based on official pamphlets; voyage from Mombasa to Singapore; company base at Kajang; jungle training including navigation; importance of dry clothing and cover overnight; boots. REEL 12 Continues: postings in Malaya; health and hygiene in jungle; medicinal uses of rum; ambushes based on Special Branch information; reasons for an abortive ambush; scale of ambushes; insurgent strengths; joint briefing arrangements at Kajang; reaction of his company to ambushing of Yong Kuo; contact with insurgents on Kuala Lumpar golf course; control of workers on rubber plantations; object of searches; liaison with Special Branch; degree of contact with police, Home Guard and Malay Regt; protection of New Villages; character of patrols; quick reaction force; planning of patrol operations; visits from commanding officer and daily briefing sessions. REEL 13 Continues: orders often changed at short notice and versatility of troops; need for security in dealing with District Officer; accommodation in camp; lack of casualties; level of fitness of troops; a case of murder; discipline; lack of problem of boredom; comparison between postings to Kajang and Slim River; move to Sungei Dua; visit from Duke of Gloucester; appearance of insurgents; character of tour and return to GB, 1957. Recollections of period as brigade major with 12 Infantry Bde in Germany, 1958-1960: appointment as brigade major, 4/1958; character of Brigadier Pat Mann; the 'Watch and Ward' role; composition of brigade group; tactics of dispersion; selection of positions for screen. REEL 14 Continues: tactics employed and deployment of brigade; artillery and air support; communication and liaison arrangements; likely duration of resistance of attack; character of exercises; origins of 'Watch and Ward' concept; question of reliance on nuclear weapons; brigade exercises; duties as brigade major; operations orders for brigade; organisation and style of work; relations with brigadiers; formulation of policy on training; management of brigade staff and scale of headquarters; security; barracks in Osnabruck. REEL 15 Continues: relations with German civilians; contact with NATO allies including impressions of Belgians and Americans; off duty recreational activities; question of handing over on leaving role, 11/1960. Aspects of period as Brigade Recruiting Officer with Greenjackets Bde in GB, 1961: campaign to recruit for brigade nationally; public relations techniques; use of recruiting sergeants; competing for recruits; desirable qualities of recruits; role in selection process of recruiting sergeants and recruiting officers. REEL 16 Continues: desirable qualities in special recruiters; his staff at regimental headquarters in Winchester; terms of engagement; setting up viable system of recruitment; source of potential NCOs; quality of recruits and training requirements; officer recruiting system. Aspects of period as instructor with directing staff at Staff College Camberley, 1961- 1963: opinion of method of instruction; developments in tactics syllabus; technological and science course at Shivenham; instruction in nuclear tactics; character of exercises; battlefield tour to Normandy. REEL 17 Continues: assessment of students; qualities of good students; preparations for syndicate work; opinion of staff college. Recollections of period commanding 1st Bn Royal Leicestershire Regt and 4th Bn Royal Anglian Regt in GB, Aden and Malta 1964-1966: reaction to appointment; question of large regiments and amalgamation of Royal Leicestershires into Royal Anglian Regt; need for unit to settle prior to next posting; origins of troops; wife's duties; character of troops; transformation into 4th Bn Royal Anglian Regt; approaches to tactics including value of skirmishing; deployment to Aden. REEL 18 Continues: minimal briefings for posting to Aden; two week deployment in Radfan; use of defensive fire; deployment and use of pickets; need to re-learn old lessons; degree of danger; tented accommodation; character of reconnaissance patrols; topography; casualty to grenade attack; role in Aden Town; insurgents use of Belgian anti-tank weapon; reasons for keeping unit together in desert camp; sources of company commanders; demand for sandbags; perimeter fence. REEL 19 Continues: scale of reserve force; political situation in Aden on arrival; degree of political naivety amongst troops; relations with brigade commanders; quality of intelligence; comparison between police force in Aden and other colonies served in; degree of contact with civil government; character of urban areas in Aden; reputation of Crater area; lifestyle of expatriate Europeans; handover from 1st Bn Royal Scots; character of searches and effect of random searches; use of roadblocks. REEL 20 Continues: reasons for patrolling; question of importance of riot drill; insurgent attacks on civilians; search procedures; question of importance of staving off boredom and alert; daily routine; command and management style; concern over officer and NCO development; deployment of companies; attitude to posting after second year; posting of unit to Malta; benefits of posting to Aden; role as resident battalion in Malta. REEL 21 Continues: personal quarters in Malta; reconnaissance to training area in Libya; studying siege of Malta; training and polo team; affiliation of unit with HMS Tiger and impressions of naval life; contact with Maltese. Aspects of period as GSO 1, 17th Div in Malaysia, 1966-1967: posting to Malaysia; role of division; joint services study periods on counter-revolutionary warfare; senior officers response to his presentation; contrast between Australian and British methods of operations in Vietnam and Malaya; sources of General Pat Patterson's ideas; opinion of American methods in Vietnam; response of troops to new ideas; internal security situation in Malaysia; workload during posting. REEL 22 Continues: Recollections of period as staff officer with Ministry of Defence in GB, 1967-1969: posting to role as Head of Army Staff Duties 4; duties organising army manpower; role co- ordinating common set of assumptions; chain of command; question of lack of long term outlook by civil service; overall aim of re-organisation of army; issues effecting the balance of arms; commitment to world wide capability; degree of contact with RAF and Royal Navy; character of sections under his command; working routine; start of computerisation of work. REEL 23 Continues: timing of end of run-down; character of SCO committees; relations with senior officers; selection for brigade command. Recollections of operations as commander of 8 Brigade in Northern Ireland, 1970-1971: background to posting to brigade; reading widely on situation in Londonderry; initial taking command of brigade in Chester, autumn 1969; expansion of brigade; briefing staff on situation in Londonderry prior to deployment; move to Londonderry, 1/1970; handover with Headquarters 24 Bde; units in brigade area; relations with Royal Ulster Constabulary; reaction to protestant character of Royal Ulster Constabulary; impact of visit by Ian Paisley, 2/1970; relations with senior officers. REEL 24 Continues: military situation on arrival in Londonderry; relations with Royal Ulster Constabulary; emphasis on upholding law and order; memories of young child instilled with political hatred; question of motivation of Catholic rioters in Bogside; Catholic grievances; treatment of Catholic Vice Chairman of the City Development Commission; visit by Prime Minister Chichester-Clark; degree of knowledge of situation in Londonderry of military in Belfast; first use of firearms by IRA in Londonderry, 7/1971; degree of intelligence of IRA activity; briefings to troops on arrival; changes in terms of engagement after first shooting incident; qualities of John Hume; relations with journalists. REEL 25 Continues: degree of contacts with Catholic hierarchy; actions of Catholic padre after fatal road accident; battalion incursions into Bogside; nature of riots; riot drills; changes in methods of dealing with riots; brigade commanders' reaction to introduction of internment; character of lists of internees; procedure for arrests and subsequent handling of detainees; consequences of internment; lack of intelligence on IRA; besieging of garrison in Bogside; suggestion of plan for intensive occupation of Londonderry; memories of Lord Carrington and Roy Hattersley; character of Strabane; headquarters in Ebrington Barracks; assessment of brigade's performance; question of potential successful use of internment; situation in Northern Ireland. REEL 26 Continues: lack of contact with Irish forces; sensitivity of subject of hot pursuit; brigade directive on operations; question of notice and quick reaction forces; concern to keep peace; situation in Londonderry and distinction between Nationalists and Republicans; role of platoon and company commanders; solution to boredom; differences of Northern Ireland from Malaya and Aden; adjustment of units to Northern Ireland conditions with particular emphasis on Royal Artillery units; question of deployment of special forces; problems of carrying out covert observation; use of helicopters; public relations staff; view of situation at end of posting. REEL 27 Continues: impact of history on political attitudes. Period as Deputy Adjutant General with Headquarters United Kingdom Land Forces in GB, 1972-1975: posting and duties; distribution of funds to district headquarters; chain of command and own staff; discipline in districts; no changes in policy on discipline; family matters; relations with SSAFA and Army Benevolent Fund; working day and use of personal assistant; personal prospects; reasons for leaving army and impact of retirement. Recollection of period as civil servant with Northern Ireland Office in GB, 1975-1980: taking civil service examination and selection process; relations with departments of Commerce, Manpower and Finance. REEL 28 Continues: policy on Harland and Wolff; question of own title; need to organise statement on Harland and Wolff on first day; trainee from Foreign Office and fast stream trainees; character of Northern Ireland Office; relations with other government departments with specific reference to Treasury; shipbuilding issues; value of military background; dealing with politicians; additional responsibilities on promotion in 1978; background to nationalisation of Harland and Wolff; question of economic and social policy being driven by political and security considerations; quality of education in Northern Ireland; style of economic management and question of defence contracts. REEL 29 Continues: reasons for lack of defence orders for Harland and Wolff; problems with foreign competition for Harland and Wolff and Shorts Aircraft Company; attempts to attract foreign investments; concerns over unemployment with specific reference to Londonderry; lack of discussion on emigration from province; civil service working methods and work load; chain of command; co- ordination of policy; cabinet briefings; verbal briefings to ministers; notice of written and verbal briefings; opinion of quality of ministers; prohibition on term Industrial Policy; reasons for leaving Northern Ireland Office. Recollections of period as Secretary with Government Hospitality Fund, 1980- 1993: background to applying for job; interview for job and question of retirement age. REEL 30 Continues: gap in appointments; attitude of unions to retirement; Conservative Governments' dissatisfaction with service; consultant's report on future arrangements; his own view on hospitality; refusal to be subordinated to Protocol Department of Foreign Office; taking overall responsibility under Foreign Office control; staff and organisation; duties of government butlers and change in title to catering managers; character of original government butlers and their successors; measures to improve quality of food; contract arrangements; funding process; official and unofficial venues for functions; refusal to get involved in political party occasions; necessity for economic prudence with public funds.