Dell, Dennis James (Oral history)

834589635
Order this sound recording under fair dealing

All Rights Reserved except for Fair Dealing exceptions otherwise permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, as amended and revised.

Accepted Non-commercial Use

Permitted use for these purposes:
Personal use for non-commercial research and private study and other uses under the UK’s exceptions to copyright and those exceptions to copyright in place where the user is located.
Use on websites that are primarily information-led, research-oriented and not behind a paywall.
Use on personal social media accounts, provided the individuals are not promoting themselves commercially.
Non-Commercial educational use for the purpose of teaching and instruction, including internal training.
Downloading audio-visual for non-commercial offline listening or viewing.
Free exhibitions held in venues, which do not charge an entry fee.

If you would like to use IWM collections materials in a way that is not covered above, require a commercial licence, high-resolution copies, or have manipulation requests, please contact the Image and Film Licensing Team. Digital files of films and sound recordings are available at cost depending on intended use.
1383470652
Order this sound recording under fair dealing

All Rights Reserved except for Fair Dealing exceptions otherwise permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, as amended and revised.

Accepted Non-commercial Use

Permitted use for these purposes:
Personal use for non-commercial research and private study and other uses under the UK’s exceptions to copyright and those exceptions to copyright in place where the user is located.
Use on websites that are primarily information-led, research-oriented and not behind a paywall.
Use on personal social media accounts, provided the individuals are not promoting themselves commercially.
Non-Commercial educational use for the purpose of teaching and instruction, including internal training.
Downloading audio-visual for non-commercial offline listening or viewing.
Free exhibitions held in venues, which do not charge an entry fee.

If you would like to use IWM collections materials in a way that is not covered above, require a commercial licence, high-resolution copies, or have manipulation requests, please contact the Image and Film Licensing Team. Digital files of films and sound recordings are available at cost depending on intended use.
1645687919
Order this sound recording under fair dealing

All Rights Reserved except for Fair Dealing exceptions otherwise permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, as amended and revised.

Accepted Non-commercial Use

Permitted use for these purposes:
Personal use for non-commercial research and private study and other uses under the UK’s exceptions to copyright and those exceptions to copyright in place where the user is located.
Use on websites that are primarily information-led, research-oriented and not behind a paywall.
Use on personal social media accounts, provided the individuals are not promoting themselves commercially.
Non-Commercial educational use for the purpose of teaching and instruction, including internal training.
Downloading audio-visual for non-commercial offline listening or viewing.
Free exhibitions held in venues, which do not charge an entry fee.

If you would like to use IWM collections materials in a way that is not covered above, require a commercial licence, high-resolution copies, or have manipulation requests, please contact the Image and Film Licensing Team. Digital files of films and sound recordings are available at cost depending on intended use.
869972970
Order this sound recording under fair dealing

All Rights Reserved except for Fair Dealing exceptions otherwise permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, as amended and revised.

Accepted Non-commercial Use

Permitted use for these purposes:
Personal use for non-commercial research and private study and other uses under the UK’s exceptions to copyright and those exceptions to copyright in place where the user is located.
Use on websites that are primarily information-led, research-oriented and not behind a paywall.
Use on personal social media accounts, provided the individuals are not promoting themselves commercially.
Non-Commercial educational use for the purpose of teaching and instruction, including internal training.
Downloading audio-visual for non-commercial offline listening or viewing.
Free exhibitions held in venues, which do not charge an entry fee.

If you would like to use IWM collections materials in a way that is not covered above, require a commercial licence, high-resolution copies, or have manipulation requests, please contact the Image and Film Licensing Team. Digital files of films and sound recordings are available at cost depending on intended use.
1897492899
Order this sound recording under fair dealing

All Rights Reserved except for Fair Dealing exceptions otherwise permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, as amended and revised.

Accepted Non-commercial Use

Permitted use for these purposes:
Personal use for non-commercial research and private study and other uses under the UK’s exceptions to copyright and those exceptions to copyright in place where the user is located.
Use on websites that are primarily information-led, research-oriented and not behind a paywall.
Use on personal social media accounts, provided the individuals are not promoting themselves commercially.
Non-Commercial educational use for the purpose of teaching and instruction, including internal training.
Downloading audio-visual for non-commercial offline listening or viewing.
Free exhibitions held in venues, which do not charge an entry fee.

If you would like to use IWM collections materials in a way that is not covered above, require a commercial licence, high-resolution copies, or have manipulation requests, please contact the Image and Film Licensing Team. Digital files of films and sound recordings are available at cost depending on intended use.

Description

Object description

British private served with 1st Bn The Buffs (Royal East Kent Regt) in GB and Germany, 1960-1961; served with 1st Bn The Queen's Own Buffs in Kenya, 1961-1962

Content description

REEL 1: Background in GB, 1939-1945: family; childhood in Wilsden, London and Claydon, Suffolk; various memories of daily life during Second World War including air raids and shelters, V1s, father's service with ARP, rationing during and after war. Aspects of period in London, 1945-1960: education; played on bomb sites; activities with Cubs and Scouts; left school age 15; membership of fishing club; employment as motor mechanic and driver with Crawford's Biscuits; reaction to being called up for National Service, 1960; medical examination; travelled by train to Canterbury. Aspects of training with 1st Bn The Buffs (Royal East Kent Regt) in GB and Germany, 1960-1961: posted to Canterbury Barracks; inoculations; issued with uniform and kit; memories of other recruits; opinion of accommodation; basic training; problem of remembering army number; opinion of food; physical training; NAAFI facilities; attitude to army life and discipline; punishments. REEL 2 Continues: recreational activities; care of uniform; polishing boots; description of basic training; drill; correct dress; physical training; rifle drill; care of weapon; bayonet practice; further weapons training including Sten gun and throwing hand grenades; leave; description of journey to Dortmund, Germany; opinion of accommodation in barracks; description of Dortmund; relations with civilians; reaction to amalgamation of Buffs, 1961; training exercise in Denmark; allocated to Motor Transport section as driver; description of Bedford 3 ton truck; garages and facilities; daily routine and duties; exercises; vehicle maintenance and cleaning. REEL 3 Continues: leave; visit to Belsen camp; training exercises with other units; social life; returned to Shorncliffe barracks, Kent; story of parade to mark amalgamation of Buffs with The Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regt, 3/1961; posted to Kenya, 1961. Aspects of operations with 1st Bn The Queen's Own Buffs in Kenya, 1961-1962: description of journey to Nairobi; preparations for climate; tents and mosquito nets; use of soldier box for personal effects; role of 1st Bn in Kenya in operations against Mau Mau; billeted with European farmers; mutilation of cattle by Mau Mau; story of patrol pursuing Mau Mau into hills; use of foot patrols to search villages for Mau Mau insurgents; length of patrols; kit and equipment carried; formation of patrols and use of hand signals; rations; role in transporting troops from base camp in Gilgil to Mombassa; condition of roads; problem of animals on road; leave in Mombassa; duties on town patrols with Military Police; description of base camp at Gilgil; problem of theft of civilian clothes from tents; daily routine and duties with Motor Transport section; celebrations to mark independence of Tanganyika; story of towing vehicle; communication with family in GB; climate; problem of rats; role in providing famine relief after heavy rain. REEL 4 Continues: relations with European farmers and Africans; story of helping Jomo Kenyatta cross river; further comments on condition of roads; reliability of vehicles; memory of charwallah boy; story of buying wood carvings from local village; description of voyage aboard SS Oxfordshire to Southampton via Gibraltar, 1962. Aspects of period with 1st Bn The Queen's Own Buffs in GB, 1962: returned to Shorncliffe barracks; general duties including driver for Regimental Sergeant-Major; demobilised, 4/1962, Aspects of civilian life and employment in GB: employment as driver for brewery and P&O Ferrymasters; story of taking vehicle for Pope to the Vatican; 1997; employment as coach driver for First World War battlefield tours. REEL 5 Continues: reunions with other National Servicemen

Object Details

Category: Sound
Related period: 1990 to the present day (production)
Creator: IWM (Production company)
Atkinson, James (Recorder)
Dell, Dennis James (Interviewee/Speaker)
Production date: 2012
Dimensions: whole: Duration 150, Number Of Items 5
Catalogue number: 33564

Object associations

Associated people and organisations

Dell, Dennis James
British Army, The Buffs (Royal East Kent Regiment), 1st Battalion
British Army, The Queen's Own Buffs, 1st Battalion
Associated places

Kenya
Germany

Our collections information

We have over 1.7 million object records online, and we are adding to this all the time. Our records are never finished. Sometimes we discover new information that changes what we know about an object, such as who made it or used it. Sometimes we change how an object is interpreted. We sometimes make mistakes in our spelling, transcription or categorisation, or miss information out of our records.

Read more about our collections and the information we hold. Developing our collections information

If you have concerns about the language in this record, or you have information to improve it, please share your feedback.

We receive a lot of comments and can't respond to each one, but we do read them all and will respond where we can.

Object Details

Object associations

Associated people and organisations

Associated places

Our collections information