Lennard, Peter Nigel (Oral history)

British gunner served with 160th Bty, 54th (City of London) Anti-Aircraft Bde and 153rd (London) Anti-Aircraft Bty in GB, 1936-1940; NCO served with 153rd Bty, 51st Heavy Anti-Aircraft Regt, Royal Artillery in Norway, 1940 and North Africa, 1941-1943; officer served with 73rd Anti-Tank Regt, Royal Artillery in North Africa, Sicily and North West Europe, 1943-1945

REEL 1: Background in Kent, GB, 1917-1936: family and childhood; sporting and recreational activities; education; left school at 16; employment as salesman with Unilever; trained with Territorial Army in Leeds. Recollections of period as gunner with 160th Bty, 54th (City of London) Anti-Aircraft Regt, Royal Artillery in London, GB, 1936-1939: joining unit in Putney, 1936; basic training; description of loading and firing gun; number in gun team; role opening and closing breach and firing gun; opinion of condition of guns; problem of noise of gun; drill and route marches; annual camps; army rations and pay; annual bounty; manning guns at Isle of Dogs during Munich Crisis, 1938; canteen in drill hall; summer camp, 8/1939. Aspects of period as gunner with 153rd Bty, 54th (City of London) Anti-Aircraft Regt, Royal Artillery in GB, 8/1939-5/1940: mobilised on birthday, 24/08/1939; reported to HQ in Putney; reaction to outbreak of war; posting to 153rd Anti-Aircraft Bty in Danson Park, London; description of 3.7-inch guns and role of battery; number of guns and gun team; accommodation in huts; leave. Aspects of period as gunner with 51st Heavy Anti-Aircraft Regt, Royal Artillery in GB, 5/1940: volunteering for overseas service and transfer to unit; posting to gun site in Norbury, south London; posted to camp in Ash Green, Guildford for advanced training; 5/1940; issued with tropical kit; travelled by train to Liverpool; issued with winter clothing and sailed to Sweden; ship diverted to Narvik, Norway. Aspects of operations as NCO with 153rd Bty, 51st Heavy Anti-Aircraft Regt, Royal Artillery in Norway, 5/1940-6/1940: description of 3.7-inch guns; transportation of guns to camp in mountains; fired at German aircraft; use of anti-aircraft guns as field guns. REEL 2 Continues: comparison of firing anti-aircraft and field guns; location of guns in mountains; problem of sound distorting; description of retreat to coast; method of destroying guns; reaction to being ordered to clear up gun site before leaving; description of seven day voyage aboard small packet boat to Scotland; posted to camp at Troon and supplied with new guns. Aspects of voyage from Devonport to Egypt, 9/1940-10/1940: description of Australian passenger liner; opinion of accommodation and sleeping in hammock; problem of overcrowding; opinion of rations; daily routine and duties; sanitary and washing facilities; reason for sleeping on deck; problem of ship rolling; drill and physical training; lectures; shore leave in Cape Town; disembarked Port Tewfik, Egypt. Aspects of operations with 153rd Bty, 51st Heavy Anti-Aircraft Regt, Royal Artillery in Egypt, 11/1940-1/1941: first impressions of Egypt; punishment if fell ill from drinking local water; description of uniform and anti-mosquito trousers; issued with rations; moved into tented camp near pyramids. REEL 3 Continues: visited pyramids; pay; leave in Cairo; arrival of guns and gun drill in desert; moved to Libyan Plain in preparation for Battle of Bardia. Aspects of operations as NCO with 153rd Bty, 51st Heavy Anti-Aircraft Regt, Royal Artillery in Tobruk, Libya, 1/1940-11/1941: used anti-aircraft guns as field guns; role of battery in defence of harbour at Tobruk; living conditions in Tobruk; importance of rapid firing; description of Stuka attacks on gun site; method of loosening bearings on gun to move more quickly; role of battery in defence of airport at Benghazi; air raids at night; number of guns in battery and rate of fire; description of seeing German pilots in planes during air raids; opinion of rations; issued with acid tablets for scurvy; water ration; number of men in gun team; bathed in sea; ammunition supply; battle fatigue cases; reason for not being allowed to dig slit trenches around gun site; accommodation in canvas shelter; problem of lice and fleas; problem of desert sores and treatment; description of sanitary arrangements; problem of flies; climate; communication with home; secrecy about location; parcels from home; shaving. REEL 4 Continues: returned to Cairo after relief of Tobruk, 11/1941; used 500 rounds of ammunition during breakout from Tobruk. Aspects of operations as NCO with 153rd Bty, 51st Heavy Anti-Aircraft Regt, Royal Artillery in Egypt and Palestine, 11/1941-4/1943: living conditions in Cairo; period in rest camp at Mount Carmel, Palestine; applied for commission; to; duties as bombardier with gun team; pay; continued to receive salary from civilian employer in GB; description of 6 months training at Middle East OCTU, Cairo; accommodation; role as platoon commander; drill and exercises; passed out after 2 months and posting to specialist artillery OCTU for further training; passing out as field gunnery officer and posted as second lieutenant to 73rd Anti-Tank Regt Royal Artillery, 4/1943. Aspects of operations as officer with 73rd Anti-Tank Regt, Royal Artillery in Egypt and Sicily, 4/1943-12/1944: description of mobile 6-pounder guns and transportation on lorries; role in command of troop of 30 men; joint operations with Royal Dragoons armoured cars; story of being wounded on Mareth Line when truck ran over a mine; landed in Sicily, 7/1943; role as part of holding operation; returned to GB from Sicily, 12/1943. REEL 5 Continues: Aspects of period as officer with 73rd Anti-Tank Regt, Royal Artillery in GB, 12/1943-6/1944: Christmas leave with family; posted to Felixstowe; opinion of officers mess; duties assisting billeting officer;73rd Regt attached to 30 Corps as anti-tank regiment; arrival of Sherman M10 tanks; number of tank crew and duties; used Bren carrier as command vehicle with wireless operator, troop sergeant and batman; question of receiving no training with tanks or invasion training; method of waterproofing guns and Bren carrier; briefings for Normandy landings; opinion of maps; moved into sealed camp near Winchester; story of visit to local pub; maintenance of secrecy; daily routine and planning meetings; left camp and arrived in Southampton, 4/Jun/1944; tanks and vehicles loaded aboard Tank Landing Craft; attitude to invasion being postponed until 6/Jun/1944. Aspects of operations as officer with 73rd Anti-Tank Regt, Royal Artillery in North West Europe, 1944-1945: description of Channel crossing, naval barrage and rocket ships, 5-6/6/1944; disembarked on Sword Beach; captured town of Rys; question of not taking any prisoners; description of terrain; problem of manoeuvering tanks along narrow roads; opinion of 17-pounder gun on M10 tank; communication with other troops; casualties and loss of tanks; role in support of infantry south of Caen; description of advance towards Falaise Gap. REEL 6 Continues: moved up to Belgian border and attached to Guards Div; moved to Nijmegen, Holland; problem of not being able to cross bridge to Arnhem; took cover in in forest; role in operations during Battle of the Bulge, 12/1944-1/1945; story of inspection by Montgomery; weather conditions; opinion of Sherman tank; description of attaching spades to tank tracks to prevent slipping; winter clothing; opinion of rations; method of making tea; billets; returned to Nijmegen; role as reconnaissance officer in planning crossing of River Rhine at night; attitude to fear and personal survival; story of being posted to Aldershot for messing officers' course. Aspects of period as officer with 73rd Anti-Tank Regt, Royal Artillery in Germany, 1945-1946: role as occupation troops; reaction to end of war, 5/1945; problem of boredom; billeting in factory in Essen; role organising food at Russian POW camp. REEL 7 Continues: organised concert parties for Russian officers; attitude to sending POWs back to Russia; duties as billeting officer; relations with German civilians; description of Russian POW camp; returned to GB for demobilization, 1946. Aspects of post-war life and employment: problem of adjustment to civilian life; returned to employment with Unilever; reflections on period of war service; importance of comradeship; story of sergeant with battle fatigue; story of period in hospital after being wounded by mine on Mareth Line; reunions with former comrades.