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Parr, Walter Robert 'Wally (Oral history)
Catalogue number 11073
http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/80010845 Content description REEL 1 Aspects of period as NCO with D Coy, 2nd Bn Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry in GB, 1942- 1944: reasons for volunteering for airborne forces, 1942; rigours of training; attitude of eagerness to get into action. Recollections of operations as NCO with D Coy, 2nd Bn Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry, 6th Airborne Div in Normandy, D-Day, 6/6/1944: landing and problems exiting glider; dealing with defences at Pegasus Bridge; fighting at bridge; discovery of fatally wounded Lieutenant Den Brotheridge; capture of German POW; his contact with Gondree family; approach of German armour; retrieval of PIAT from glider; destruction of German tank by Sergeant 'Wagger' Thornton; securing of German POWs; attack on German patrol boat on canal; reasons why D-Day was really on 5/6/1944; exploring gun pit. REEL 2 Continues: firing captured artillery piece; targets for this gun and Colonel John Howard attitude to Parr's firing of it; firing at Germans observing from water tower; Colonel John Howard's reaction to Parr firing at Chateau; firing on German manned barge on canal; reaction to arrival of fighter cover; German air attack on bridge; story of Jack 'Bill' Bailey's cup of tea; sound of Commandos in distance; arrival of Lord Lovat; Monsieur Gondree's offer of champagne; origin of title of film 'The Longest Day'; his attitude to having taken part in D-Day. Aspects of operations as NCO with 2nd Bn Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry in North West Europe, 1944-1945: orders to move to Ardennes, 24/12/1944; reception by Belgian civilians in Ardennes. REEL 3 Continues: Christmas dinner in Ardennes; coping with cold; lack of unit activity during Battle of Bulge; patrols along River Meuse near Venlo; capture of unit members; his opinion of six hour patrols. Recollections of operations as NCO with 2nd Bn Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry during Rhine Crossing, Germany, 3/1945: preparations for operation in GB; unit's objective; glider flight; glider landing; casualties during glider landings; sheltering under ammunition train; encounter with US war correspondent; advancing forward; how war correspondent hampered the fighting by interviewing Billy Gray; his wounding in legs. REEL 4 Continues: his attempts to get medical attention; his assistance to wounded in field aid post, 25/3/1945; unit casualties during Operation Varsity.
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"There truly exists but one perfect order: that of cemeteries. The dead never complain and they enjoy their equality in silence." - “There are things we know that we know,” “There are known unknowns. That is to say there are things that we now know we don't know. But there are also unknown unknowns. There are things we do not know we don't know.” Donald Rumsfeld, before the Iraqi Invasion,2003. Age is something that doesn't matter, unless you are a cheese. |
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