DeptName
Documents

IDNO
1898

OtherNumber
92/22/1

ItemName
Private Papers of L Creighton

ObjectType
Private Papers

ShortSummary
Well-written ms diary (183pp) of her work with the Serbian Relief Fund during 1916 - 1917 distributing food and clothing to Serb refugees in the area around Monastir in southern Serbia, containing many interesting observations on civilian conditions and the effects of war there, the frustrations associated with her work and the often strained relations with Red Cross representatives in Serbia, contacts with members of the Scottish Women's Hospitals, friction between the local populace and French troops, and the great fire of Salonika in August 1917.

MakerName
Creighton

Forenames
L

Style
Miss

RelatedIWMItems
See full catalogue

RelatedTextFile
LCreighton.doc

Weighting
500

SubThemeTag
OccupationAndResistance

WebStatus
published

UncatTransferDate
23/06/2006 12:46:31

URLEncodedDeptName
Documents

Access
Unrestricted

DigitalAsset
Y

DeptName
Documents

IDNO
2074

OtherNumber
Con Shelf & 92/31/1

ItemName
Private Papers of A Lasker-Wallfisch

ObjectType
Private Papers

ShortSummary
Bound volume (223pp compiled 1988) containing a photocopy of an illustrated ts memoir and transcripts of letters (1939 - 1942 and 1945) principally between her, her parents, her sister and relatives, together with ms, ts and photocopied or transcribed letters and postcards (February 1939 - January 1943 and May - November 1945, mainly in German, some translations, including many originals of the letters in the above volume) from and to her, her father and her sisters giving excellent descriptions of her family's experiences as Jews in Breslau, Poland, until 1942, her sister Marianne's successful emigration to England before the war, her and her remaining family's desperate and frustrated efforts to emigrate, the increasing repression, her parents' deportation (and probable execution), her and her sister Renate's work as forgers of documents for French forced labourers, their attempted escape, trial and life in civil prison (1942 - early 1943), detention in Auschwitz - Birkenau (April 1943 - October 1944), her survival as cellist in the camp orchestra, her experiences in Belsen concentration camp (October 1944 - April 1945), liberation, the relief and clearance of the camp, life in the area after the surrender (including a concert given by Yehudi Menuhin and Benjamin Britten), being a witness at the Belsen Trial, and her efforts, until March 1946, to emigrate to England (via Belgium),and giving rare and excellent insights into conditions experienced by Jews in Germany and German occupied territories, 1939 - 1942, survival, fear, companionship, and her attitudes to the Germans.

MakerName
Lasker-Wallfisch

Forenames
A

Style
Mrs

RelatedIWMItems
See also her memoirs: Anita Lasker-Wallfisch, INHERIT THE TRUTH (Giles de la Mare Publishers Ltd, London 1996).

Weighting
1

SubThemeTag
OccupationAndResistance

WebStatus
published

UncatTransferDate
08/11/2006 05:50:02

URLEncodedDeptName
Documents

Access
Unrestricted

DeptName
Documents

IDNO
2986

OtherNumber
ConShelf

ItemName
Private Papers of R E H Fletcher

ObjectType
Private Papers

ShortSummary
Detailed and very informative ms journal (131pp) covering the period June 1940 - February 1942, kept by a man living on Jersey during the German occupation of the Channel Islands and recording local reactions to the news of the fall of France in June 1940, the state of Jersey's defences, the demilitarisation of the island and the ensuing panic as people head for the British mainland, the first German bombing raids on the island, the restrictions and regulations imposed by the Germans, contacts with and the behaviour of German troops, the increasing food and fuel shortages, acts of resistance by the local population, and anti-Jewish measures enforced by the Germans; together with a German 'Ausweis' (purpose unclear); also a short anecdotal ts memoir (6pp) by Fletcher's grand-daughter, recording her own experiences of life on Jersey during the war.

MakerName
Fletcher

Forenames
R E H

Weighting
1

SubThemeTag
OccupationAndResistance

WebStatus
published

UncatTransferDate
23/06/2006 12:46:31

URLEncodedDeptName
Documents

Access
Unrestricted

DeptName
Documents

IDNO
3041

OtherNumber
94/51/1

ItemName
Private Papers of M von Lenip

ObjectType
Private Papers

ShortSummary
3 ms and ts letters (9pp) from Heerenweg, Holland (Heenweg, South Holland), to her English friend (December 1945 - March 1946), describing in very good detail civilian conditions in the Netherlands during the Second World War including rationing and starvation, morale, the German forces of occupation, her participation in the resistance movement (or as 'underground soldiers'), her work in an orphanage and her gratitude on receiving a parcel of clothing from England in 1946.

MakerName
von Lenip

Forenames
M

Style
Miss

RelatedImageFile
vonLenipM_003041_2.jpg

Weighting
500

SubThemeTag
OccupationAndResistance

WebStatus
published

UncatTransferDate
12/09/2006 05:50:12

URLEncodedDeptName
Documents

Access
Unrestricted

IndexPlace
Heenweg, South Holland, Netherlands
England, UK

IndexEvent
Home Front, Netherlands, Second World War
Rationing
German Occupation of the Netherlands, Second World War

PDF
vonLenipM_003041_2.pdf

DigitalAsset
Y

DeptName
Documents

IDNO
3921

OtherNumber
84/19/1

ItemName
Private Papers of T J D Miller

ObjectType
Private Papers

ShortSummary
Edited transcript (14pp) of a diary which he kept while living and working as a sheep farmer at Dunnose Head on West Falkland, April - June 1982, recording his experiences during the Argentine occupation of the Falkland Islands including the bombing of the Dunnose Head airstrip by the RAF in which he was injured, and with interesting references to the warnings that the Islanders received of the invasion, instances of passive resistance by the Islanders, his encounter with young and incompetent Argentine conscripts, the rumours of Argentine ill-treatment of islanders, and the comfort and support which the Islanders derived from the BBC radio programme 'Calling the Falklands'.

MakerName
Miller

Forenames
T J D

RelatedIWMItems
See also Special Miscellaneous S3

Weighting
1

SubThemeTag
OccupationAndResistance

WebStatus
published

UncatTransferDate
23/06/2006 12:46:31

URLEncodedDeptName
Documents

Access
Unrestricted

DeptName
Documents

IDNO
5750

OtherNumber
Misc 189/1-2 (2826)

ObjectType
Miscellaneous Documents

ShortSummary
Substantial collection of material relating to the German occupation of the Channel Islands, 1940 - 1945, compiled by the journalist and author Madeleine Bunting during the course of research for a television documentary and book, comprising: photocopy of a ts diary (1050pp) kept by a cleric on Guernsey during the period June 1940 - May 1945, recording in excellent detail his experience of daily life on the island; numerous transcripts of interviews with islanders including Norman Le Brocq, a leading member of the resistance movement on Jersey, survivors of the Alderney camps, and a Jerseyman deported to Germany; transcripts of interviews with former German soldiers posted to the Channel Islands and former German administrators (mostly in English, with some German text); photocopy of 'Policing during the Occupation, 1940 - 1945' (23pp ts) by A P Lamy, Chief Officer Guernsey Police; together with other miscellaneous papers and a collection of photographs (including Russian and Ukrainian slave labourers shortly after their liberation from Alderney, and German troops on the islands).

RelatedIWMItems
See Madeleine Bunting, THE MODEL OCCUPATION (HarperCollins 1995)

Weighting
1

SubThemeTag
OccupationAndResistance

WebStatus
published

UncatTransferDate
23/06/2006 12:46:31

URLEncodedDeptName
Documents

Access
Unrestricted

DeptName
Documents

IDNO
7565

OtherNumber
97/34/1

ItemName
Private Papers of R Witton

ObjectType
Private Papers

ShortSummary
Papers relating to her work in the French resistance during the Second World War, comprising: 46 ms letters and postcards (circa 50pp) written to her by her British husband Sidney Witton from Ilag VIII (Tost), August 1941 - August 1943, where he was interned by the Germans following the invasion of France in 1940; Red Cross message from her to her husband in Ilag VIII, December 1944; postcard sent to her by a British internee in Vittel camp (occupied France), March 1942, giving news of her husband; undated ms letter (2pp) presumably sent to her by an Allied serviceman she had sheltered; two drawings done by Allied airmen whilst in hiding with her; various certificates and official correspondence, postwar, concerning honours and awards bestowed on her by French and foreign governments for her services in assisting Allied servicemen to evade capture; five photographs, including one of Mrs Witton, two of her husband, and one of her fellow resistance worker Berthe Fraser; together with a small number of other miscellaneous papers.

MakerName
Witton

AlternativeName
nee Therier

Forenames
R

Honours
GM

Style
Madame

RelatedIWMItems
Mme Witton's decorations and medals are held in the Department of Exhibits and Firearms

Weighting
1

SubThemeTag
OccupationAndResistance

WebStatus
published

UncatTransferDate
23/06/2006 12:46:31

URLEncodedDeptName
Documents

Access
Unrestricted

DeptName
Documents

IDNO
9866

OtherNumber
Con Shelf

ItemName
Private Papers of B Fenton

ObjectType
Private Papers

ShortSummary
Transcripts of three excellent letters to her sister, two ms (6pp, 8 August 1914 and 2pp, July 1915) and the other forming a ts diary account (24pp, 18 August - 24 November 1914), together with an ms transcript of a postcard message (1p, 9 November 1914), written from the Convent des Ursulines at Thildonck, Belgium, where she was a teacher and describing the effects of the outbreak of war on the convent school, including the sending home of many of the children, the conversion of part of the convent into an ambulance, the arrival of German troops and the requisitioning and looting which accompanied their occupation of Thildonck, the lodging of Belgian refugees in the convent, the nuns’ strained relations with the enemy, the shelling of the convent and the frightening experience of having to shelter in the building’s cellars, together with references to the strong patriotism evident within Belgium at the outbreak of war, and the widespread destruction which accompanied the German advance. After the war Beatrice Fenton joined the Ursulines as a nun, taking the name Philippine. Also held with the collection are an ms note (1p, 1 January 1915) by her sister Minnie in which she relates news of Beatrice, an ms letter (2pp, 29 January 1915) from two of the nuns, a printed booklet on the Ursulines (32pp, April 1917), an envelope containing 15 photographic postcards showing the convent school at Thildonck, a newspaper cutting from THE DAILY TELEGRAPH (1p, 16 September 1914) providing a map of the Western Front, and a page from THE UPTONIAN magazine (2pp, November 1914) describing the fighting at Thildonck and news received from the convent, three postcards written by Beatrice in the 1920s and a ts transcription (1p, 24 February 1945) of a letter informing Beatrice’s sister of her death at Thildonck on 9 June 1944.

MakerName
Fenton

Forenames
B

Style
Miss

Weighting
1

SubThemeTag
OccupationAndResistance

WebStatus
published

UncatTransferDate
23/06/2006 12:46:31

URLEncodedDeptName
Documents

Access
Unrestricted

DeptName
Sound

IDNO
4588

ProductionDate
26/Jan/1980

ObjectType
IWM interview

IndexPeople
Burkill, Margareta xxx
Reuter, Ernst
Reuter, Harry
Paterson, Alexander
Maxwell, Alexander

IndexPlaces
GB, England
DE

IndexUnits
GB.O & Cambridge Refugee Committee
GB.O & Jewish Refugee Committee

IndexConcepts
Evacuee
Refugee
Holocaust
Internee
Anti semitism

ShortSummary
German civilian worked with Cambridge Refugee Committee in Cambridge, GB 1935-1945

FullSummary
REEL 1 Recollections of life in Germany and Russia, early 1900s: family background; education; aspects of childhood which helped her to deal with refugees later in life; being sent to Britain to finish education. Aspects of life in Britain after completing education: marriage; teaching prisoners in Walton Gaol, Liverpool. Recollections of working with Refugee Committee in Cambridge, from mid 1930s: meeting with Ernst Reuter on skiing holiday; first refugees to Britain; organisation of refugee committee.
REEL 2 Continues: memories of various Committee personnel; financial situation of Committee; assistance from Dr Schlossmann and Dr Meyer; difficulties of selecting which potential refugees they should help; relationship with refugees; work of the Save the Children Fund after First World War; helping Ernst Reuter's son, Harry, to escape from Germany; taking Harry Reuter into home; difficulties in looking after teenage Harry; success of Harry at school; naturalisation of minors and importance of British nationality to Harry; obtaining job for Harry in Admiralty.
REEL 3 Continues: taking another refugee child, Harry Graetzer, 'Little Harry', into home; background to situation of Harry Graetzer; Harry's desire to have name changed by deed poll to Burkill; process of adoption for refugee children; story of Jewish refugee child adopted by non-Jewish couple; rule that Jewish children could not be adopted by non-Jewish families; plans for Kindertransport bringing 10,000 refugee children into Britain; promises made to parents of refugee children; attempting to find 'guarantors' for refugee children.
REEL 4 Continues: refugee children sent to Agricultural camps at age of 14 and desire of some these to get help from Cambridge Committee to continue their education; difficulties of dealing with British evacuee children and refugee children; impact of work with refugees on home life; story of Nazi spy placed among teenage Jewish refugees; attitude towards British police; contrast in attitude of British authorities and people towards 'enemy aliens' in First and Second World Wars; internment of young refugees; attitude towards policy of internment.
REEL 5 Continues: contrast between attitude of Home and War Offices to refugees; help to Committee from Home Office personnel, Sir Alexander Patterson and Sir Alexander Maxwell; money from Czech Government in exile to Czech refugee children; various nationalities of refugees; attitude towards organisation of Bloomsbury House; procedure for getting children out of central Europe in late 1930s; attitude of Trade Unions to refugees and question of threat to job market; difficulties of persuading businesses to take young refugees as trainees; contrast between situation of 'guaranteed' and 'un-guaranteed' children; psychological impact of experiences of refugee children.
REEL 6 Continues: story of refugee girl and boy who had difficulties adapting to life in Britain; attempts of Cambridge Committee to keep siblings together and contrasting attitude of religious refugee committees; difficulties of refugee women employed as domestics; contrast between situation of Russian refugees of 1917 and European refugees of 1930s; treatment of refugee domestics by employers; children from concentration camps who arrived after the war; aim of getting children out to enable parents to escape more easily, 1930s; attitude of parents towards immigration of children to Britain.
REEL 7 Continues: difficulties of dealing with British orthodox Jewish children evacuated to Cambridge; work of refugee women for Red Cross; education of refugee children and determination of some to go to night school and University; type of careers refugee children eventually went into; proportion of her refugee children that stayed in Britain; story of 5000 French children sent to Germany by Petain; difficulties of reuniting children with families post war; return of many refugee children to Britain; attitude of parents of refugee children towards Cambridge committee; attitude towards accusations of poor treatment of refugee children post war.
REEL 8 Continues: implications of 1944 Education Act for refugee children; campaigning for rights of refugee children with regards to education; attitude towards British attempts to help refugees, late 1930s; attitude towards treatment of refugees in Britain from 1950s to 1980; closure of Bloomsbury House and turning over of dossiers to Jewish Refugee Committees; retaining her own dossiers to maintain responsibility for her children; attitude towards her work with refugee children; Jewish refugee children placed in Christian homes kidnapped by orthodox Jewish committees.

ContextDescription
Britain and the Refugee Crisis, 1933-1947
Holocaust

Duration
240

NumberOfParts
8

OtherFormats
Full : 61pp

MakerName
Burkill, Margareta

ProductionCompany
IWM

MakerGender
Female

Language
English

RelatedSoundFile
004588S01.mp3
004588S02.mp3
Burkhill-civilians.mp3

Weighting
750
900

SubThemeTag
OccupationAndResistance

WebStatus
Published

UncatTransferDate
04 May 2007

URLEncodedDeptName
Sound

Access
IWM copyright

Nationality
British
German

DigitalAsset
Y

DeptName
Sound

IDNO
4624

ProductionDate
28/Apr/1980

ObjectType
IWM interview

IndexPeople
Scheuer, Peter J xxx

IndexPlaces
GB, England
AT
AT & Vienna
DE
DE & Hamburg

IndexConcepts
Refugee
Anti semitism
Holocaust

ShortSummary
German civilian schoolchild in Vienna, Austria, 1936-1938; emigrated to GB, 12/1938

FullSummary
REEL 1: Recollections of living in Hamburg during 1930s: father's attitude towards Hitler; father's decision to emigrate to Austria; family background. Recollections of living in Austria, 1936-1938: reaction to arrival of Nazis during Anschluss, 1938; Nazi sympathies of some Austrians; political beliefs of parents; decision of parents to emigrate to Britain. Recollections of life in Britain, from 12/1938: requirement for someone to sponsor refugees in Britain; journey by plane; difficulty of adjusting to life at boarding school; language difficulties; attitude of parents towards life in Britain; attitude towards German origins; recollections of bombing by German Air Force; fate of siblings.
REEL 2 Continues: consideration of self as British and of Germans as enemy; question of knowledge of concentration camps; question of antisemitism in Britain; attitude towards Jewish identity; belief that the Allies would win the war; internment of uncle as enemy alien; coping with reduced economic circumstances; attitude towards restrictions on immigration. Reflections on Holocaust experience: compensation received by family; returning to Austria; question of when a refugee stops being a refugee; sympathies towards refugees entering Britain today;

ContextDescription
Nazi Europe, 1933-1945
Britain and the Refugee Crisis, 1933-1947
Holocaust

Duration
60

NumberOfParts
2

OtherFormats
None

MakerName
Scheuer, Peter Joseph

ProductionCompany
IWM

MakerGender
Male

Language
English

RelatedSoundFile
Sceur-civilians.mp3

Weighting
750
900

SubThemeTag
OccupationAndResistance

WebStatus
Published

UncatTransferDate
08 May 2007

URLEncodedDeptName
Sound

Access
IWM copyright

Nationality
British
German

DigitalAsset
Y

DeptName
Sound

IDNO
10294

ProductionDate
17/Aug/1988

ObjectType
IWM interview

IndexPeople
Huczynski, Joseph W xxx

IndexPlaces
PL

IndexUnits
PL.A & Home Army
PL.F & Air Force
DE.O & POW camp & Oflag VI

IndexConcepts
Resistance
POW

ShortSummary
Polish officer served with Home Army, worked with underground movement, involvment in Warsaw Rising, 1939-1945

ContextDescription
Nazi Europe 1933-1945

Duration
120

NumberOfParts
4

OtherFormats
None

MakerName
Huczynski, Joseph Wincenty

ProductionCompany
IWM

MakerGender
Male

Language
English

RelatedIWMItems
Photo in file

RelatedSoundFile
Huczniski-civilians.mp3

Weighting
750
900

SubThemeTag
OccupationAndResistance

WebStatus
Published

UncatTransferDate
17 November 2006

URLEncodedDeptName
Sound

Access
IWM copyright

Nationality
Polish

DigitalAsset
Y

DeptName
Sound

IDNO
10716

ProductionDate
24/May/1989

ObjectType
IWM interview

IndexPeople
Green, Maurice Edwarde xxx

IndexPlaces
GB, England
GB, Channel Islands & Jersey

IndexUnits
DE.O & Concentration Camp, Buchenwald

IndexConcepts
Resistance
Holocaust
Concentration Camp

ShortSummary
British civilian in Jersey during German Occupation of Channel Islands, GB, 1940-1945; father imprisoned in Buchenwald camp

FullSummary
REEL 1 Recollections of background in Jersey GB, 1927- 1939: family circumstances; medical problems with diabetes; starting printing business. Recollections of German occupation of Jersey, 1940-1945: German Air Force attack, 6/1940; reaction to arrival of Germans; behaviour of first Germans; German propaganda photograph taken of schoolchildren; fate of diabetics without insulin and discharging himself from hospital; strategy for survival and receiving insulin from German soldier; plan to kill German commandant; sabotage of railway line and engine.
REEL 2 Continues: punishment for stealing German uniform and rifle; sabotaging German saluting order; other incidents of sabotage and stealing; his V-sign Christmas card; arrest for stoning German soldiers; witnessing execution of German soldier; opinion of women who associated with German soldiers; question of surviving without insulin; sight of beating of forced labourer; conditions of forced labourers; conversation with forced labourers; farmer's concealment of forced labourers; question of role of States; arrest of father for resistance work.
REEL 3 Continues: Aspects of father's experiences in German custody in France and as inmate of Buchenwald: character of father's resistance activity; attempt to communicate in code with father in prison; father's witnessing of torture of Dutch agent in Fresnes Prison; father's experiences in Buchenwald and at Gestapo headquarters in Paris. Attitude towards Germans. Aspects of liberation of Channel Islands, 1945: attitude to lack of British help; looting of German arms by children; reception for British troops; revenge against collaborators.
REEL 4 Continues. Respect for British prisoners by inmates in Buchenwald.

ContextDescription
Nazi Europe, 1933-1945
Holocaust

Duration
120

NumberOfParts
4

OtherFormats
None

MakerName
Green, Maurice Edwarde

ProductionCompany
IWM

MakerGender
Male

Language
English

RelatedSoundFile
GreenMaurice-civilians.mp3

Weighting
750
900

SubThemeTag
OccupationAndResistance

WebStatus
Published

UncatTransferDate
04 May 2007

URLEncodedDeptName
Sound

Access
Educational use only

Nationality
British

DigitalAsset
Y

DeptName
Sound

IDNO
12532

ProductionDate
12/Apr/1992

ObjectType
IWM interview

IndexPeople
Green, Mabel V xxx
Telford, Mabel V xxx

IndexPlaces
GB, Channel Islands & Guernsey
GB, Channel Islands & Jerbourg, Guernsey

ShortSummary
British civilian living on Guernsey, Channel Islands, 1940-1945

FullSummary
REEL 1 Aspects of family and educational background. Recollections of life in Jerbourg, Guernsey, 1940-1945: marriage to Guernseyman, 1940; description of Jerbourg; attempts to leave Island after fall of France; attitude towards English in Guernsey; German invasion of Guernsey, 6/1940; story of how her house was requisitioned by Germans; Commando Raid at Petit Point; sight of Germans on manoeuvre at Jerbourg; story of theft of husbands car tyres by German soldier.
REEL 2 Continues: story of theft of husbands car tyres by German soldier; story of how husband made crystal radio set; listening to radio; receiving Red Cross cards from relatives in England; laying of minefields at Jerbourg by Germans; stealing German tables to use as firewood; food rations; memories of forced labourers working on Island; sight of German mortuary; story of how Russian forced labourers died from eating wild onions.
REEL 3 Continues: arrival of Red Cross parcels on ship 'Vega'; morale during occupation; desire to leave Guernsey; typhus outbreak among forced labourers; hiding neighbour's radio in home; watching German manoeuvres; behaviour of German soldiers; witnessing German bombers heading for GB; story of husband's arrest by Germans; punishment of civilians who bought undeclared beef, including husband.
REEL 4 Continues: punishment of civilians who bought undeclared beef; physical condition; question of collaboration; story of attempt of HMS Bulldog to liberate Guernsey; liberation by British soldiers. Description of Red Cross parcel box and crystal radio set (which Mrs Green kept).

ContextDescription
The Occupation of the Channel Islands, 1940-1945

Duration
120

NumberOfParts
4

OtherFormats
None

MakerName
Green, Mabel Vera

ProductionCompany
IWM

MakerGender
Female

Language
English

RelatedSoundFile
GreenM-civilians.mp3

Weighting
750
900

SubThemeTag
OccupationAndResistance

WebStatus
Published

UncatTransferDate
17 November 2006

URLEncodedDeptName
Sound

Access
IWM copyright

Nationality
British

DigitalAsset
Y

DeptName
Sound

IDNO
17290

ProductionDate
27/Jan/1997

ObjectType
IWM interview

IndexPeople
Sadan, Ingeborg xxx
Engelhard, Ingeborg xxx
Leverton, Bertha

IndexPlaces
DE
DE & Munich
GB, England

IndexUnits
GB.O & Kindertransport

IndexConcepts
Holocaust
Anti semitism
Refugee

ShortSummary
German schoolchild in Munich, Germany, 1933-1939; emigrated on Kindertransport to GB, 7/1939

FullSummary
REEL 1 Recollections of living in Munich, Germany, during 1930s: antisemitism; education; father's employment; Kristallnacht, 11/1938; reaction to sister and brother leaving on Kindertransport; increasing restrictions against Jews. Recollections of leaving Germany on Kindertransport, 7/1939: reaction to leaving parents; journey. Recollections of arrival in Britain, 7/1939: arrival at Liverpool Street station, London; selection process; lonely train journey to Coventry; reunion with sister Bertha. Recollections of life in Britain from 1939: reaction of hosts towards her; learning English; difficulties in adapting to life in Britain; communication with parents and their arrival in Britain at end of war; difficult relationship with host family.
REEL 2 Continues: difficulty of life with host family; arrival of parents; difficulty of reunion with parents; question of exploitation by host family; education; German bombing of Coventry; relationship with British people; employment of sister, Bertha, at mill and brother, Theo, at factory; adopting independent attitude in order to survive.
REEL 3 Continues: difficulty in adapting to life with parents; joining Jewish study group; Zionist sympathies and reaction to visiting Israel. Aspects of visit to Munich, Germany, 1954. Reflections on Holocaust experience: physical and mental impact of experience on parents; lack of discussion of Kindertransport issues until early 1990s; importance of Holocaust in Israel; importance of talking about Holocaust experience; attitude of children towards Holocaust experience; reunions of Kindertransport children in Britain, USA and Israel; impact of experience on sense of Jewishness.

ContextDescription
Nazi Europe, 1933-1945
Holocaust

Duration
90

NumberOfParts
3

OtherFormats
None

MakerName
Sadan, Ingeborg

ProductionCompany
IWM

MakerGender
Female

Language
English

RelatedIWMItems
Photo 1997 in file
Interview with sister Bertha Leverton on 17310

RelatedSoundFile
017290S01.mp3
Sadan-civilians.mp3

Weighting
750
900

SubThemeTag
OccupationAndResistance

WebStatus
Published

UncatTransferDate
08 May 2007

URLEncodedDeptName
Sound

Access
IWM copyright

Nationality
German
Israeli

DigitalAsset
Y

DeptName
Sound

IDNO
19918

ProductionDate
13/Dec/1999

ObjectType
IWM interview

IndexPeople
Huffener, Henricus Josef Anthonius xxx
Cadbury, Betty
Huffener, Anne
Menten, Peter

IndexPlaces
NL
NL & Utrecht
NL & Bildhoven
NL & Den Helder
NL & Arnhem
DE
DE & Dortmund

IndexUnits
NL.O & Political Party, National Socialist Bund
NL.O & Resistance
NL.O & Council, Jewish
NL.O & Land Watch

IndexConcepts
Holocaust

ShortSummary
Dutch civilian member of Dutch Resistance in Utrecht and Amsterdam, Netherlands, 1941-1945

FullSummary
REEL 1 Background in Utrecht and Bildhoven, 1923-1939: family circumstances; education; attitude towards right-wing National Socialist Bund; interest in aviation; visit of Ernst Udet to Netherlands; attitude towards Dutch neutrality, 1939. Aspects of German invasion of Netherlands, 1940: brother's military service near Den Helder, 5/1940; sight of German entry into Utrecht area; Dutch attitude towards Germans. Recollections of period with Dutch Resistance in Netherlands, 1941-1943: initial involvement with Resistance, 1941; establishment of concentration camps for Dutch Jewish civilians; friendship with Betty Cadbury; role in evacuation of Zionist settlement; role of Jewish Council; fate of Dutch Jews under the German occupation; his advice to Jews not to obey the Jewish Council.
REEL 2 Continues: attitude of Dutch Jews to their own safety, 1942-1943; dependence of Jews in hiding on supplies from Resistance; retrieving buried champagne bottles; individual Jewish civilians he helped; his arrest by Germans in Arnhem, 1943. Aspects of period as forced labourer in Germany, 1943: payment and diet of forced labourers; initial processing; temporary escape from German custody; industrial work in Dortmund area; living conditions; securing better employment.
REEL 3 Continues: escape back to Netherlands with use of German leave pass, 23/9/1943. Recollections of period with Dutch Resistance in Netherlands, 1943-1945: character of German police forces; discovery that SS had been looking for him; Resistance activities he became involved in after 9/1943; role of Dutch Land Watch; use of timing pencils for railway sabotage; results of brother's sabotage; sister Anne Huffener's role in escape line from Netherlands to Switzerland; story of acquiring a Dutch passport in 1942; character of Dutch identity cards.
REEL 4 Continues: raid on family home, 2/1943; move to Amsterdam, c1943 or 1944; accommodation in Jewish Ghetto; German raid on Ghetto, early 1944; mental effect of Resistance activities; return to family home; second move to Amsterdam; food shortage in Amsterdam, end 1944; foraging for food in countryside, 1944-1945. Aspects of German Occupation of Netherlands, 1940-1945: effect of Dutch Government-in-Exile; comparison between Netherlands and Belgium under German occupation; reaction to failure of Operation Market Garden; question of political affiliations of Prince Bernhard.
REEL 5 Continues: story of Peter Menten's refuge in Netherlands after Second World War; arrest of Peter Menten; knowledge of Van der Lubbe, the Reichstag arsonist; further details of Prince Bernard and Princess Juliana; background to Special Operations Executive failure in Netherlands; Prince Bernard's post-war fortunes.
REEL 6 Continues: opinion of Dutch Government-in-Exile in London during Second World War.

ContextDescription
Nazi Europe, 1933-1945

Duration
160

NumberOfParts
6

OtherFormats
None

MakerName
Huffener, Henricus Josef Anthonius

ProductionCompany
IWM

MakerGender
Male

Language
English

RelatedSoundFile
019918S01.mp3
Huffener-civilians.mp3

Weighting
750
900

SubThemeTag
OccupationAndResistance

WebStatus
Published

UncatTransferDate
17 November 2006

URLEncodedDeptName
Sound

Access
IWM copyright

Nationality
Dutch

DigitalAsset
Y

DeptName
Sound

IDNO
20385

ProductionDate
23/Aug/1985

ObjectType
IWM interview

IndexPeople
Choy, Elizabeth xxx

IndexPlaces
MY
MY & Singapore
MY & Singapore, Woodbridge
MY & Endau

IndexUnits
GB.O & Medical Auxiliary Service
MY.O & Hospital, St Andrew's
JP.O & POW Camp, Changi, Singapore
JP.O & POW Camp, Outram Road, Singapore
JP.A & Kempeitai

ShortSummary
Chinese civilian member of Medical Auxiliary Service in Singapore, Malaya, 1941-1942; arrested and interrogated by Kempeitai during Japanese Occupation of Singapore, Malaya, 1942-1945

FullSummary
REEL 1 Background in Borneo and Singapore, 1912-1941: family; education; employment as teacher; social work activities; marriage 8/1941. Aspects of period as nurse with Medical Auxiliary Service, 1941-1942: question of not expecting Singapore to be attacked from Malayan Penisula; work as nurse at St Andrew's Hospital; casualties from Japanese bombing; closure of temporary hospital; attempts to find safe place to shelter family; sight of fires in Singapore. Recollections of Japanese Occupation of Singapore, 1942-1943: Japanese mass screening of Chinese population; return to family home; behaviour of Japanese troops in her house; her reaction to British surrender; return of her father and husband.
REEL 2 Continues: operating canteen with husband in General Hospital at Woodbridge; involvement in passing messages, supplies and medicines to internees in Changi Camp; reasons for arrest of husband by Kempeitai. Recollections of arrest and interrogation by Kempeitai, 1943-1944: questioning at YMCA; layout of cell; food rations; conditions in cell; character of her interrogation and torture; how husband was brought to see her being tortured.
REEL 3 Continues: further details of her torture; reasons for prisoners being allowed to exercise; communicating by sign language; information Kempeitai required from her; how interrogations were conducted; enduring hunger during imprisonment; aid given to internees by Bishop Wilson; importance of faith during imprisonment; behaviour of Japanese guards; methods employed to keep herself occupied.
REEL 4: offering to scrub floor; incident of being given communion by Bishop Wilson whilst scrubbing floor; lack of contact with outside world; frequency of her interrogation; nationalities of prisoners in cell; attitude towards inactivity; fate of family members; lessons gleaned from imprisonment; release from captivity. Aspects of period living in Singapore, 1944-1945: employment as cashier.
REEL 5 Continues: atmosphere in Singapore, 1944-1945; story of recuperation offered by Red Cross in GB after liberation; learning of Japanese surrender; sending for family to move from Endau to Singapore; released of husband from Outram Road Prison. Story of involvement in politics, 1950s.

ContextDescription
Civilian Life And War Work, 1939-1945: War Work, 1939-1945

Duration
270 ?

NumberOfParts
5

OtherFormats
None

MakerName
Choy, Elizabeth

ProductionCompany
National Archive of Singapore

MakerGender
Female

Language
English

RelatedSoundFile
020385S01.mp3
Choy-civilians.mp3

Weighting
750
900

SubThemeTag
OccupationAndResistance

WebStatus
Published

UncatTransferDate
17 November 2006

URLEncodedDeptName
Sound

Access
IWM copyright

Nationality
Chinese

DigitalAsset
Y

DeptName
Sound

IDNO
20396

ProductionDate
29/Mar/1982

ObjectType
IWM interview

IndexPeople
Thompson, Arthur Alexander xxx

IndexPlaces
MY
MY & Singapore
MY & Singapore <Battery Road>
MY & Padang

IndexUnits
JP.O & Internment Camp, Changi, Singapore
JP.O & Internment Camp, Sime Road
JP.A & Secret Police, Kempeitai
MY.O & Bank, Chartered

ShortSummary
Malaysian Eurasian civilian in Singapore, Malaya during Japanese Occupation, 1942-1944; interned in Sime Road Camp, Singapore, Malaya, 1944-1945

FullSummary
REEL 1 Recollections of Japanese attack on Singapore, 1942: first Japanese Air Force raid on Singapore; neighbours evacuation from area and reasons why his family remained; sight of Chinese civilians being shot; reaction to British surrender. Recollections of period as civilian during Japanese Occupation of Singapore, 1942- 1945: start of food rationing; reasons why younger brother did family shopping; effects of Japanese occupation on transportation; first encounter with Japanese troops; internment of his British neighbours; sight of Europeans internees walking to Changi Camp; living conditions after British surrender.
REEL 2 Continues: introduction of Japanese currency; civil servants re-called to work; disruption to water supply; use of Allied POWs to maintain services; forms of torture carried out by Kempeitai at YMCA; Japanese newspaper propaganda; restrictions of travel; lack of Japanese restrictions on festivals or religious worship; Japanese opinion of different Malayan races; character of Christmas celebrations; Japanese restrictions on use of radio; queuing for rations; character of rations.
REEL 3 Continues: black market system; introduction of ration cards; intensification of food shortage; oil shortage and problems of travel; family registering as 'enemy aliens', 1944; reasons why he did not work; hiding in family home; registration at Chartered Bank in Battery Road; restrictions placed on 'enemy aliens'; registration procedure; question of purpose of registration. Recollections of period as internee in Sime Road Camp, 1944-1945: internment six months after registration; reaction to internment; description of camp.
REEL 4 Continues: daily diet; camp organisation and administration; division and cooking of rations; character of internees; dissemination of news bulletin; reasons for varying rice ration given; availability of water and electricity; work digging tunnels; rumours about usage of tunnels; internee accommodation; weekly meeting of male and female internees; children's education.
REEL 5 Continues: discipline in camp; layout and size of camp; work done by internees; character of various work teams; craftsmen in camp; medical facilities; salaries obtained for work; co-ordination of activities; allocation of people to teams; use of salary to buy gula melaka; role in digging tunnels; location of tunnels in camp; working conditions.
REEL 6 Continues: relationships amongst internees; lack of Japanese supervisors in camp; work discipline; Japanese punishment of internees; type of work done by women; concerts and other recreational activities; male and female internees' weekly meeting; freedom of worship; burying dead towards end of Japanese Occupation.
REEL 7 Continues: Recollections of Japanese surrender and liberation, 1945: hearing of Japanese surrender; arrival of Gurkha troops; reaction to liberation; arrival of food in camp; witnessing Japanese surrender ceremony at Padang; repatriation of non-resisdents; distribution of letters by Red Cross; arrival of Indonesian forced labourers; condition of Indonesian forced labourers; reaction of Japanese to surrender; how Japanese POWs were made to work; reasons why his family initially stayed in camp; rations given on leaving camp.
REEL 8 Continues: revenge killings. Question of how Japanese Occupation affected people in Singapore.

ContextDescription
Civilian Life And War Work, 1939-1945: Home Front, 1939-1945

Duration
230

NumberOfParts
8

OtherFormats
None

MakerName
Thompson, Arthur Alexander

ProductionCompany
National Archive of Singapore

MakerGender
Male

Language
English

RelatedSoundFile
020396S01.mp3
Thompson-civilians.mp3

Weighting
750
900

SubThemeTag
OccupationAndResistance

WebStatus
Published

UncatTransferDate
17 November 2006

URLEncodedDeptName
Sound

Access
IWM copyright

Nationality
Malaysian

DigitalAsset
Y

DeptName
Sound

IDNO
20890

ProductionDate
18/Nov/2000

ObjectType
IWM interview

IndexPeople
Hrivnak, Geza xxx

IndexPlaces
GB, England
HU
HU & Budapest

IndexUnits
HU.O & Political Party, Communist
HU.O & Secret Police, AVO
US.O & Radio Station, Radio Free Europe

ShortSummary
Hungarian civilian in Budapest, Hungary, 1943-1975

FullSummary
REEL 1 Background in Budapest, Hungary, 1943-1947: family; education; family origins; experiences of family during Russian attacks on Budapest, 12/1944-1/1945; removal of civilians for forced labour by Russians, 1945. Recollections of period as child living in Budapest, 1946-1956: degree of Communist Party influence in Hungary, 1946-1948; his father's loss of private property and false charge he faced; his father's imprisonment on currency charge c1947-1948.
REEL 2 Continues: financial plight of family on father's release, 1949. Recollections of period as schoolchild during Hungarian Uprising, 10/1956-11/1957: how uprising effected brother's poetry reading due to take place on 7/11/1956; hearing news of demonstrations in central Budapest, 22/10/1956; his mother's forbidding his and his brother leaving the house, 23/10/1956; first news of Russian intervention, 4/11/1956; closing of schools until 1957; presence of Russian Army after 4/11/1956; effects of flight of Hungarians on his school.
REEL 3 Continues: encounter with woman whose husband had been sentenced to death, summer 1956; details his father found in file kept by his employers, 10/1956; his father's character; Communist Party official who took refuge with his family, 10/1956. Reasons for leaving Hungary for GB, 1975. Recollections of period as schoolchild in aftermath of Hungarian Uprising, 1957-1958: listening to Radio Free Europe; reaction of teacher to classroom demonstration with lighted candles, 23/10/1957; attitude of Hungarian civilians towards Communist regime; life-style of Communist Party officials.
REEL 4 Continues: Aspects of period as schoolchild living in Budapest, 1950-1953: destruction of fellow pupils grandfather's masonry business by AVO, 1950; reaction to death of Stalin, 3/1953; fate of schoolfriend's Communist Party official father after 3/1953. His attitude toward Communist regime, 1950s-1970s. Settling in GB after 1975.

ContextDescription
Civilian Life And War Work Since 1945

Duration
115

NumberOfParts
4

OtherFormats
None

MakerName
Hrivnak, Geza

ProductionCompany
IWM

MakerGender
Male

Language
English

RelatedSoundFile
Hrivnak-civilians.mp3

Weighting
750
900

SubThemeTag
OccupationAndResistance

WebStatus
Published

UncatTransferDate
17 November 2006

URLEncodedDeptName
Sound

Access
Educational use only

Nationality
Hungarian

DigitalAsset
Y

DeptName
Exhibits

IDNO
OMD 3945

ProductionDate
1946

ItemName
George Cross & GC

ObjectType
medal

IndexPeople
Hallowes, O M C Mrs)
Sansom, O M C (Mrs)

IndexUnits
GB.O & First Aid Nursing Yeomanry
GB.O & Women's Transport Service (FANY)
GB.O & Special Operations Executive, F Section

FullSummary
Mrs Odette Marie Celine Hallowes (see Sansom) (28 Apr 1912 - 13 Mar 1995). Lieutenant Officer Odette Marie Celine Sansom (nee Brailly), Women's Transport Service (FANY)/Special Operations Executive (SOE, F Section), was born in France on 28 April 1912. In 1931, she married an Englishman and came to live in Britain. She was recruited by SOE in the spring of 1942 and, after training, was sent to Vichy France in October. In April 1943 she and her colleague Peter Churchill were arrested. Despite prolonged interrogation and torture, she refused to reveal any information. After a year in French prisons, including Fresnes Prison, Paris, Mrs Sansom was taken to Germany in July 1944 and interned in Ravensbruck concentration camp. There she was held in solitary confinement in a cell without light or heat but still refused to co-operate with her captors. Although she was sentenced to death, the Germans' belief that she was married to Peter Churchill and thereby related to Winston Churchill (Peter Churchill was not related to the Prime Minister), prevented them from carrying out the execution. On 3 May 1945, shortly before the German surrender, she was escorted across the Allied lines to safety. Odette Sansom, who later married Peter Churchill, was awarded the George Cross on 20 August 1946, the first woman so honoured. Later, as Mrs Geoffrey Hallowes, she became prominent in her old service, the WTS (FANY), and was on the Committee of the Victoria Cross and George Cross Association. Mrs Hallowes, a national figure in Britain and a living symbol of the French Resistance, died in Surrey on 13 March 1995.

ProductionCompany
Royal Mint

RelatedIWMItems
OMD 3946-3953 : DOCS

Weighting
1

SubThemeTag
OccupationAndResistance

UncatTransferDate
30/06/2006 11:14:35

URLEncodedDeptName
Exhibits

FormatDescription
silver cross, of Greek form, with the mounted figure of St George (on horseback) and the dragon in a central raised roundel surrounded by a band bearing the text: 'FOR GALLANTRY'. At the base of the circlet bearing the text is a small Tudor rose. The whole superimposed upon an edged cross. In each angle formed by the arms of the cross a small 'GVI' cipher. The cross is suspended from a straight (laurelled) suspender bar and the ribbon is dark blue, often referred to as 'Garter' blue. This example is named and dated on the reverse to ODETTE MARIE CELINA (sic) . MRS SANSON (sic). M.B.E.,F.A.N.Y., 20 August, 1946. For awards to ladies, the ribbon is formed into a bow unless the recipient is a member of a uniformed service when the ribbon is worn in the usual way.

Access
On display at IWM London

DeptName
Exhibits

IDNO
UNI 578

ProductionDate
1946

ItemName
officer's khaki service dress cap, 'Liberation Battalion', Belgian army

ObjectType
headdress

IndexPeople
Close, Jean Henri (Lieutenant)

IndexPlaces
Northwest Europe & Belgium

IndexUnits
BE.A & Belgian Liberation Battalion, 1st Independent Belgian Brigade Group

FullSummary
Captain Jean Henri Close (1916-1976). The Belgian Liberation Battalion was part of the 1st Independent Belgian Brigade Group. This formed part of the 21st Army Group and took part in the landings in Normandy and the Liberation of Belgium. The formation was raised, trained and equipped in the United Kingdom.

ProductionCompany
Joseph Piret, 46 Rue De La Montagne, Bruxelles

RelatedIWMItems
UNI 571 - UNI 577: UNI 579, EQU 29 - EQU 32

Weighting
1

SubThemeTag
OccupationAndResistance

UncatTransferDate
30/06/2006 11:14:35

URLEncodedDeptName
Exhibits

FormatDescription
khaki wool cloth with cockade in the Belgian national colours above a bright brass and enamelled badge. The badge bearing a Lion's head superimposed upon a cross, all on a red shield bearing the motto, `FIDELITAS ET SUPERBIA', the whole surrounded by a circlet and surmounted by a crown. The maker's label bears the inscription Joseph PIRET 46, RUE DE LA MONTAGNE BRUXELLES.

Access
Access by prior appointment

DeptName
Exhibits

IDNO
EPH 2421

ItemName
suitcase

ObjectType
misc

IndexPeople
Rothova, Milena

IndexPlaces
CS & Prague

IndexHistPeriod
4

FullSummary
Milena was an only child in an assimilated Jewish family in Prague. When the Nazis annexed Czechoslovakia, her mother desperately tried to arrange for the family to emigrate to England. A friend she already knew there offered both parents jobs, which they gratefully accepted. Milena, aged six and a half, travelled ahead on a Kindertransport organised by Sir Nicholas Winton in July 1939. Her parents, with permits to travel on 15 September, were trapped when the war broke out. Milena was fostered by the English friend and her family throughout the war, and was adopted by them when they learned that her parents had been murdered by the Nazis.
Her parents were deported to Terezin and then to Auschwitz. Milena's mother taught in a secret nursery school after all education had been stopped for Jews. Her father was obliged to move furniture from homes already looted and emptied of people by the Nazis. All the Czechs were herded into a corner of Auschwitz Birkenau and this was called 'The Czech Family Camp', and shown to the International Red Cross to demonstrate what good conditions the Germans were providing. But on March 6 and 7 1944 all the Czechs were gassed together. Milena was allowed two suitcases as her travelling allowance in one case her mother packed the family linens, embroidered lace tablecloths made by her and monogramed sheets and pillowcases from her wedding. In the other case Milena packed books, toys, clothes but always felt that she had chosen the wrong things.

RelatedIWMItems
EPH 2419-2420

Weighting
1

SubThemeTag
OccupationAndResistance

UncatTransferDate
22/02/2008 05:50:17

URLEncodedDeptName
Exhibits

FormatDescription
leather suitcase, bearing the number 575 painted in green. The suitcase is 40.5 cm high, 69.6 cm wide and 18 cm deep.The handle is missing.

Access
On display at IWM London

DeptName
Exhibits

IDNO
FIR 11369

ProductionDate
1890

ItemName
Krag Jorgensen M 89 (converted for Resistance)

ObjectType
rifle

IndexPlaces
DK

IndexUnits
DK.O & Danish Resistance

FullSummary
This weapon is an assemblage of parts, some of them modified to simplify and shorten it. It was constructed clandestinely by the Danish Resistance movement under German occupation during the Second World War.

ProductionCompany
Gevaerfabriken Kjobenhaven, Copenhagen, Denmark

Weighting
1

SubThemeTag
OccupationAndResistance

UncatTransferDate
30/06/2006 11:14:35

URLEncodedDeptName
Exhibits

FormatDescription
Modified version of the 8mm Model 1898 Danish service rifle. The fore-end and barrel are shortened. The rifle is fitted with a simple inverted V foresight and fixed V backsight, both dovetailed into the barrel. The body of the rifle bears the serial number 1732+, while the bolt is number A20+ and the barrel 27170+.

Access
Access restrictions may apply

DeptName
Exhibits

IDNO
FIR 11372

ItemName
Webley M1907 6.35mm [2nd issue] (IWM)

ObjectType
pistol

IndexPeople
Inayat Khan, Noor

IndexUnits
GB.O & Special Operations Executive (SOE)
GB.F & Women's Auxiliary Air Force (WAAF)

FullSummary
This pistol is associated with the Second World War service (in Special Operations Executive) of Noor Inayat Khan GC. Inayat Khan was the daughter of a Sufi mystic and his American wife. She was born in Moscow and raised in Paris, becoming a freelance writer. After the fall of France she joined the Women's Auxiliary Air Force in Britain, and was eventually seconded to the Special Operations Executive (SOE). In June 1943 she was dropped in France to be a radio operator for SOE's 'Prosper' circuit. Security within the circuit was poor, and the Gestapo began to arrest its members. However, Inayat Khan rejected suggestions that she should return to England. She was eventually arrested herself and was imprisoned in Germany after refusing to co-operate with her interrogators. On 12 September 1944 she was taken to Dachau concentration camp and executed. In 1949 she was posthumously awarded the George Cross. The pistol was preserved by her brother.

ProductionCompany
Webley & Scott Ltd, Birmingham, England

RelatedImageFile
FIR_011372.jpg

Weighting
1
900

SubThemeTag
OccupationAndResistance

UncatTransferDate
26/10/2006 05:51:08

URLEncodedDeptName
Exhibits

FormatDescription
6.35mm pocket pistol produced from 1907 to 1940. This is a standard example of the configuration produced from 1914 onwards, with 'indented' inscription and 8-groove finger grips. One of batch of 2,200 made during July-December 1914. Serial number 113934. Holster is neatly made but possibly amateur 'inside the waistband' concealment design, boned or shrunk onto the pistol to help retain it.

Access
Access restrictions may apply

DigitalAsset
Y

IWMImageOwned
Y

DeptName
Film

IDNO
RMY 78

ProductionDate
1946

ItemName
NOW IT CAN BE TOLD [Main]

IndexUnits
GB.F

ShortSummary
Post Second World War reconstruction of the work of the Special Operations Executive (SOE), F Section, in France featuring members of the French Resistance and SOE personnel. "This is a composite story of actual events. The players are members of the French Resistance and the organisation built up in Great Britain to assist resistance in all occupied countries. Their sabotage culminated on D-Day in insurrections by thousands of armed patriots which helped to paralyse the enemy's communications and hastened their defeat"

FullSummary
Story covers training in the UK and operations in France with operatives "Felix" and "Cat". Includes shots at SOE's London Headquarters, UK training scenes, preparations for operations, air-drop from Halifax aircraft, "Cat" and "Felix" in France, "Cat" sending wireless messages, Gestapo attempts to locate the operatives, German wireless detection finder van, sabotage of railways, additional SOE operatives arriving by Lysander aircraft and operatives leaving France by Hudson aircraft.

ContextDescription
Captain Harry Ree DSO, OBE, Croix de Guerre and Medaille de Resistance ("Felix") SOE F Section agent - operated in eastern France; Jacqueline Nearne MBE ("Cat") SOE F Section courier.

Duration
89 mins

Format
P 1/35/N

Colour
B&W

Sound
comopt

NumberOfParts
9

Dimensions
8031 ft

ProductionSponsor
Central Office of Information

ProductionCompany
RAF Film Production Unit

ProductionTeam
Baird, E (Wing Commander): director
Greenwood, John: music composer
Mathieson, Muir: music conductor
London Symphony Orchestra: music performer
Baird, E (Wing Commander): scenario
Woolaston, Jean (Squadron Officer): scenario
Pollard, W (Flying Officer): cameraman
Carrick, Edward: art director

ProductionCast
Ree, Harry (Captain): actor [as Felix]
Nearne, Jacqueline: actor [as Cat]
Baird, E (Wing Commander): actor [as Henri Pickard]
Sherran, E (Major): actor [as himself]
Reeve, L (Sergeant): actor [as himself]
Turney-Smith, G (Sergeant): actor [as himself]
Woolaston, Jean (Squadron Officer): actor [as herself]
Turner, G A (Squadron Leader): actor [as himself]
Ibbott, H (Flying Officer): actor [as himself]
Rousseau, M (Captain): actor [as himself]
Webb, A (Major): actor [as himself]

ProductionCountry
GB

Language
English

LanguageMainTitles
English

LanguageSubtitles
None

RelatedIWMItems
Identity cards for Harry Ree and Jacqueline Nearne, produced for the film, now held in the Imperial War Museum's Department of Documents - donated by Major Arthur Morris Webb. (SOE HQ London and Cairo)Programme for world première at London Pavillion held in Acquisition file R34 (29/4/2002).
17 production stills and 7 glass negatives passed to Photo Archive (29/4/2002).
"School For Danger" shorter, theatrical version of the same film.IWM film ref RMY 77

OtherReferences
Detailed shot sheet held in Film and Video Archive Production Office.

Weighting
1

SubThemeTag
IrregularWarfare
OccupationAndResistance

UncatTransferDate
30/06/2006 09:20:43

URLEncodedDeptName
Film

Access
IWM

DeptName
Film

IDNO
UKY 727

ProductionDate
1945

ItemName
the CHANNEL ISLANDS 1940-1945 [Main]

IndexObjects
administration, German - occupation
celebrations, British - liberation: Channel Islands
journalism and record, Russian - press: Pravda
prisoners of war, German - labour
propaganda, British - inspirational
reconstruction, British
ships, British civilian - assistance: Vega
society, British - history

IndexPlaces
GB, Channel Islands

ShortSummary
"Incidents dealing with the German Occupation are re-enacted by the Channel Islanders themselves."

FullSummary
Opens with a boat secretly launched to England: "tell them we're having a tough time but the German can't get us down" sets the theme for film. Islanders are shown coping with shortage of food and clothing, transport difficulties; resistance to Germans (listening to BBC, clandestine news sheets (GUNS Guernsey Underground News Service), GPO workers suppress informing letters); some impression of effects of occupation (German soldiers and SPG's; fortifications; talk of 'slave labour'; closed down and derelict greenhouses, shops). Last days of the occupation: increasing shortages; Germans steal food after second visit of Red Cross ship «Vega». Liberation: Islanders celebrate, enjoy unaccustomed abundance of food and clothing, start up "normal life" again; Germans put to work clearing mines, wire etc - Russian workers receive 'Pravda'.

ContextDescription
Remarks: perhaps inevitably, the 'occupation' sequence is laboured, almost flat - 'liberation' is better. Vindictive commentary - eg, on Germans clearing barbed wire "no-one suggested giving them gloves."
Documentation/associated material: COI file - shotlist, script, music cue sheet

Duration
16 mins

Format
P 1/35/N

Colour
B&W

Sound
comopt

NumberOfParts
2

Dimensions
1450 ft

ProductionSponsor
Ministry of Information

ProductionCompany
Crown Film Unit

ProductionTeam
Bryant, Gerald: director
Wright, Basil: producer
Jones, Jonah: cameraman
Jackson, Jocelyn: film editor
Pine, Diana: unit manager
Darnton, Christian: music composer
Cameron, Ken: sound recordist
Mathieson, Muir: musical director
Buck, Dusty: production manager

ProductionCountry
GB

Language
English

LanguageMainTitles
English

LanguageSubtitles
None

OtherReferences
shotsheet

SubThemeTag
OccupationAndResistance

UncatTransferDate
30/06/2006 09:20:43

URLEncodedDeptName
Film

Access
UPU