Memoirs of Les Oswin, Royal Corps of Signals trainee wireless intercept operator at Palace Camp, Douglas, 1943-1944
Date(s): 16 November 2010
Creator(s): Oswin, A. Les
Scope & Content: Explanatory covering letters from Les Oswin to Wendy Thirkettle (MNH) with enclosures. Enclosures comprise typescript memoirs recounting his time as a trainee as a wireless intercept operator (SPECOP) with Special Operators Training Battalion (SOTB), Royal Corps of Signals at Palace Camp, Douglas between 1943-1944 and his subsequent military career; also photographic illustrations.
In a two page article entitled 'An Incident During the Training of a Wireless Intercept Operator during WW2' , Oswin recounts the interception of live wireless transmissions from Japanese units in the Far East by wireless intercept operators at the Douglas Bay Hotel in early 1944. A similar account of this specific incident is lodged at MS 12608 but the MS 13914 account includes an inserted paragraph recording that it was Oswin who had the task with a fellow trainee of creosoting the wooden frame atop Douglas Bay Hotel during a force 10 gale. In his more extensive 22 page memoirs, entitled ‘Why Were Royal Corps of Signals and ATS Girls in Douglas during 1943, 4 & 5’, Oswin subdivides the document into 8 parts. He recounts details of his transfer from Trowbridge to the Island and extensive training at the Palace Camp to be a wireless intercept operator (SPECOP) within the Royal Corps of Signals. As well as plentiful details of his army work Oswin recounts off duty routine including dancing and going to the pictures. Places frequented included 'Smokey Joes', the Palais de Danse and facilites elsewhere in Douglas at the Palace and Derby Castle entertainment complexes. He recalls a misunderstanding about wiring and running foul of the 'lights out' regulation when preparing the Derby Castle ballroom for a dance; also a concert party at which he performed with his vocal group, 'The Four in Discord'. Illustrations include Oswin on the steps of Douglas Bay Hotel, Onchan (May 1944), fellow trainees with Platoon Sergeant on Douglas beach, summer 1944, female ATS SPECOP trainees at Palace Camp, 1943, studio portraits and Mr Oswin pictured on his 90th birthday wearing his Royal Corps of Signals tie.
Administration / Biographical History: Les Oswin was a trainee with Special Operators Training Battalion (SOTB), Royal Corps of Signals based at Palace Camp, Douglas between 1943-1944 after it had been vacated by internees. Called up in June 1942 he spent time at Catterick, Trowbridge and Harrogate before arriving in Douglas as a 19 year old. Between 1945 and 1946 he was posted to India and Singapore; in February 1947 he was demobbed. Oswin returned to the Island for his honeymoon in 1949, (staying at the Douglas Bay Hotel) and again in 1985, for a NALGO conference, staying in a hotel which had been part of the Palace Camp 42 years earlier.
Language: English
Extent: 1 folder
Item name: memoirs; correspondence
Collection: Manuscript Archive
Level: FONDS
ID number: MS 13914
Record class: Private
Access conditions: No regulations or restrictions are implemented on this material. Advance notification of a research visit is advisable by emailing library@mnh.gov.im