NAM.2016-10-5-1

Filmed oral history interview with Brig Norman Allen, conducted by Robert Fleming. Norman covers his experience of National Service, as well as his career with the Royal Military Police (RMP). He talks about deployment in Hong Kong, Northern Ireland, Berlin and with the Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE). Associated with the Cold War (1945-1989) and Northern Ireland (1969-2007). Norman Allan – retired as a Brigadier. Began as National Serviceman who started at the RAOC and then he was commissioned into the Royal Military Police after officer cadet school. National Service – previously not deemed fit enough for military service due to former TB. Started as a Clerk at St Catharine’s Dock with the Port of London Authority. Wanted to get out so went for National Service, his health was not picked up and he got through basic training. Transferred to an army career in 1958 with support of Chief of Staff London Service. He had a medical at this stage and his TB scars were discovered, but was kept because he’d got so far. Had been living at home in Wimbledon and travelling on the underground to High Street Kensington as the barracks were bad. Talks about life before Army – spent time with the Port of London Authority; didn’t leave school until 19 due to his TB losing him four terms; family were all hairdressers. Royal Military Police – chose it due to the quality of the NCOs; recruit very high-quality soldiers. Training and selection – 3 months officer training; returned to be weapon training officer at Military Police centre; did special investigation course to qualify as a detective but never served in a detective role; only did 18 weeks at Eton Hall whereas Sandhurst is 2 years; volunteered for many courses so spent about 4 years training. Had been in the school cadet force and did three camps – was familiar to him to be in barracks, Basic Training was like being on the CCF camp; became boring. OR1 were syphoned off as potential officers; platoon officer Sergeant Greggory pushed them hard but defended them when they stepped out of line; half of platoon were London School of Economics graduates; based near Camberley – Eton Hall was tough and physical; got chest pains but did not admit to them; enjoyed being among people striving hard. Roles and skills – Detective trained; dog handler; sailing and navigation; winter training with NFL over six winters in Norway; has trained diplomats and been responsible for their close protection; technical Staff College at Camberley and National Defence College; SHAPE training; typist. Individual strengths – empathy; still in contact with people he was in Munster with in the 60s; recalls meeting someone again in Hong Kong and how they picked up where they left off; recalls a close friend asking to do their wife’s funeral. Experience as an officer – developed a relationship with his men; some do not pull their weight but most have done very well in tough circumstances; mentions Warwick’s platoon in Hong Kong – half were farmers half were miners and initially suspicious of him; getting by in international situations was more difficult. Northern Ireland – arrived there with no notice having had his nose rebuilt; was the G2SD to write an establishment for an emergency that could last five years; two junior Majors developing a force with little support from management; first Commander was a Catholic Brigadier; returned for a few months in the mid 70s and things had settled down by then; had little knowledge about the situation, but put his hand up as he had never been there; blew up just before he arrived and it was out of the resident commands control; mentions there was one Roman Catholic; found himself a dig as the mess was squalid, meant he was a lodger with an English family; felt that the locals were quite bewildered as it was a Protestant town, in Belfast and Derry it was a polarised situation. In charge of taking over HMS Sea Eagle into an Army barracks – over staffed with civilians and had to get rid of half of them, no male employment at the time but couldn’t justify how many were working on the site. Military police – when he arrived were 40 strong company, increased to about 400 in eight months with first regiment ROP formed. After he left a second regiment was formed and there were just under 1000, reduced the force around the world; felt the effects of this having moved to Berlin where company was stripped of men to support operations in Northern Ireland; was never deployed on the streets, notes it was difficult especially when both sides were against them. Felt many of the belligerents were gangsters who jumped onto either side. Notes extensive history of Ireland and suggests it’s an aggressive society. Involvement with military prisoners – in Northern Ireland but was involved when he was Inspector of Establishments as part of his role as the Master of the military correction centre at Colchester. Answered for it as an MOD director – he was proud of the centre. Northern Ireland – was the Staff Officer; used to drive to and from Aldergrove on second tour in armoured car; could be armed in Northern Ireland but not in Scotland so found it uncomfortable when he arrived back in Belfast from Scotland. Berlin – spent six years there during the 1970s and it was the most challenging and enjoyable part of his career. Commanded big company responsible for access along Autobahn from Helmstedt, which dealt with incidents on the perimeter and east Berlin and liaison with the Soviets; was tricky diplomatic situation but kept the lid on low level incidents; main Soviet contact was appointed especially as a liaison, would meet at Checkpoint Bravo as he was not allowed into the west; not allowed to deal with problems but could deal with questions so they would phrase them as such; in the Russian service the problems would go all the way up the line rather than being dealt with on the ground. Had escapees and people going across the wall. Visits – Jimmy Carter visited on his second tour; met the presidential advance party a week before he arrived and tried to tell them what to expect; the Queen, Prince Charles and Princess Anne all came. Treated border crossings as suspicious – event at the Spree where one escapee was shot in the water and died but his second rescued the other which got him in trouble with the Ambassador. Large parades in east Berlin showed whole regiments of tanks, many more than the British had, meaning that they wouldn’t have held up much of a fight. Felt the military police were able to keep it low key. Awareness that things could blow up but they never did. Felt they were loved by the locals – nicknamed them “Ammies” and would entertain them and gave them good housing; communications and vehicles were nice; difficulty getting statements from those involved in traffic accidents, particularly in winter when it was cold; based at the Olympic stadium and had access to all the facilities. Hong Kong – went to Singapore for dog training September 1959 and on finishing went to Hong Kong to join dog handling unit there, which was slowly transitioning from the British handlers to Chinese handlers; one handler was lighter than his dog; notes Chinese hesitation towards dogs; not nice dogs; had 120 dogs, mostly German Shepherds but also Boxers, Doberman Pinchers and Labrador Cross used; would guard ammunition depots left over from the Korean war. Set up a Chinese restaurant for his handlers which he did the accounts for. Commander of unit in interim as Commander had damaged his leg. Fiancé came out and they married – got posted to Malaya but then remained in Hong Kong due to accident with the Warwick’s; he and new wife sailed to get away from the city. Development of Hong Kong and its changes. New territories and border crossings – manned OP on Sandy Ridge, looked down onto village that is now city; logged train and vehicle movement over the border. People would cross but was down to the Hong Kong Police, primary concern was frontier defence and early warning of what might be happening on other side; can’t recall any tense moments with the mainland Chinese. He was there 1959 to March 1962. Relationship between locals and British in Hong Kong – British spent money and provided employment, American fleet brought more but they came and went, part of the economy and they could see that they were much better off than those in mainland China; arbitrary cut off for all those who’d served in military and the civil service in Hong Kong – figure didn’t accommodate all who had been serving at that time, half of them got British passports and right of abode and others didn’t; working to try and get rights granted for more of them. Army life in Hong Kong – different to life elsewhere; he was poor as he married underage and so got no marriage allowance; happy to deal with locals and spend time with them – played Mahjong with them, got involved with local church and helped at an orphanage which had looked after orphan girls since 1932. Went to visit Macau on the ferry. Good friend with a district magistrate. Taught Sunday school at one church. He did Cantonese and found it difficult. Many of the dog handlers were mule handlers originally. He was encouraged to learn Chinese and happy with it. Other foreign deployments – sent to Munster then Bielefeld before going to Berlin. From SHAPE went to Pentagon then went to Beirut and Uganda for diplomatic protection duties. Six winter visits to Norway. Visited Canada. End of the cold war – went to Berlin to see the wall come down and walked through the Brandenburg gate. Mentions having been spat upon in east Berlin as they thought he was Russian but apologised when they realised he was British. Family – depended upon airmail letters; commends wife’s bravery for flying out in a Comet to marry him, having never flown, she hadn’t heard from him in weeks and as she left a lot of letters from him arrived. Hard to communicate, as could never get through with the telephone. Food – ate what you found but rarely disappointed; his Warwick’s were suspicious of the Gurkha rations so would try and carry tins, he would gather up their rice to ensure that they were properly fed, Gurkha ration pack was slightly different; had chance to have local food in Hong Kong, most other things were too expensive, milk in particular. Psychological impact of serving – need to learn how to deal with stress in diplomatic protection; in Berlin things happened in the middle of the night and he would type the report at night and put it on the desks of the General and the Minister, saved hassle and questions. Awarded OBE for his time in Berlin. He moved to SHAPE in the intelligence division where he was the pet policeman. Superstition – upon arriving in Berlin was invited to join the local Freemasons but said no. Entertainment and recreation – Staff College was an interesting year; had a summer break then focused hard on the pantomime, ran for five nights and people paid for tickets, wrote the show and the music and the Sandhurst band played, he was in the opening number in pink tights. Member of the Army climbing club early on, did skiing and sailing – two long cruises with the sail training association, would sail on a lake in Berlin called the Havel, sailed into east Germany on last day in Berlin. SHAPE – spent a lot of time typing for General Chris Poppham, head of SHAPE intel, did secretarial work for a conference; good relations with Americans, Canadians and English speakers; shared an office with German airmen who smoked a lot; had to tip-toe around some situations; bit of a come down from a nice house in Charlottenburg to a portacabin near Mons, found themselves own bungalow to live in. Opinions on the military – changed a lot between National Service when they had too many soldiers to training in Germany for the Cold War situation when it was non-stop; a lot of casualties with travel accidents mainly on exercise, tidying up on exercise was a lot of work. Last day of service – “top cop” handing over sword to his successor and was brought home by a driver who he is friends with; you remain a member of the family, had been told that when you retire disappear for three years so you don’t look over your predecessor’s shoulder; within 18 months he was brought back as the Chairman of the Association due to someone else’s’ illness, still involved in associations until recently and was stand-in Chaplin at Southwark Park Training Centre. Mixed emotions for leaving and looked for other jobs – recruited by the National Association of Flower Arrangement Societies, managed their office and computerised their records, after eight years there he began studying theology and geology, got a degree with the Open University for geology and a licence with the Church of England. Commonwealth troops – New Zealand troops in Malaya; friends with Canadian Sergeant at Arms (role he held at retirement), a 50 year friendship; was invited to inspect a parade in Canada and had to speak in French. Met a few commonwealth soldiers within the British army – they were military police who were high quality. Anecdote about Fijians in a Highland regiment he met at Edinburgh Castle. Praise for the Commonwealth soldier’s contributions, notes they’re probably not remembered by people in Britain. Joining the Army was an escape from St Katharine’s Dock. Not ambitious but he enjoyed doing it; came from background with no military service, one grandfather called up for the Army in the First World War but was too old until 1916. His father was a fireman during the war.

Northern Ireland (1969-), Cold War (1945-1989)