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The Grand Escape

Page 18

by Neal Bascomb


  “Oh, shut up”: Ibid, p. 154.

  Throughout Block B: Morrogh, unpublished memoir. JDM.

  Jim Bennett was: Recollections of L. J. Bennett, oral history, LIDD.

  “wonderfully Teutonic”: Durnford, pp. 132–33.

  No matter how: Ackerley, pp. 84–86.

  “finale of a”: Gore, Max, “The Long Dim Tunnel.” CHALK.

  A religious man: News Chronicle, July 24, 1948; Butler account, as quoted in Durnford, pp. 159–60.

  Minutes before the: Hanson, pp. 263–64.

  They were depending: Letter from Ernest Collinson to Bennett, May 25, 1938. LJB; Ernest Collinson Record, ICRC.

  “Don’t bother, Collinson”: Winchester, pp. 157–58.

  CHAPTER 17

  “Chocks away”: Winchester, pp. 158–59.

  During one stretch: Blain, unpublished memoir. IWM.

  “What’s up?”:Winchester, pp. 160–61.

  Sixty yards away: Tullis, unpublished memoir. JKT.

  Taking care anyway: Blain, unpublished memoir. IWM.

  At last he: Morrogh, unpublished memoir. JDM.

  In the distance: Foot, p. 18.

  “Bet Niemeyer”: Winchester, pp. 161–63; Blain, unpublished memoir. IWM.

  Charles Rathborne thrust: Rathborne account. TNA: AIR 1/7/726/129/1.

  Jim Bennett was: Bennett, “A Little Introduction Speech,” LJB; J. K. Bousfield, “An Exciting Escape.”

  After over an: Rathborne account. TNA: AIR 1/7/726/129/1.

  “Your turn, Major”: Morrogh, unpublished memoir. JDM; letter from Tony Wheatley to author, August 20, 1916; Senan Molony, “Titanic: The Last Photograph,” April 23, 2004. Published online: https://www.encyclopedia-titanica.org/titanic-the-last-photograph.html.

  “All clear,” an: Morrogh, unpublished memoir. JDM.

  CHAPTER 18

  David Gray scanned: Winchester, pp. 163–68. Barry Winchester provides the best account of the run to Holland by Gray, Kennard, and Blain. His description is backed up by the maps.

  “huge crocodile”: Blain, unpublished memoir. IWM.

  There was trouble: Notes. Papers of L. Nixon. IWM.

  “What’s the idea?”: Garland, “My Dashes to Freedom.”

  Twenty-nine officers: Letter from C.A. Lyon to Bennett, May 17, 1938, LJB; The Australian, March 3, 1922.

  Back at the: Garland, “My Dashes to Freedom.”

  Soon after, Hartigan: Unpublished memoir. Papers of R. Gough. LIDD: POW-029; notes on Holzminden. Papers of M. Pannett. IWM.

  “So, a tunnel”: Durnford, p. 139.

  “The tunnel has”: “The Moles of Holzminden,” Popular Flying, December 1938.

  “Neun und zwanzig”: News clipping, undated. Papers of F.W. Harvey, GA.

  “Niemeyer’s jaw dropped”: Durnford, p. 139.

  Then the commandant: Unpublished memoir. Papers of R. Gough. LIDD: POW-029; Report by Lt. Ortweiler. TNA: WO 161/96; July 25, 1918. Diary. HFD.

  CHAPTER 19

  Hunkered in corn: Bennett, “A Little Introduction Speech,” LJB; Bousfield, J. K., “An Exciting Escape.”

  The hunt was: Tullis, unpublished memoir. JKT.

  “full view of”: Morrogh, unpublished memoir. JDM.

  Heavy rucksacks digging: Winchester, pp. 175–77.

  They stopped, and: Günther note. Papers of C. Kennard, RAF.

  He was furious: Statement by Lieutenant Ortweiler. TNA: WO 161/96; Harvey, pp. 241–42; Coombs, V.C., “Sixty Years On,” Royal Air Forces Quarterly, Summer 1976; July 26, 1918. Diary. HFD.

  “We urgently request”: Täglicher Anzeiger (Holzminden), August 2, 1918.

  The reward offered: Bennett, “A Little Introduction Speech,” LJB.

  On the afternoon: Rathborne account. TNA: AIR 1/7/726/129/1.

  After their antics: Winchester, pp. 178–80.

  CHAPTER 20

  For the next: Rathborne account. TNA: AIR 1/7/726/129/1.

  In Bebra: Speech Notes. Officer POW Dining Club. LIDD: POW-072.

  He slept fitfully: Rathborne account. TNA: AIR 1/7/726/129/1; Herwig, p. 288.

  On their own: Durnford, pp. 143–47; July 24–August 3, 1918. Diary. HFD.

  Never one to: Durnford, p. 145.

  By looking at: Täglicher Anzeiger (Holzminden), August 2, 1918.

  “Having a lovely time”: “The Men Who Dug a Tunnel,” Evening Standard, July 24, 1958.

  CHAPTER 21

  Dogs were barking: Winchester, pp. 182–83.

  They had rations: Letter from Cita Kennard, August 1918. CK.

  Due south of: Winchester, pp. 182–185.

  Southwest of Blenheim: Bennett & Tullis interview. LJB.

  Armed sentries patrolled: Caunter, pp. 209–13; Gilliland, p. 230.

  By observing the: Bennett, “A Little Introduction Speech,” LJB.

  “Halt!”: Recollections of L. J. Bennett, oral history, LIDD.

  CHAPTER 22

  On the morning: Escape Route Map. Papers of C. Kennard, RAF, Winchester, pp. 184–85.

  At twilight, they: Letter from Cita Kennard, August 1918, CK.

  The three airmen: Winchester, pp. 185–88.

  The three soon: Winchester, pp. 185–88.

  What kept them: Blain, unpublished memoir. IWM.

  It was approaching: Cypher telegram from Rotterdam, August 8, 1918. TNA: FO 383/381.

  They crept slowly: Winchester, pp. 185–88.

  “Duck!” he warned: Ibid, p. 187.

  Together they yawped: Letter from Blain to Uncle Hugh, August 28, 1918; Letter from Cita Kennard, August 1918. CK.

  “Escaped and arrived”: Telegram from Kennard, August 1918. Papers of C. Kennard, RAF.

  Secret cables from: Return to UK of British Prisoners-of-war Escaped from Germany, August 7, 1918. TNA: FO 383/381.

  “British Prisoners Dig”: New York Times, August 7, 1918.

  On the evening: Cypher Telegram, August 7, 1918. TNA: FO 383/381; Harrison, p. 183.

  The following morning: Tullis, unpublished memoir. JKT.

  From the window: Gilliland, pp. 256–59.

  “take three months’ ”: Harrison, p. 183.

  “The Queen joins”: Letter to Blain, 1918. CWB.

  “The Tunnel to”: Daily Sketch, December 18, 1918.

  “Daring Escape”: Evening Express, August 26, 1918.

  Despite all the: Service Record of D. B. Gray, British Indian Army Records, BA; Money, p. 151; Service Record of C. Blain. CWB.

  CHAPTER 23

  In the period: Cypher telegram from Netherland, August 24, 1918. TNA: FO 383/399; Durnford, pp. 146–54; statement by M.S. Fryer. TNA: FO 383/400.

  Continued escape attempts: August–September 1918. Diary. HFD.

  “conspiring to destroy”: Hanson, pp. 300–04.

  Deciding that the: Beglsubigte Abschrift. Papers of R.M. Paddison. LIDD: POW-049.

  “having made an”: Schmitt. IWM

  But with 250,000: Herwig, p. 403.

  “They would all”: September 29–October 2, 1918. Diary. HFD.

  He stayed mostly: Durnford, p. 159.

  “always done all”: New York Times, December 15, 1918.

  “You see, I”: New York Times, December 15, 1918.

  “The war is”: “A Parting Word.” Pamphlets for repatriates. IWM.

  Yet this farewell: Unpublished memoir. Papers of R. Gough. LIDD: POW-029; December 9–10, 1918. Diary. HFD.

  “awe, envy, and”: James Whale, “Our Life at Holzminden,” Wide World Magazine, undated. Papers of J. Whale. IWM.

  EPILOGUE

  Twenty years after: Holzminden Tunnel, Twentieth Anniversary Dinner pamphlet. JKT.

  “gallant and able”: Letter from keeper of the privy purse, February 5, 1919. CWB.

  “His untimely death”: “Prisoners in Germany,” unsourced newsclip, March 9, 1935. Papers of C. Kennard. IWM.

  “enemy officers”: Hanson, p. 329.

  “I know damn”: Ibid, p. 337.

  When he had: Author
interview with Jane Gray.

  During World War II: Foot, pp. 22–26; historical record of I.S.9. TNA: WO 208/3242; history of intelligence school No. 9. TNA: WO 208/3246.

  “improbable but possible”: Notes, Bennett MI9 lecture. LJB.

  By one historian’s: Lewis-Stempel, pp. 190–91.

  In contrast before: Foot, p. 5, Appendix I. As Foot and Langley admit, these numbers are but a best-guess approximation.

  “Do as you”: Author interview with Laurie Vaughan.

  For your reference, the page numbers that appear in the print version of this book are listed below. They do not match the page numbers in your eBook.

  JACKET

  Cover photos ©: soldier: Kozlik/Shutterstock; fence: lafoto/Shutterstock; back cover: Courtesy of Patrick and Jacqueline Mallahan.

  BOOK

  Photos ©: cover soldier, ii: Kozlik/Shutterstock; cover fence, ii, iii: lafoto/Shutterstock; back cover: Courtesy of Patrick and Jacqueline Mallahan; x-xi: Maeve Norton; xii: Buyenlarge/UIG/age fotostock; 6: Maeve Norton; 12: With the permission of Hugh Lowe, Cecil Blain’s nephew; 14, 18: Imperial War Museum; 22: Courtesy of Patrick and Jacqueline Mallahan; 28, 30, 34: Imperial War Museum; 36, 38: RAF Museum; 42: Courtesy of Patrick and Jacqueline Mallahan; 48: With the permission of the Harvey Estate; 49: Courtesy of Patrick and Jacqueline Mallahan; 55: With the permission of the Harvey Estate; 61: Royal Aero Club/Ancestry.co.uk; 62-63: Courtesy of the Clouston Family; 64: Imperial War Museum; 69: Courtesy of the Clouston Family; 70-71: Maeve Norton; 75: Landesarchiv Baden-Wuerttemberg; 78: With the permission of the Harvey Estate; 81, 82: Courtesy of the Clouston Family; 83: Imperial War Museum; 87: Reproduced with the permission of Special Collections, Leeds University Library; 89: Courtesy of Patrick and Jacqueline Mallahan; 95: With the permission of the Harvey Estate; 101: Courtesy of Patrick and Jacqueline Mallahan; 104-105: Maeve Norton; 107 top and bottom: Reproduced with the permission of Special Collections, Leeds University Library; 111 top and bottom, 112: With the permission of the Harvey Estate; 114: Reproduced with the permission of Special Collections, Leeds University Library; 115: Courtesy of the Clouston Family; 122-123: Maeve Norton; 127: Reproduced with the permission of Special Collections, Leeds University Library; 129 top and bottom, 130 left and right: Imperial War Museum; 139 top left, top right, bottom left, bottom right: RAF Museum; 141, 142: Imperial War Museum; 143: With the permission of the Harvey Estate; 146: With the permission of Laurie Vaughan; 148: With the permission of the Harvey Estate; 150: With the permission of Laurie Vaughan; 151: Reproduced with the permission of Special Collections, Leeds University Library; 154: Maeve Norton; 161: Courtesy of the Clouston Family; 164: Imperial War Museum; 177: Courtesy of Patrick and Jacqueline Mallahan; 185, 187: Imperial War Museum; 209: With the permission of Hugh Lowe, Cecil Blain’s nephew; 210: RAF Museum; 212-213: Courtesy of Patrick and Jacqueline Mallahan; 214: With the permission of Hugh Lowe, Cecil Blain’s nephew; 215: RAF Museum; 217: Maeve Norton; 221: Imperial War Museum; 223 left and right: With the permission of the Tullis Family; 224: Imperial War Museum; 225: With the permission of Hugh Lowe, Cecil Blain’s nephew; 231: With the permission of Laurie Vaughan.

  For your reference, the page numbers that appear in the print version of this book are listed below. They do not match the page numbers in your eBook. Please use the “Search” function on your eReading device to find terms of interest. Page numbers in italics refer to illustrations as they appear in the print version of the book.

  Note: Page numbers in italics refer to illustrations.

  accomplices, German, 128, 130–31, 166

  air force, British. See Royal Flying Corps (RFC)

  Allouche

  betrayal of fellow prisoners, 45

  objection to prisoners’ protest, 42

  revenge of fellow prisoners, 46–47, 48–49

  Archies (anti-aircraft shells), 13–15

  Ball, Albert, 26

  Bennett, Jim, 146

  background of, 145

  determination of, 199

  and determining exit point of tunnel, 147–48

  digging the tunnel, 145, 147

  escape through Holzminden tunnel, 167–68

  escape to Holland, 168–69, 179, 198–201

  and MI9, 227

  and organization of breakout, 153

  post-war life of, 228–29

  and reunion of escapees after war, 223

  reunited with fellow escapees in Holland, 208

  and “Zero Hour,” 156–57

  Blain, Cecil William, 12, 212–13

  background of, 17

  and cover story (asylum-patient scenario), 126–28, 132–33, 137–38, 180–84, 189

  death of, 225, 225

  determination of, 203

  digging the tunnel, 8–9, 120–21, 124

  escape attempts at Clausthal, 55, 57

  escape plans at Osnabrück, 40–44, 45–46

  escape through Holzminden tunnel, 163–67

  escape to Holland, 171–73, 180–84, 187–89, 196–98, 202–8, 209, 217

  fake documents of, 139

  flight training of, 18–19

  and Gray’s time in solitary, 144

  and King George V, 211, 214, 214

  malnourishment of, 197, 208

  and MI9, 228

  and organization of breakout, 153

  plane downed, 16, 19

  reconnaissance mission of, 10–11, 13, 15–16

  return to war, 216

  revenge attack on Allouche, 46, 47, 48–49, 54

  in solitary confinement, 49, 54–55

  taken prisoner, 20

  transfer to Clausthal camp, 46, 47–48

  transfer to Holzminden camp, 120

  and “Zero Hour,” 157, 158, 162

  Blankenstein (German prison camp commander)

  and attack on Allouche, 47

  and Kennard’s solitary confinement, 37

  and prison conditions, 41–42

  and prisoners’ plan to escape Osnabrück, 44, 45

  and reassignment of prisoners, 46

  Böelcke, Oswald, 23, 29

  bombers, 24, 26–30, 28

  Bousfield, John, 153, 208

  Brean, Timothy, 141–42

  Butler, Walter “Basil”

  completion of tunnel, 159–61

  and determining exit point of tunnel, 147

  recapture of, 193

  and “Zero Hour,” 159–62

  Campbell-Martin, Peter

  and Bennett, 145

  escape to Holland, 168–69, 179, 199–201

  and organization of breakout, 153

  reunited with fellow escapees in Holland, 208

  Cash, Dick

  after the war, 226

  alliance with officers, 131

  background of, 86–88

  and end-of-war period, 220

  loyalty to escapees, 194

  maps supplied by, 131, 140

  and Medlicott’s escape attempt, 117

  orderly duties of, 86–87, 90

  class system, 90

  Clausthal prisoner of war camp, 6, 49

  British prisoners transferred to, 46, 47

  conditions at, 49, 54–55, 58

  escape attempts at, 55–57

  Clouston, Andrew, 160

  Collinson, Ernest, 162

  Colquhoun, William “Shorty”

  and carpenter tools, 93

  digging the tunnel, 95, 103

  escape attempts at Clausthal, 56–57

  and hidden door to tunnel, 93

  initiation of tunneling efforts, 91–92

  and internment transfer, 119

  as lookout for guards, 101–2

  and organization of breakout, 153

  and Thorn’s escape, 73–74

  compasses

  acquisition of, 41, 43, 141

  in escape kits, 128, 140

  used in flights to Holland, 129, 181, 192, 199, 227

  correspondence/parcels of prisoners, 39, 40–41, 55,
86

  Courth (German commandant), 50

  Crefeld prisoner of war camp, 6, 50–53

  Digby, Ben, 33, 35, 37

  Durnford, Hugh

  and evacuation of tunnel after collapse, 174

  management of breakout, 154, 156–57, 158–59, 169

  and Niemeyer’s reaction to escape, 178

  relaying tunnel’s progress to Gray, 144

  Ellis, William Baxter, 92, 95, 119

  escape from Holzminden

  avoiding Germans during, 127

  court-martial of recaptured escapees, 218–19

  cover stories prepared for, 9, 126–28, 137–38, 180–84, 189

  crossing the river, 167, 171–72

  and determination of escapees, 203

  and escapees’ chance meeting in woods, 180

  fake documents required for, 139

  by foot, 171–73, 180–84, 187–89, 196–98, 202–8 (see also Blain, Cecil William; Gray, David “Munshi”; Kennard, Caspar)

  and German accomplices, 128, 130–31, 166

  kits prepared for, 139, 140, 142

  long-term impact of, 227

  maps for, 130, 131, 140, 141, 142 (see also compasses)

  men involved in, 131–32

  and police patrols, 166

  press coverage of, 210, 214, 215

  recapture of escapees, 192–94, 233–34

  of the “ruck,” 153, 159, 160, 168, 169, 170, 175

  rumors surrounding, 133

  search for escapees (see manhunt for escaped prisoners)

  success rate, 208, 233

  supplies required for, 128, 129–30, 141

  by train, 186–87, 187, 190–92, 195, 217 (see also Rathborne, Charles)

  tunnel built for (see Holzminden tunnel)

  weather encountered during, 158, 159, 160, 199

  “Zero Hour” for, 152–53, 155, 156–62

  Ferdinand, Franz, 1

  Garland, Edgar, 173–75

  Gaskell, Reginald, 72–74, 79

  George V, King of Great Britain, 211, 214, 214, 225

  Germany

  camps for prisoners of war, 6 (see also Holzminden prisoner of war camp)

  fighter planes of, 14, 23, 29–30, 32

  and Hague Conventions on treatment of POWs, 5, 7, 37, 85

  prisoners of war from, 99

  treatment of POWs, 4–7, 37, 50–51, 85

  Grant, Douglas Lyall, 106

  Grau, Kurt, 131

  Gray, David “Munshi,” 22, 212–13

  background of, 24–26

  bomber escort mission of, 24, 26–30

  and carpenter tools, 93

  court-martial of, 144

 

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