HET MAUTHAUSEN BLOEDBAD.
| MAUTHAUSEN NUMBER | NAME | MURDERED |
| 96500 | ||
| 96501 | RAS | 07-09-1944 |
| 96502 | ANDRINGA | 06-09-1944 |
| 96503 | TACONIS | 06-09-1944 |
| 96504 | JAMBROES | 07-09-1944 |
| 96505 | MINK | 07-09-1944 |
| 96506 | VAN OS | 06-09-1944 |
| 96507 | STEEKSMA | 07-09-1944 |
| 96508 | VAN UYTVANCK | 07-09-1944 |
| 96509 | RUSELER | 07-09-1944 |
| 96510 | SEBES | 07-09-1944 |
| 96511 | KAMPHORST | 07-09-1944 |
| 96512 | KOOLSTRA | 07-09-1944 |
| 96513 | RADEMA | 06-09-1944 |
| 96514 | BOOGAART | 07-09-1944 |
| 96515 | EMMER | 06-09-1944 |
| 96516 | DE HAAS | 07-09-1944 |
| 96517 | ALBAS | 06-09-1944 |
| 96518 | DROOGLEVER-FORTUYN | 07-09-1944 |
| 96519 | BUKKENS | 07-09-1944 |
| 96520 | Edward WILKINSON | 07-09-1944 |
| 96521 | BUIZER | 06-09-1944 |
| 96522 | PALS | 07-09-1944 |
| 96523 | DANE | 07-09-1944 |
| 96524 | W. VAN DER WILDEN | 06-09-1944 |
| 96525 | KLOOSS | 06-09-1944 |
| 96526 | PUNT | 07-09-1944 |
| 96527 | BAATSEN | 07-09-1944 |
| 96528 | Sidney JONES | 06-09-1944 |
| 96529 | Marcus BLOOM | 06-09-1944 |
| 96530 | VAN HULSTEYN | 07-09-1944 |
| 96531 | BEUKEMA toe WATER | 07-09-1944 |
| 96532 | Gilbert NORMAN | 06-09-1944 |
| 96533 | ARENDSE | 07-09-1944 |
| 96534 | JONGELIE | 07-09-1944 |
| 96535 | Mattheo NEWMAN | 07-09-1944 |
| 96536 | VAN DER BOR | 06-09-1944 |
| 96537 | WEGNER | 07-09-1944 |
| 96538 | BRAGGAAR | 07-09-1944 |
| 96539 | VAN HEMERT | 07-09-1944 |
| 96540 | HOFSTEDE | 06-09-1944 |
| 96541 | DE KRUIJFF | 07-09-1944 |
| 96542 | P. VAN DER WILDEN | 06-09-1944 |
| 96543 | NIERMEIJER | 06-09-1944 |
| 96544 | TER LAAK | 07-09-1944 |
| 96545 | Georges CLEMENT | 07-09-1944 |
| 96546 | DE BREY | 07-09-1944 |
| 96547 | John YOUNG | 06-09-1944 |
| 96548 | ||
| 96549 | ||
| 96550 |
Uit het boek 'Englandspiel' geschreven door Jelte Rep:
… Mauthausen was - volgens een dagorder van Heydrich, gedateerd 1 januari 1941 - een concentratiekamp van de zwaarste categorie, bestemd voor 'nauwelijks op te voeden gevangenen'. Het toezicht werd uitgeoefend door SS-Standartenführer Franz Ziereis…
… Het was omstreeks elf uur 's morgens toen de groep parachutisten opgesteld stond voor Block 1, een houten barak, rechts van de toegangspoort. In dit gebouw bevond zich de administratie van het concentratiekamp: de Lagerschreibstube. De kampschrijvers (gevangen) moesten hier all nieuw-aangekomenen registreren en nummeren. De gevangen kregen daarna twee stukken stof uitgereikt, die zij op hun kleding moesten bevestigen. Het ene was reepvormig en vermeldde hun registratienummer. het andere was een driehoek van een bepaalde kleur, waarop hun nationaliteit stond geschreven. De parachutisten kregen een rode driehoek. Zij werden beschouwd als politieke gevangenen. Het viel de schrijvers op dat de nieuwelingen er sportief en redelijk goed uitzagen, zeker vergeleken met de toestand waarin de meeste gevangenen zich bevonden. De schrijvers kwamen er al snel achter dat de parachutisten reeds lange tijd in verschillende Duitse gevangenissen hadden gezeten, het laatst in Rawicz, in Silezië. Voorzichtig informeerden enkelen van hen in het Duits waar zij zich bevonden. De schrijvers vertelden hen dat zij in een concentratiekamp waren beland en wel in Mauthausen, Oostenrijk.
De groep was 47 man sterk en bestond uit 7 Engelsen, 39 Nederlanders en één Amerikaan: Gerard Jan van Hemert, die geboren was in New York. De 7 Engelsen waren gevangen genomen tijdens een commando-overval op St. Nazaire in West-Frankrijk. De resterende 40 gevangenen waren slachtoffers van het Englandspiel.
Zij vormden het overblijfsel van de groep van 51 agenten die indertijd uit Assen naar Rawicz was getransporteerd. De ontbrekende 11 waren: de Jonge, Ortt, Bakker, Kist, Macaré, Mooy, Overes, Parlevliet Pouwels, Rouwerd en Steen.
Inmiddels had de groep parachutisten op de Appelplatz de speciale belangstelling gekregen van hoge SS-officieren, die zich met hen begonnen te vermaken. SS-Oberscharführer Bachmeyer kwam aangeslenderd, gevold door zijn hond Lord, in bedwang gehouden door een assistent. De hond was afgericht voor de jacht op mensen, precies zoals Rechsführer Himmler het had gewild, toen hij beval: "Honden moeten afgericht worden tot verscheurende besten, die met uitzondering van hun bewakers anderen verscheuren". Bachmeyer liet het beest losmaken. het monster rende tot aan de laarzen van zijn meester en liet zich daarna door zijn poten zakken, totdat zijn buik de grond raakte. Bevend van ingehouden opwinding keek het zijn meester aan . Bachmeyer zelf speurde rond in de groep naar een man tegen wie hij de hond zou ophitsen.
SS-Overscharführer Andres Trum, bullepees in de hand, liep spottend en tartend om de ongelukkige gevangen heen.
Kampcommandant Ziereis verscheen, zoals in onberispelijk uniform. De schrijvers uit de Lagerschreibstube, die machteloos het tafereel gadesloegen, begrepen dat er met de groep iets speciaals zou gebeuren. De grote belangstelling van de SS-ers was voor hen een duidelijk symptoom dat de 47 geallieerde militairen niet lang te leven hadden, maar dat zij niet zouden sterven voordat de SS-ers hun spitsvondig sadisme op hen hadden botgevierd.
Op commando van Bachmeyer stortte zijn bloedhond zich op een gevangene. het beest zette zijn kaken in de linkeronderarm en trok als een bezetene.
De SS-ers bleven om de parachutisten heen drentelen, loerend op kansen om erop los te slaan. De schrijvers kregen opdracht met kopieerpotlood op de schouders en borst van de nieuwelingen hun registratienummers te schrijven. "Zodat men jullie kan identificeren als jullie zin krijgen nog eens naar beneden te springen, ditmaal in de Weense Groeve", lachte Ziereis.
Toen de formaliteiten waren afgehandeld en de SS-ers hun slachtoffers met rust lieten, werd de groep afgemarcheerd naar de kampgevangenis, de Bunker, aan de andere kant van de Appellplatz.
Tegen 13:00 uur werd de groep opnieuw opgesteld voor de Lagerschreibstube. Zij droegen nu geen schoenen meer, maar kleppers met ruwe, houten zolen, waarover een strook canvas was gespijkerrd. In een opgewonden spanning werden zij opgewacht door een groep SS-ers, onder aanvoering van SS-Unterscharführer Hans Gogl.
De parachutisten werden tewerkgesteld als steendragerscommando in de Weense Groeve. De misdadiger Joseph Pelzer, in Mauthausen opgeklommen tot Kapo, gaf het bevel te gaan lopen. Zwijgend marcheerden de Nederlanders en Engelsen naar de hoofdpoort. Langs het hobbelige pad dat langs de 'Muur der Parachutisten' naar de steengroeve slingerde, was het een heen en weer rennen van SS-ers. Uit voorzorg hadden de meesten zich opgesteld langs de rechterkant van het pad, zodat zij niet tussen de parachutisten en de afgrond zouden staan. Opgewonden wachtten zij af wie het eerst zou struikelen over de ongelijke stenen, die met de punten naar boven lagen. De ongelukkige zou met schoppen en slagen weer op de been worden geholpen.
Toen de gevangenen ongeveer 40 meter van de steengroeve waren, begonnen de SS-ers te schieten alsof zij op de kermis waren, met de bedoeling paniek te zaaien. Kogels uit geweren, mitrailleurs en pistolen floten in het rond. het pad eindigde bij een trap van granietblokken, die afdaalde naar de Weense groeve. Met zijn 186 ongelijke steile treden - soms een halve meter hoog - was de trap een waar martelwerktuig. Over de lange trap moesten gevangen met behulp van draagbeugels de granietblokken omhoog brengen. Over deze trap daalde het commando van de 47 Nederlandse en Engelse parachutisten af naar de groeve. Beneden in de afgraving werden hun bijzonder zware blokken aangewezen, die zij de trap op moesten slepen. De stenen waren zo zwaar dat sommige parachutisten ze niet konden optillen. Daar had de SS opgewacht, dit was sabotage! Deze gevangenen wilden niet werken! Met bruut geweld sloegen de SS-ers met hun bullepezen en geweerkolven in de militairen. Wie viel onder de regen van slagen werd getrapt waar SS laarzen hen maar konden raken.
De meeste parachutisten slaagden erin de zware stenen op te tillen. De anderen kregen iets lichtere stenen. Daarna werd de groep in de richting van de trap gedreven door een haag van SS-ers. Wie wankelde, struikelde of de rotsblokken niet op de juiste wijze droeg, werd mishandeld. Langzaam klauterde het commando de 'Trap des doods' op. Op iedere meter stond links en rechts SS-ers die op hen insloegen.
Voor 4 gevangenen was de toen de maat vol. Zij wierpen hun stenen neer. Onmiddellijk stortten de SS-ers zich op hen en dreven de vier, met schoppen en stokslagen, omhoog de trap op in de richting van twee wachtposten. De 4 omhoog gejaagde gevangenen waren een makkelijke prooi voor de twee wachtposten. Zij werden door heftige salvo's uit machinegeweren aan stukken geschoten.
De groep was inmiddels op het bovenste gedeelte van de trap aangekomen en vroeg zich af wat er boven gebeurd was. Opnieuw vielen drie parachutisten uitgeput met hun stenen neer. Zij werden op de been geslagen en eveneens in de richting van de twee SS posten gedreven. Voor het oog van hun kameraden werden ook zij met salvo's automatisch geweervuur doorzeefd. Wie nog illusies mocht hebben, was nu duidelijk wat de bedoeling was: zij zouden allen gedood worden.
De stenen moesten ongeveer 200 meter van de 'Trap des doods' neergelegd worden. Daarna daalde de groep een tweede keer af naar de groeve. Opnieuw werden de zwaarste stenen voor hen uitgezocht. Opnieuw sloeg de SS in de degenen die de stenen niet konden dragen en opnieuw moest de trap worden beklommen. Nu echter gooiden velen vrijwillig de sten van zich af en lieten zich gewillig omhoog drijven naar de twee SS posten. daar aangekomen richten zij zich fier op en riepen iets, voor hun voor eeuwig het zwijgen werd opgelegd. Toen de groep voor de tweede keer de stenen had afgeleverd, waren er 19 doden gevallen en vond commandant Gogl het welletjes. De uitgedunde groep werd afgevoerd naar het kamp. De overlevenden van de groep parachutisten werden onmiddellijk afgevoerd naar de Bunker.
Het bleek onmogelijk de kapot geschoten lijken te identificeren en de kampschrijver Juan de Diego ging naar SS-Oberscharführer Niedermayer, die de wacht bij de Bunker had om na te gaan wie er nog leefden. Hierdoor kon bepaald worden wie er vermoord waren. De Diego las de namen van de parachutisten af. wiens naan genoemd werd moest naar zijn cel terugkeren. De schrijver kon dan aantekenen wie er nog leefden. Tot zijn schrik merkte de Diego dat één van de gevangenen een naam droeg die bijna identiek was aan die van de SS beul naast hem. Toen De Diego die naam afriep, stootte Niedermayer een rauwe kreet uit en stortte zich op de Nederlandse B.I. agent Niermeyer. Onder het schreeuwen van de grofste beledigingen trof de SS-er de gevangenen met schoppen, vuistslagen en slagen met zijn bullepees tot hij er genoeg van had. De metgezellen van de ongelukkige namen hem snel mee naar hun cel om verder represailles te vermijden.
… Mauthausen was - volgens een dagorder van Heydrich, gedateerd 1 januari 1941 - een concentratiekamp van de zwaarste categorie, bestemd voor 'nauwelijks op te voeden gevangenen'. Het toezicht werd uitgeoefend door SS-Standartenführer Franz Ziereis…
… Het was omstreeks elf uur 's morgens toen de groep parachutisten opgesteld stond voor Block 1, een houten barak, rechts van de toegangspoort. In dit gebouw bevond zich de administratie van het concentratiekamp: de Lagerschreibstube. De kampschrijvers (gevangen) moesten hier all nieuw-aangekomenen registreren en nummeren. De gevangen kregen daarna twee stukken stof uitgereikt, die zij op hun kleding moesten bevestigen. Het ene was reepvormig en vermeldde hun registratienummer. het andere was een driehoek van een bepaalde kleur, waarop hun nationaliteit stond geschreven. De parachutisten kregen een rode driehoek. Zij werden beschouwd als politieke gevangenen. Het viel de schrijvers op dat de nieuwelingen er sportief en redelijk goed uitzagen, zeker vergeleken met de toestand waarin de meeste gevangenen zich bevonden. De schrijvers kwamen er al snel achter dat de parachutisten reeds lange tijd in verschillende Duitse gevangenissen hadden gezeten, het laatst in Rawicz, in Silezië. Voorzichtig informeerden enkelen van hen in het Duits waar zij zich bevonden. De schrijvers vertelden hen dat zij in een concentratiekamp waren beland en wel in Mauthausen, Oostenrijk.
De groep was 47 man sterk en bestond uit 7 Engelsen, 39 Nederlanders en één Amerikaan: Gerard Jan van Hemert, die geboren was in New York. De 7 Engelsen waren gevangen genomen tijdens een commando-overval op St. Nazaire in West-Frankrijk. De resterende 40 gevangenen waren slachtoffers van het Englandspiel.
Zij vormden het overblijfsel van de groep van 51 agenten die indertijd uit Assen naar Rawicz was getransporteerd. De ontbrekende 11 waren: de Jonge, Ortt, Bakker, Kist, Macaré, Mooy, Overes, Parlevliet Pouwels, Rouwerd en Steen.
Inmiddels had de groep parachutisten op de Appelplatz de speciale belangstelling gekregen van hoge SS-officieren, die zich met hen begonnen te vermaken. SS-Oberscharführer Bachmeyer kwam aangeslenderd, gevold door zijn hond Lord, in bedwang gehouden door een assistent. De hond was afgericht voor de jacht op mensen, precies zoals Rechsführer Himmler het had gewild, toen hij beval: "Honden moeten afgericht worden tot verscheurende besten, die met uitzondering van hun bewakers anderen verscheuren". Bachmeyer liet het beest losmaken. het monster rende tot aan de laarzen van zijn meester en liet zich daarna door zijn poten zakken, totdat zijn buik de grond raakte. Bevend van ingehouden opwinding keek het zijn meester aan . Bachmeyer zelf speurde rond in de groep naar een man tegen wie hij de hond zou ophitsen.
SS-Overscharführer Andres Trum, bullepees in de hand, liep spottend en tartend om de ongelukkige gevangen heen.
Kampcommandant Ziereis verscheen, zoals in onberispelijk uniform. De schrijvers uit de Lagerschreibstube, die machteloos het tafereel gadesloegen, begrepen dat er met de groep iets speciaals zou gebeuren. De grote belangstelling van de SS-ers was voor hen een duidelijk symptoom dat de 47 geallieerde militairen niet lang te leven hadden, maar dat zij niet zouden sterven voordat de SS-ers hun spitsvondig sadisme op hen hadden botgevierd.
Op commando van Bachmeyer stortte zijn bloedhond zich op een gevangene. het beest zette zijn kaken in de linkeronderarm en trok als een bezetene.
De SS-ers bleven om de parachutisten heen drentelen, loerend op kansen om erop los te slaan. De schrijvers kregen opdracht met kopieerpotlood op de schouders en borst van de nieuwelingen hun registratienummers te schrijven. "Zodat men jullie kan identificeren als jullie zin krijgen nog eens naar beneden te springen, ditmaal in de Weense Groeve", lachte Ziereis.
Toen de formaliteiten waren afgehandeld en de SS-ers hun slachtoffers met rust lieten, werd de groep afgemarcheerd naar de kampgevangenis, de Bunker, aan de andere kant van de Appellplatz.
Tegen 13:00 uur werd de groep opnieuw opgesteld voor de Lagerschreibstube. Zij droegen nu geen schoenen meer, maar kleppers met ruwe, houten zolen, waarover een strook canvas was gespijkerrd. In een opgewonden spanning werden zij opgewacht door een groep SS-ers, onder aanvoering van SS-Unterscharführer Hans Gogl.
De parachutisten werden tewerkgesteld als steendragerscommando in de Weense Groeve. De misdadiger Joseph Pelzer, in Mauthausen opgeklommen tot Kapo, gaf het bevel te gaan lopen. Zwijgend marcheerden de Nederlanders en Engelsen naar de hoofdpoort. Langs het hobbelige pad dat langs de 'Muur der Parachutisten' naar de steengroeve slingerde, was het een heen en weer rennen van SS-ers. Uit voorzorg hadden de meesten zich opgesteld langs de rechterkant van het pad, zodat zij niet tussen de parachutisten en de afgrond zouden staan. Opgewonden wachtten zij af wie het eerst zou struikelen over de ongelijke stenen, die met de punten naar boven lagen. De ongelukkige zou met schoppen en slagen weer op de been worden geholpen.
Toen de gevangenen ongeveer 40 meter van de steengroeve waren, begonnen de SS-ers te schieten alsof zij op de kermis waren, met de bedoeling paniek te zaaien. Kogels uit geweren, mitrailleurs en pistolen floten in het rond. het pad eindigde bij een trap van granietblokken, die afdaalde naar de Weense groeve. Met zijn 186 ongelijke steile treden - soms een halve meter hoog - was de trap een waar martelwerktuig. Over de lange trap moesten gevangen met behulp van draagbeugels de granietblokken omhoog brengen. Over deze trap daalde het commando van de 47 Nederlandse en Engelse parachutisten af naar de groeve. Beneden in de afgraving werden hun bijzonder zware blokken aangewezen, die zij de trap op moesten slepen. De stenen waren zo zwaar dat sommige parachutisten ze niet konden optillen. Daar had de SS opgewacht, dit was sabotage! Deze gevangenen wilden niet werken! Met bruut geweld sloegen de SS-ers met hun bullepezen en geweerkolven in de militairen. Wie viel onder de regen van slagen werd getrapt waar SS laarzen hen maar konden raken.
De meeste parachutisten slaagden erin de zware stenen op te tillen. De anderen kregen iets lichtere stenen. Daarna werd de groep in de richting van de trap gedreven door een haag van SS-ers. Wie wankelde, struikelde of de rotsblokken niet op de juiste wijze droeg, werd mishandeld. Langzaam klauterde het commando de 'Trap des doods' op. Op iedere meter stond links en rechts SS-ers die op hen insloegen.
Voor 4 gevangenen was de toen de maat vol. Zij wierpen hun stenen neer. Onmiddellijk stortten de SS-ers zich op hen en dreven de vier, met schoppen en stokslagen, omhoog de trap op in de richting van twee wachtposten. De 4 omhoog gejaagde gevangenen waren een makkelijke prooi voor de twee wachtposten. Zij werden door heftige salvo's uit machinegeweren aan stukken geschoten.
De groep was inmiddels op het bovenste gedeelte van de trap aangekomen en vroeg zich af wat er boven gebeurd was. Opnieuw vielen drie parachutisten uitgeput met hun stenen neer. Zij werden op de been geslagen en eveneens in de richting van de twee SS posten gedreven. Voor het oog van hun kameraden werden ook zij met salvo's automatisch geweervuur doorzeefd. Wie nog illusies mocht hebben, was nu duidelijk wat de bedoeling was: zij zouden allen gedood worden.
De stenen moesten ongeveer 200 meter van de 'Trap des doods' neergelegd worden. Daarna daalde de groep een tweede keer af naar de groeve. Opnieuw werden de zwaarste stenen voor hen uitgezocht. Opnieuw sloeg de SS in de degenen die de stenen niet konden dragen en opnieuw moest de trap worden beklommen. Nu echter gooiden velen vrijwillig de sten van zich af en lieten zich gewillig omhoog drijven naar de twee SS posten. daar aangekomen richten zij zich fier op en riepen iets, voor hun voor eeuwig het zwijgen werd opgelegd. Toen de groep voor de tweede keer de stenen had afgeleverd, waren er 19 doden gevallen en vond commandant Gogl het welletjes. De uitgedunde groep werd afgevoerd naar het kamp. De overlevenden van de groep parachutisten werden onmiddellijk afgevoerd naar de Bunker.
Het bleek onmogelijk de kapot geschoten lijken te identificeren en de kampschrijver Juan de Diego ging naar SS-Oberscharführer Niedermayer, die de wacht bij de Bunker had om na te gaan wie er nog leefden. Hierdoor kon bepaald worden wie er vermoord waren. De Diego las de namen van de parachutisten af. wiens naan genoemd werd moest naar zijn cel terugkeren. De schrijver kon dan aantekenen wie er nog leefden. Tot zijn schrik merkte de Diego dat één van de gevangenen een naam droeg die bijna identiek was aan die van de SS beul naast hem. Toen De Diego die naam afriep, stootte Niedermayer een rauwe kreet uit en stortte zich op de Nederlandse B.I. agent Niermeyer. Onder het schreeuwen van de grofste beledigingen trof de SS-er de gevangenen met schoppen, vuistslagen en slagen met zijn bullepees tot hij er genoeg van had. De metgezellen van de ongelukkige namen hem snel mee naar hun cel om verder represailles te vermijden.
Trap des doods, Mauthausen, Oostenrijk.
De 28 geallieerde parachutisten verlieten het kamp weer door de hoofdpoort naar de groeve. Zij wisten dat er geen enkele hoop meer voor hen was, maar desondanks probeerden zij zich zo fier mogelijk te houden onder de stokslagen en schimpscheuten van SS-Unterscharführer Hans Gogl, Kapo Joseph Pelzer en de andere bewakers. Opnieuw hadden de parachutisten geen draagbeugels om de stenen te dragen.
iedere SS-er die gemist kon worden , had zich naar de groeve begeven om niets te hoeven missen van het komende spektakel. Ook veel vrouwen van het SS-garnizoen waren aanwezig, aangelokt door de verhalen van hun mannen over wat er de vorige dag was gebeurd.
Dezelfde procedure werd herhaald. De Nederlands en Engelsen daalden weer de lange trap af. op een paar honderd meter van hen lag het wijde, golvende Oostenrijkse landschap met zijn herfstbossen, groene weiden en hier en daar een boerderij. Het was een andere wereld.
Beneden in de groeve kregen de parachutisten de zwaarste granietblokken op de 'Trap des doods' op te sjouwen. De gevangenen waren rustiger en zelfverzekerder dan de dag tevoren. Hoop hadden zij niet meer, maar zij wilden zo waardig mogelijk afscheid nemen van dit leven. Toen zij bij het onderste gedeelte van de trap waren gekomen wierpen de meesten hun stenen neer. gewillig lieten zij zich in een meer of minder gesloten groep omhoog drijven naar de twee SS-wachtposten.
Voor de moordende lopen van de machinegeweren rukten velen hun hemd los om de borst te ontbloten en riepen zij een laatste groet, waarvan de betekenis iedereen ontging.
Bij ieder bestijging van de 'trap des doods' werd de groep parachutisten kleiner onder de moorddadige behandeling van de SS-ers. De beulen sloegen met knuppels en geweerkolven waar zij de parachutisten maar konden raken. Als iemand werd neergeslagen, gingen de SS-ers en de Kapo's net zolang door, onder het brullen van "Auf geht es!!" tot de ongelukkige weer overeind kwam. Met de moed der wanhoop vervolgden enkele parachutisten hun marteltocht. Eén van hen, die eindelijk de top van de trap had bereikt en wankelde onder het gewicht van zijn rotsblok, werd ter plaatse neer geschoten door een SS-er. Hij rolde achter zijn granietblok aan naar beneden.
Tenslotte waren er nog maar een paar die het sadistische geweld van de SS-ers hadden overleefd. Ook zij werden in het schootsveld van de twee wachtposten gedreven. Daar stierven ook zij, doorzeefd met mitrailleurvuur. Voor het acht uur was, waren alle 28 parachutisten gedood. Hun lichamen werden afgevoerd naar het crematorium
iedere SS-er die gemist kon worden , had zich naar de groeve begeven om niets te hoeven missen van het komende spektakel. Ook veel vrouwen van het SS-garnizoen waren aanwezig, aangelokt door de verhalen van hun mannen over wat er de vorige dag was gebeurd.
Dezelfde procedure werd herhaald. De Nederlands en Engelsen daalden weer de lange trap af. op een paar honderd meter van hen lag het wijde, golvende Oostenrijkse landschap met zijn herfstbossen, groene weiden en hier en daar een boerderij. Het was een andere wereld.
Beneden in de groeve kregen de parachutisten de zwaarste granietblokken op de 'Trap des doods' op te sjouwen. De gevangenen waren rustiger en zelfverzekerder dan de dag tevoren. Hoop hadden zij niet meer, maar zij wilden zo waardig mogelijk afscheid nemen van dit leven. Toen zij bij het onderste gedeelte van de trap waren gekomen wierpen de meesten hun stenen neer. gewillig lieten zij zich in een meer of minder gesloten groep omhoog drijven naar de twee SS-wachtposten.
Voor de moordende lopen van de machinegeweren rukten velen hun hemd los om de borst te ontbloten en riepen zij een laatste groet, waarvan de betekenis iedereen ontging.
Bij ieder bestijging van de 'trap des doods' werd de groep parachutisten kleiner onder de moorddadige behandeling van de SS-ers. De beulen sloegen met knuppels en geweerkolven waar zij de parachutisten maar konden raken. Als iemand werd neergeslagen, gingen de SS-ers en de Kapo's net zolang door, onder het brullen van "Auf geht es!!" tot de ongelukkige weer overeind kwam. Met de moed der wanhoop vervolgden enkele parachutisten hun marteltocht. Eén van hen, die eindelijk de top van de trap had bereikt en wankelde onder het gewicht van zijn rotsblok, werd ter plaatse neer geschoten door een SS-er. Hij rolde achter zijn granietblok aan naar beneden.
Tenslotte waren er nog maar een paar die het sadistische geweld van de SS-ers hadden overleefd. Ook zij werden in het schootsveld van de twee wachtposten gedreven. Daar stierven ook zij, doorzeefd met mitrailleurvuur. Voor het acht uur was, waren alle 28 parachutisten gedood. Hun lichamen werden afgevoerd naar het crematorium
Alle afbeeldingen zijn afkomstig van: https://arolsen-archives.org/
Marcus Reginald Bloom (24 September 1907 - 6 November 1944) was a British Special Operations Executive agent during the Second World War.
Bloom was born in 1907 in Brick Lane, Whitechapel (as per his birth certificate) but the family later moved to Tottenham, London, the son of Harry Pizer Bloom and Anna Sadie Davidoff Bloom, in an orthodox Jewish home. He helped out working at his father’s cinema in Wandsworth, their mail order textile firm, or in their restaurant business.
In the 1930s his father sent him Paris to run the mail-order business, and he became fluent in French. The firm closed after five years and he returned to London and married in March 1938.
He served in the Royal Artillery in 1941 and joined the Special Operations Executive in February 1942.
On the night of 3/4 November 1942 he was landed at Port Miou, near Cassis in southern France, with SOE agents George Starr, organiser of WHEELWRIGHT; Mary Herbert, courier for SCIENTIST; Marie-Thérèse Le Chêne, courier for SPRUCE; and Odette Sansom for SPINDLE.
He became wireless operator in the PRUNUS network organised by Maurice Pertschuk, with Philippe de Gunzbourg as courier. Bloom worked very successfully and sent and received many messages to and from London (estimated at over fifty), having to keep constantly on the move to avoid the German radio detection vans. He also assisted in sending and receiving messages for Starr in the WHEELWRIGHT network.
Philippe de Gunzbourg noted that Pertschuk had a reckless lack of security, with resistance leaders sharing tables in black-market restaurants in Toulouse and speaking in English, and on 12 April 1943 Pertschuk, Bloom, and several of their key colleagues were arrested. They were possibly betrayed by double agent Roger Bardet. The network collapsed though de Gunzbourg escaped and transferred to the WHEELWRIGHT network. Pertschuk was deported to Buchenwald and executed.
Bloom was taken to Fresnes prison and Avenue Foch in Paris and severely beaten but revealed nothing. In August 1944 he was deported to Mauthausen and executed on 6 November 1944.
Georges Clément (George Clement pour les Britanniques), né en 1917 et mort en déportation en 1944 dans le camp de Mauthausen, est un membre britannique du SOE qui a opéré en France pendant la Seconde Guerre mondiale.
Officier dans l'armée britannique, il rejoint en 1943 le Special Operations Executive (SOE), section F (française).
Nom de guerre : « Édouard »1 (ou « Edmond »2).
Nom de code opérationnel : DRIVER.
Situation militaire : Lieutenant, Royal Armoured Corps, no 259937.
Georges Clément naît le 20 novembre 1917 à Petrograd, Russie. Il est le fils d'un capitaine de l'armée impériale russe, Paul Spiridonoff et de Nadejda Dubash.
Ses parents fuient la Révolution Russe et s'installent à Londres, Drayton Gardens.
Il passe sa scolarité à l’Imperial Service College à Windsor et au Braseros College à Oxford.
Il rejoint le SOE en février 1943, puis est parachuté en juillet 1943 (avec Henri Gaillot) comme opérateur radio du réseau PARSON de Français Vallée en Bretagne.
Il est arrêté en novembre 1943 pendant qu'il émet dans une ferme, à Hédé. Il est ensuite déporté dans le camp de Mauthausen (Autriche), où il est exécuté le 6 (ou le 7) septembre 1944.
Alfred Jones Born 18.8.1914 in Port Talbot
Died 9.11.1944 in Mauthausen
Alfred Jones enlisted at Port Talbot into the Royal Artillery on 19 August 1931 aged 17, he had added a year to his age so he could join up. After training he was posted to the 22/24 Brigade and on 14 February 1934 he was posted to the 12/25 Brigade in India. He served in India, mainly in the North West of the country, until 29 November 1937 and was released to the Army Reserve on 29 February 1938. He rejoined the army on 21 April 1939 and was posted to the 23rd Field Regiment 25 May 1939 and sent to France to join the British Expeditionary Force on 28 September 1939.
Alfred was part of the 23rd Field Regiment Royal Artillery British Army’s 51st Highland Division had been sent to the Saar for duty on the Maginot Line and was there when the German offensive began in May 1940. The Division was brought round south of Paris in a long sweeping journey, but, arriving too late to join the main body of the main British Expeditionary Force, from which it was already cut off, it was put into action against the German army just south of the River Somme, near Abbeville.
Hopelessly outnumbered, with its flanks continually crumbling, it fought a retreat of 60 miles in six days from the Somme to the little fishing port of St. Valery-en-Caux. The division surrendered on 12 June, having run out of food, ammunition and all other supplies. Alfred was one of the thousands of British and French soldiers captured and made to walk northwards to Belgium where they would be put on trains to the POW camps in eastern Germany.
On the march Alfred managed to escape with Gunner Richard Storey BAINBRIDGE 806161 and Driver Alfred W. BERRY by breaking away from a column of prisoners and hiding in a field of wheat until it got dark. The three then made for the coast, via Zottegem, Ghent and Deinze but the presence of many Germans made progress impossible. They spent a few days with a man called Victor De TEMMERMAN at Beisloven - Stijpen Zottegem.
His family back in Wales had first been told he was missing, then that he was a prisoner of war and then that he had gone missing again. Jones and his two colleagues had mainly been hiding near the village of Leerbeek for those six months in 1940 they met Fusilier Thomas James SIM and Corporal N.J. (Jackie) HOGAN) while they were there. The villagers gave them civilian clothes and must have got them identity cards as well. It was then felt that their hiding place had be revealed to the Germans so to avoid arrest they all went back to Brussels reaching there on 7 January 1941. Bainbridge left for France on 29 January 1941 accompanied by three Belgians and leaving Berry and Jones behind in Brussels. Bainbridge reached Spain on 21 March 1941. In 1941 and again in 1943 Jones’ family were told that he had been seen and that they should assume that he was evading capture in France, these reports probably came from BAINBRIDGE, SIM and HOGAN who had successfully reached home.
Alfred JONES continued hiding in Brussels helped by Marie DARMONT-COLLET, the DELOGE family and many of their friends. Soon he was again in danger of re-capture so had gone back to hide outside Brussels with the D'HAESELEER family, mother, father, daughter 17-year-old Elsa and 14-year-old son. Alfred stayed there for about three months. The family didn't help in the Belgian underground movement but gave Alfred food and shelter because they belonged to the village where he had originally escaped.
Alfred was arrested by the Geheime Feld-Polizei in Brussels on 28 October 1941.
Alfred Jones was not treated as a British POW but as a political prisoner. For eight months he was detained in cell 75, in the next cell was a Belgian lawyer Paul LURQUIN, they would speak through the wall and became firm friends. They were kept in very poor conditions but LURQUIN believed Alfred was in good health, they would while away the time with imaginary betting on the horse and dog racing in the newspaper. Alfred was also teaching LURQUIN English until he was taken to a different cell in July 1942. Other prisoners gave him food from their Red Cross parcels.
At some time in 1943 Alfred was taken from St Gilles Prison to Essen prison in Germany. he was accused of activity in favour of the enemy and espionage. On 8 to 11 June 1943, he and 18 others arrested in Brussels were put on trial all for activity in favour of the enemy and other charges at the Essen City Court. The president of the court was Landgerichtsdirektor BERG assisted by assessors Landgerichtsrat VENNEBUSCH and Amtsgerichtsrat OEING. The trial was of 19 people who had been involved in concealing escaped British Soldiers. Alfred was acquitted of all charges.
Despite acquittal Alfred Jones was kept in prison and later moved to concentration camp. Only five of the 19 accused would return to Brussels from the camps after the liberation in May 1945. All the rest would die in captivity.
After the trial in Essen Alfred was acquitted, but from information supplied by his brother and other sources, he was first taken to SACHSENHAUSEN-(ORANIENBURG Concentration Camp). Although the Germans knew he was a British soldier he was treated as a “Nacht und Nebel” political prisoner. He was in a „Kommando“, made to try out boots for the German military by walking in them to test their strength. The prisoners were made to walk around a semi-circular area, the Appellplatz, which had different surfaces along it - grass, asphalt, stones etc. They were forced round and round the track all day walking about 25 kilometres carrying 30 pound packs on their backs whilst living on starvation rations. If they dropped, they were kicked and the dogs set upon them. Occasional halts were made for a man in civilian clothes to inspect the boots and make notes. Despite this treatment Alfred’s health, which was bad after his years of imprisonment, did improve in the camp as he was helped by the other prisoners. Norwegian prisoners of which there were several hundred in the camp were for some reason allowed to receive parcels of food, as though they were ordinary POW’s. These they shared with the other prisoners, they probably gave away more food parcels than they kept for themselves. In June 1944 he was taken to NATZWEILER concentration camp in Alsace. In August 1944 to ALLACH camp adjoining the BMW factory. By 1944 there were as many as 20,000 workers at Allach, including 3,000 POWs and up to 5,000 concentration camp inmates, many from nearby Dachau, producing radial aircraft engines. He left this camp on 15 September 1944.
The Museum at Dachau informed me that Alfred Jones was a prisoner number 98277 in Dachau Concentration Camp from 4 September 1944 to 22 September 1944. Then he was transported to the Concentration Camp at Mauthausen arriving 16 September 1944 according to Mauthausen records. Prisoners with him at the same time in Natzweiler, Dachau and Mauthausen included Ian Kenneth „Johnny“ Hopper an Englishman who had conducted a one-man war against the Germans in occupied France and Robert Perrier known as Robert le Kid a professional boxer with underworld connections. Also there was Lieutenant Brian Stonehouse, a clandestine wireless operator for Special Operations Executive (SOE), John Starr, a SOE agent, and Lieutenant Commander Pat O'Leary R.N., who was in reality a Belgian Army Doctor Albert Guerisse, founder of the Pat Line which was the other main escape line with Comete. Pat O’Leary knew Alfred in Natzweiler. It is likely Alfred was involved in the boxing matches organised by the SS. His family was told that he died in Dachau on 1 April 1945. In the files at the Public Record Office Norwegian prisoners describe Alfred being shot after slapping a German across the face, this must be mistaken identity. But in part of a letter sent from Dresden on 18 July 1947 by Franz Schwark who was a friend of Alfred’s in Mauthausen describes what actually happened to Alfred:
„In October 1944 all the prisoners considered as dangerous for the State were transferred from Sachsenhausen (Berlin) to Mauthausen (Austria), I was still with him until March 1945, he then became ill (malnutrition) and was therefore not be able to work. Then the Waffen SS remembered he was in the camp for espionage. Alfred was, at the beginning of March, with 52 Germans and Austrians, brought to the gas chambers, killed and cremated. You ask if I could tell you where his grave is, there is no grave because in this camp 180,000 men were murdered, and there are no graves, everybody was incinerated and the ashes were dispersed.
Lonely and alone I may remember him as he was my best friend and comrade, and he died as an honest man. I can tell you that the SS of the Mauthausen concentration camp were hanged and among them were the murderers of Alfred.“
The date of Alfred’s death on the Commonwealth War Graves Commission records is given as 9 November 1944 which differs from Franz Schwark’s account. It may be that Schwark made a mistake with the dates as in November 1945 Lieutenant-Commander Pat O’Leary in a letter to a Captain Galitzine who was investigating deaths in Mauthausen states, „I myself knew Freddy Jones personally from June to September 1944 in Natzweiller“ He states that Robert Perrier was with Alfred at his last moments when he was gassed in November 1944. The various records held in the Mauthausen Memorial Archives show Alfred arriving at the camp on 16 September 1944 from Dachau. He is described as Alfred Jones born 18/4/1914, place of birth Port Talbot, an officer, prisoner number 98320, a British soldier in protective custody. He is shown to have died on 9 November 1944 in the register of official executions. In the book The History of the Concentration Camp Mauthausen by Hans Marsalek on page 244 it states, „an Englishman not known by name was executed by a shot in the neck on 9 November 1944.“ This would seem to be referring to Alfred. His name is remembered with honour on the DUNKIRK MEMORIAL.
Sidney Jones CdeG MBE (1902-1944) was a British Special Operations Executive agent during the Second World War.
Sidney Charles Jones was born in France on 25 November 1902, the son of Charles and Emily Louise Jones. Before the war he worked as Elizabeth Arden’s representative in France.
He was nearly 40 when he arrived in the French Riviera by felucca in late September 1942 with the mission of establishing the INVENTOR network as a sabotage circuit in Marseilles. Before the German occupation of Vichy France in November 1942 he had set up several sabotage teams which had burnt fifty goods wagons destined for Germany, and had damaged port installations. After five months in the field, Jones then returned to England.
On the night of 14 May 1943 he was brought by Lysander piloted by Hugh Verity, with Marcel Clech as wireless operator, and Vera Leigh as courier, to re-form the INVENTOR network, working alongside DONKEYMAN, with Jones as liaison officer and arms instructor.
The INVENTOR network was betrayed by double agent Roger Bardet, and on 30 October 1943 Leigh was arrested in Paris. On 19 November Clech was arrested in Boulogne-Billancourt after his transmissions was located by the German direction-finding service, and Jones was arrested the next day. Leigh was executed at Natzweiler-Struthof concentration camp, Clech was executed at Mauthausen concentration camp on 24 March 1944. Jones was executed at Mauthausen on 16 September 1944, aged 42.
Gilbert Maurice Norman (7 April 1915 - 6 September 1944 was a British Army officer who served in the Special Operations Executive in France during World War II.
Norman was born in Saint-Cloud, Hauts-de-Seine, to an English father and a French mother and was educated in France and England. He joined the army, receiving a commission in the Durham Light Infantry in November 1940 and was subsequently recruited into the Special Operations Executive (SOE). In November 1942, he was sent into France to join the newly formed Prosper network, but on 24 June 1943 was arrested by the Gestapo, together with cell leader Francis Suttill and courier Andrée Borrel.
Norman was taken to the Paris headquarters of the Sicherheitsdienst at 84 Avenue Foch. The Germans used Norman's captured wireless set to transmit their own false messages to SOE Headquarters in Baker Street. Norman attempted to warn London that he was in captivity by not giving the Germans the second part of his security check, which they did not know about. Omitting the security check from a message was specifically designed to act as a duress code which would warn London that the sender was being coerced. However, Norman was frustrated when London sent a curt reply telling him to correct the omission.
The Germans were thus able to set a trap which resulted in the capture of Jack Agazarian who had been sent with Nicholas Bodington to investigate the fate of the Prosper network. Norman was shipped to Mauthausen concentration camp, where he was executed on 6 September 1944.
Edward Wilkinson (1902-1944) fut, pendant la Seconde Guerre mondiale, un agent britannique du Special Operations Executive (SOE), section F. Envoyé en France mi 1942, il fut arrêté un an après, emprisonné, déporté, et finalement exécuté.
État civil : Edward Mountford Wilkinson
Surnom familier : Ted, ou Teddy
Comme agent du SOE :
Nom de guerre (field name) : « Alexandre »
Code opérationnel : PRIVET (en français TROÈNE)
Pseudo à l'entraînement : Ernest (à vérifier)
Identité de couverture : Edmond Paul Monfort1
Parcours militaire :
Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve
SOE, section F ; grade : Flying Officer ; matricule : 71123
Son père : Anglais, propriétaire d'une fabrique de porcelaine. Il meurt en 1936.
Sa mère : Française, de souche alsacienne, dont la famille tenait un restaurant rue des Pyramides à Paris. Elle meurt en 1938.
Ses frères :
George Wilkinson (1913-1944), également agent du SOE (chef du réseau HISTORIAN), fut parachuté en France, capturé par la Gestapo en juin 1944 près d'Orléans, et pendu à Buchenwald le 6 septembre.
Herbert Wilkinson, pilote de chasse, fut tué en combat en Tunisie.
John Cuthbert Young, this officer was parachuted into France on 19th May, 1943 as W/T to a circuit in eastern France.
A month after his arrival his commanding officer was arrested by the Gestapo and the organisation was in danger of being broken up. Showing great energy and initiative, YOUNG took over the command and, through his efforts, the circuit was able to continue to operate. He continued to maintain constant W/T communication with London, and made possible the delivery of supplies of arms and equipment to his groups which subsequently carried out several effective sabotage operations.
All this time YOUNG was being constantly sought after by the Gestapo, who had his description and whose D/F services had detected his set. He became so seriously compromised that in August he was advised to return to England. He insisted, however, on remaining at his post until another officer could be sent to take his place. Two days before the arrival of his successor YOUNG was arrested by the Gestapo.
This officer deserves high recognition for his gallantry and self-sacrifice and for the excellent work he accomplished in helping to organise Resistance in eastern France. It is recommended that he be appointed a Member in the Order of the British Empire (Military Division).
Since this citation was prepared, it has been reported that Capt. YOUNG was executed at MAUTHAUSEN concentration camp on 6th September, 1944."
Isidore Newman MBE CdeG MdeR (26 January 1916 - 7 September 1944) was a British secret agent in the French section of the Special Operations Executive during the Second World War.
He was born in Leeds on 26 January 1916, the son of Russian Jewish immigrants Joseph and Tilly Newman. He grew up in Durham where he trained as a primary school teacher, before moving to Hull in 1938, and had studied French at university though spoke it less than perfectly
He joined the Royal Corps of Signals in August 1940, before joining the Special Operations Executive’s French (or F) Section in July 1941.
Monument commemorating the landing of Capt. Peter Churchill from HMS Unbroken at Cap d'Antibes on 21 April 1942
In Operation DELAY II Peter Churchill’s mission was to land four SOE agents on the French Riviera by submarine. On 26 February 1942 Churchill flew from Bristol to Gibraltar with two radio operators, Isidore Newman «Julien» for the URCHIN network and Edward Zeff «Matthieu» for the SPRUCE network, where they were joined by Marcel Clech «Bastien», radio operator for the AUTOGIRO network, and Victor Gerson «René», an SOE agent on a special mission to organise the VIC Escape Line. They travelled in HM Submarine P 42 “Unbroken” to Antibes where on the night of 21 April 1942 Churchill took Newman and Zeff and their radios to the shore by canoe, and led them to their contact Dr Élie Lévy. Churchill then returned to the submarine and dropped off Clech and Gerson by canoe at Pointe d’Agay near Fréjus before returning to the UK.
In May Newman joined the URCHIN network of Francis Basin "Olive" on the Côte d'Azur and established radio links with London, sending around 200 messages before Basin was arrested in Cannes on 18 August. Peter Churchill returned to Cannes on 27 August to organise and coordinate the SOE F Section SPINDLE Network which directed the delivery of supplies to support the CARTE Organisation run by André Girard and Newman joined SPINDLE as Network Manager. A quarrel arose between Newman and Girard because of the excessive length of the messages that Girard imposed on him, in contradiction with the rules of security. Considering it vital to remain on good terms with Girard, Churchill sent Newman back to London in early November.
He was brought by Lysander on the night of 19/20 July 1943 near Azay-sur-Cher to be radio operator of Philippe Liewer's SALESMAN network in Rouen and Le Havre. His nom de guerre was "Peter" (or "Pepe"). During this mission Newman sent 54 messages. SALESMAN needed a reliable radio link with London to begin coordinating supply drops and made effective use of the arms it then received, sinking an 800-ton minesweeper in September, and wrecking a local power station the following month. Newman maintained tight security, transmitting from three separate locations and never transmitting more than twice from the same location before moving to the next, but German direction-finding teams were close to arresting him and he was forced to cease transmission for six weeks at one point.[1] On 8 March 1944, Claude Malraux, who was temporarily in charge of SALESMAN, was arrested and within hours all his contacts were blown.
Newman was arrested on 31 March 1944 and was subsequently suspected of revealing the locations of his safe houses. He was taken to the Gestapo prison in Paris, then Fresnes prison, and lastly transferred to Mauthausen concentration camp where he was executed on 7 September 1944.
Source: Wikipedia.
w.mugge@home.nl
Bloom was born in 1907 in Brick Lane, Whitechapel (as per his birth certificate) but the family later moved to Tottenham, London, the son of Harry Pizer Bloom and Anna Sadie Davidoff Bloom, in an orthodox Jewish home. He helped out working at his father’s cinema in Wandsworth, their mail order textile firm, or in their restaurant business.
In the 1930s his father sent him Paris to run the mail-order business, and he became fluent in French. The firm closed after five years and he returned to London and married in March 1938.
He served in the Royal Artillery in 1941 and joined the Special Operations Executive in February 1942.
On the night of 3/4 November 1942 he was landed at Port Miou, near Cassis in southern France, with SOE agents George Starr, organiser of WHEELWRIGHT; Mary Herbert, courier for SCIENTIST; Marie-Thérèse Le Chêne, courier for SPRUCE; and Odette Sansom for SPINDLE.
He became wireless operator in the PRUNUS network organised by Maurice Pertschuk, with Philippe de Gunzbourg as courier. Bloom worked very successfully and sent and received many messages to and from London (estimated at over fifty), having to keep constantly on the move to avoid the German radio detection vans. He also assisted in sending and receiving messages for Starr in the WHEELWRIGHT network.
Philippe de Gunzbourg noted that Pertschuk had a reckless lack of security, with resistance leaders sharing tables in black-market restaurants in Toulouse and speaking in English, and on 12 April 1943 Pertschuk, Bloom, and several of their key colleagues were arrested. They were possibly betrayed by double agent Roger Bardet. The network collapsed though de Gunzbourg escaped and transferred to the WHEELWRIGHT network. Pertschuk was deported to Buchenwald and executed.
Bloom was taken to Fresnes prison and Avenue Foch in Paris and severely beaten but revealed nothing. In August 1944 he was deported to Mauthausen and executed on 6 November 1944.
Georges Clément (George Clement pour les Britanniques), né en 1917 et mort en déportation en 1944 dans le camp de Mauthausen, est un membre britannique du SOE qui a opéré en France pendant la Seconde Guerre mondiale.
Officier dans l'armée britannique, il rejoint en 1943 le Special Operations Executive (SOE), section F (française).
Nom de guerre : « Édouard »1 (ou « Edmond »2).
Nom de code opérationnel : DRIVER.
Situation militaire : Lieutenant, Royal Armoured Corps, no 259937.
Georges Clément naît le 20 novembre 1917 à Petrograd, Russie. Il est le fils d'un capitaine de l'armée impériale russe, Paul Spiridonoff et de Nadejda Dubash.
Ses parents fuient la Révolution Russe et s'installent à Londres, Drayton Gardens.
Il passe sa scolarité à l’Imperial Service College à Windsor et au Braseros College à Oxford.
Il rejoint le SOE en février 1943, puis est parachuté en juillet 1943 (avec Henri Gaillot) comme opérateur radio du réseau PARSON de Français Vallée en Bretagne.
Il est arrêté en novembre 1943 pendant qu'il émet dans une ferme, à Hédé. Il est ensuite déporté dans le camp de Mauthausen (Autriche), où il est exécuté le 6 (ou le 7) septembre 1944.
Alfred Jones Born 18.8.1914 in Port Talbot
Died 9.11.1944 in Mauthausen
Alfred Jones enlisted at Port Talbot into the Royal Artillery on 19 August 1931 aged 17, he had added a year to his age so he could join up. After training he was posted to the 22/24 Brigade and on 14 February 1934 he was posted to the 12/25 Brigade in India. He served in India, mainly in the North West of the country, until 29 November 1937 and was released to the Army Reserve on 29 February 1938. He rejoined the army on 21 April 1939 and was posted to the 23rd Field Regiment 25 May 1939 and sent to France to join the British Expeditionary Force on 28 September 1939.
Alfred was part of the 23rd Field Regiment Royal Artillery British Army’s 51st Highland Division had been sent to the Saar for duty on the Maginot Line and was there when the German offensive began in May 1940. The Division was brought round south of Paris in a long sweeping journey, but, arriving too late to join the main body of the main British Expeditionary Force, from which it was already cut off, it was put into action against the German army just south of the River Somme, near Abbeville.
Hopelessly outnumbered, with its flanks continually crumbling, it fought a retreat of 60 miles in six days from the Somme to the little fishing port of St. Valery-en-Caux. The division surrendered on 12 June, having run out of food, ammunition and all other supplies. Alfred was one of the thousands of British and French soldiers captured and made to walk northwards to Belgium where they would be put on trains to the POW camps in eastern Germany.
On the march Alfred managed to escape with Gunner Richard Storey BAINBRIDGE 806161 and Driver Alfred W. BERRY by breaking away from a column of prisoners and hiding in a field of wheat until it got dark. The three then made for the coast, via Zottegem, Ghent and Deinze but the presence of many Germans made progress impossible. They spent a few days with a man called Victor De TEMMERMAN at Beisloven - Stijpen Zottegem.
His family back in Wales had first been told he was missing, then that he was a prisoner of war and then that he had gone missing again. Jones and his two colleagues had mainly been hiding near the village of Leerbeek for those six months in 1940 they met Fusilier Thomas James SIM and Corporal N.J. (Jackie) HOGAN) while they were there. The villagers gave them civilian clothes and must have got them identity cards as well. It was then felt that their hiding place had be revealed to the Germans so to avoid arrest they all went back to Brussels reaching there on 7 January 1941. Bainbridge left for France on 29 January 1941 accompanied by three Belgians and leaving Berry and Jones behind in Brussels. Bainbridge reached Spain on 21 March 1941. In 1941 and again in 1943 Jones’ family were told that he had been seen and that they should assume that he was evading capture in France, these reports probably came from BAINBRIDGE, SIM and HOGAN who had successfully reached home.
Alfred JONES continued hiding in Brussels helped by Marie DARMONT-COLLET, the DELOGE family and many of their friends. Soon he was again in danger of re-capture so had gone back to hide outside Brussels with the D'HAESELEER family, mother, father, daughter 17-year-old Elsa and 14-year-old son. Alfred stayed there for about three months. The family didn't help in the Belgian underground movement but gave Alfred food and shelter because they belonged to the village where he had originally escaped.
Alfred was arrested by the Geheime Feld-Polizei in Brussels on 28 October 1941.
Alfred Jones was not treated as a British POW but as a political prisoner. For eight months he was detained in cell 75, in the next cell was a Belgian lawyer Paul LURQUIN, they would speak through the wall and became firm friends. They were kept in very poor conditions but LURQUIN believed Alfred was in good health, they would while away the time with imaginary betting on the horse and dog racing in the newspaper. Alfred was also teaching LURQUIN English until he was taken to a different cell in July 1942. Other prisoners gave him food from their Red Cross parcels.
At some time in 1943 Alfred was taken from St Gilles Prison to Essen prison in Germany. he was accused of activity in favour of the enemy and espionage. On 8 to 11 June 1943, he and 18 others arrested in Brussels were put on trial all for activity in favour of the enemy and other charges at the Essen City Court. The president of the court was Landgerichtsdirektor BERG assisted by assessors Landgerichtsrat VENNEBUSCH and Amtsgerichtsrat OEING. The trial was of 19 people who had been involved in concealing escaped British Soldiers. Alfred was acquitted of all charges.
Despite acquittal Alfred Jones was kept in prison and later moved to concentration camp. Only five of the 19 accused would return to Brussels from the camps after the liberation in May 1945. All the rest would die in captivity.
After the trial in Essen Alfred was acquitted, but from information supplied by his brother and other sources, he was first taken to SACHSENHAUSEN-(ORANIENBURG Concentration Camp). Although the Germans knew he was a British soldier he was treated as a “Nacht und Nebel” political prisoner. He was in a „Kommando“, made to try out boots for the German military by walking in them to test their strength. The prisoners were made to walk around a semi-circular area, the Appellplatz, which had different surfaces along it - grass, asphalt, stones etc. They were forced round and round the track all day walking about 25 kilometres carrying 30 pound packs on their backs whilst living on starvation rations. If they dropped, they were kicked and the dogs set upon them. Occasional halts were made for a man in civilian clothes to inspect the boots and make notes. Despite this treatment Alfred’s health, which was bad after his years of imprisonment, did improve in the camp as he was helped by the other prisoners. Norwegian prisoners of which there were several hundred in the camp were for some reason allowed to receive parcels of food, as though they were ordinary POW’s. These they shared with the other prisoners, they probably gave away more food parcels than they kept for themselves. In June 1944 he was taken to NATZWEILER concentration camp in Alsace. In August 1944 to ALLACH camp adjoining the BMW factory. By 1944 there were as many as 20,000 workers at Allach, including 3,000 POWs and up to 5,000 concentration camp inmates, many from nearby Dachau, producing radial aircraft engines. He left this camp on 15 September 1944.
The Museum at Dachau informed me that Alfred Jones was a prisoner number 98277 in Dachau Concentration Camp from 4 September 1944 to 22 September 1944. Then he was transported to the Concentration Camp at Mauthausen arriving 16 September 1944 according to Mauthausen records. Prisoners with him at the same time in Natzweiler, Dachau and Mauthausen included Ian Kenneth „Johnny“ Hopper an Englishman who had conducted a one-man war against the Germans in occupied France and Robert Perrier known as Robert le Kid a professional boxer with underworld connections. Also there was Lieutenant Brian Stonehouse, a clandestine wireless operator for Special Operations Executive (SOE), John Starr, a SOE agent, and Lieutenant Commander Pat O'Leary R.N., who was in reality a Belgian Army Doctor Albert Guerisse, founder of the Pat Line which was the other main escape line with Comete. Pat O’Leary knew Alfred in Natzweiler. It is likely Alfred was involved in the boxing matches organised by the SS. His family was told that he died in Dachau on 1 April 1945. In the files at the Public Record Office Norwegian prisoners describe Alfred being shot after slapping a German across the face, this must be mistaken identity. But in part of a letter sent from Dresden on 18 July 1947 by Franz Schwark who was a friend of Alfred’s in Mauthausen describes what actually happened to Alfred:
„In October 1944 all the prisoners considered as dangerous for the State were transferred from Sachsenhausen (Berlin) to Mauthausen (Austria), I was still with him until March 1945, he then became ill (malnutrition) and was therefore not be able to work. Then the Waffen SS remembered he was in the camp for espionage. Alfred was, at the beginning of March, with 52 Germans and Austrians, brought to the gas chambers, killed and cremated. You ask if I could tell you where his grave is, there is no grave because in this camp 180,000 men were murdered, and there are no graves, everybody was incinerated and the ashes were dispersed.
Lonely and alone I may remember him as he was my best friend and comrade, and he died as an honest man. I can tell you that the SS of the Mauthausen concentration camp were hanged and among them were the murderers of Alfred.“
The date of Alfred’s death on the Commonwealth War Graves Commission records is given as 9 November 1944 which differs from Franz Schwark’s account. It may be that Schwark made a mistake with the dates as in November 1945 Lieutenant-Commander Pat O’Leary in a letter to a Captain Galitzine who was investigating deaths in Mauthausen states, „I myself knew Freddy Jones personally from June to September 1944 in Natzweiller“ He states that Robert Perrier was with Alfred at his last moments when he was gassed in November 1944. The various records held in the Mauthausen Memorial Archives show Alfred arriving at the camp on 16 September 1944 from Dachau. He is described as Alfred Jones born 18/4/1914, place of birth Port Talbot, an officer, prisoner number 98320, a British soldier in protective custody. He is shown to have died on 9 November 1944 in the register of official executions. In the book The History of the Concentration Camp Mauthausen by Hans Marsalek on page 244 it states, „an Englishman not known by name was executed by a shot in the neck on 9 November 1944.“ This would seem to be referring to Alfred. His name is remembered with honour on the DUNKIRK MEMORIAL.
Sidney Jones CdeG MBE (1902-1944) was a British Special Operations Executive agent during the Second World War.
Sidney Charles Jones was born in France on 25 November 1902, the son of Charles and Emily Louise Jones. Before the war he worked as Elizabeth Arden’s representative in France.
He was nearly 40 when he arrived in the French Riviera by felucca in late September 1942 with the mission of establishing the INVENTOR network as a sabotage circuit in Marseilles. Before the German occupation of Vichy France in November 1942 he had set up several sabotage teams which had burnt fifty goods wagons destined for Germany, and had damaged port installations. After five months in the field, Jones then returned to England.
On the night of 14 May 1943 he was brought by Lysander piloted by Hugh Verity, with Marcel Clech as wireless operator, and Vera Leigh as courier, to re-form the INVENTOR network, working alongside DONKEYMAN, with Jones as liaison officer and arms instructor.
The INVENTOR network was betrayed by double agent Roger Bardet, and on 30 October 1943 Leigh was arrested in Paris. On 19 November Clech was arrested in Boulogne-Billancourt after his transmissions was located by the German direction-finding service, and Jones was arrested the next day. Leigh was executed at Natzweiler-Struthof concentration camp, Clech was executed at Mauthausen concentration camp on 24 March 1944. Jones was executed at Mauthausen on 16 September 1944, aged 42.
Gilbert Maurice Norman (7 April 1915 - 6 September 1944 was a British Army officer who served in the Special Operations Executive in France during World War II.
Norman was born in Saint-Cloud, Hauts-de-Seine, to an English father and a French mother and was educated in France and England. He joined the army, receiving a commission in the Durham Light Infantry in November 1940 and was subsequently recruited into the Special Operations Executive (SOE). In November 1942, he was sent into France to join the newly formed Prosper network, but on 24 June 1943 was arrested by the Gestapo, together with cell leader Francis Suttill and courier Andrée Borrel.
Norman was taken to the Paris headquarters of the Sicherheitsdienst at 84 Avenue Foch. The Germans used Norman's captured wireless set to transmit their own false messages to SOE Headquarters in Baker Street. Norman attempted to warn London that he was in captivity by not giving the Germans the second part of his security check, which they did not know about. Omitting the security check from a message was specifically designed to act as a duress code which would warn London that the sender was being coerced. However, Norman was frustrated when London sent a curt reply telling him to correct the omission.
The Germans were thus able to set a trap which resulted in the capture of Jack Agazarian who had been sent with Nicholas Bodington to investigate the fate of the Prosper network. Norman was shipped to Mauthausen concentration camp, where he was executed on 6 September 1944.
Edward Wilkinson (1902-1944) fut, pendant la Seconde Guerre mondiale, un agent britannique du Special Operations Executive (SOE), section F. Envoyé en France mi 1942, il fut arrêté un an après, emprisonné, déporté, et finalement exécuté.
État civil : Edward Mountford Wilkinson
Surnom familier : Ted, ou Teddy
Comme agent du SOE :
Nom de guerre (field name) : « Alexandre »
Code opérationnel : PRIVET (en français TROÈNE)
Pseudo à l'entraînement : Ernest (à vérifier)
Identité de couverture : Edmond Paul Monfort1
Parcours militaire :
Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve
SOE, section F ; grade : Flying Officer ; matricule : 71123
Son père : Anglais, propriétaire d'une fabrique de porcelaine. Il meurt en 1936.
Sa mère : Française, de souche alsacienne, dont la famille tenait un restaurant rue des Pyramides à Paris. Elle meurt en 1938.
Ses frères :
George Wilkinson (1913-1944), également agent du SOE (chef du réseau HISTORIAN), fut parachuté en France, capturé par la Gestapo en juin 1944 près d'Orléans, et pendu à Buchenwald le 6 septembre.
Herbert Wilkinson, pilote de chasse, fut tué en combat en Tunisie.
John Cuthbert Young, this officer was parachuted into France on 19th May, 1943 as W/T to a circuit in eastern France.
A month after his arrival his commanding officer was arrested by the Gestapo and the organisation was in danger of being broken up. Showing great energy and initiative, YOUNG took over the command and, through his efforts, the circuit was able to continue to operate. He continued to maintain constant W/T communication with London, and made possible the delivery of supplies of arms and equipment to his groups which subsequently carried out several effective sabotage operations.
All this time YOUNG was being constantly sought after by the Gestapo, who had his description and whose D/F services had detected his set. He became so seriously compromised that in August he was advised to return to England. He insisted, however, on remaining at his post until another officer could be sent to take his place. Two days before the arrival of his successor YOUNG was arrested by the Gestapo.
This officer deserves high recognition for his gallantry and self-sacrifice and for the excellent work he accomplished in helping to organise Resistance in eastern France. It is recommended that he be appointed a Member in the Order of the British Empire (Military Division).
Since this citation was prepared, it has been reported that Capt. YOUNG was executed at MAUTHAUSEN concentration camp on 6th September, 1944."
Isidore Newman MBE CdeG MdeR (26 January 1916 - 7 September 1944) was a British secret agent in the French section of the Special Operations Executive during the Second World War.
He was born in Leeds on 26 January 1916, the son of Russian Jewish immigrants Joseph and Tilly Newman. He grew up in Durham where he trained as a primary school teacher, before moving to Hull in 1938, and had studied French at university though spoke it less than perfectly
He joined the Royal Corps of Signals in August 1940, before joining the Special Operations Executive’s French (or F) Section in July 1941.
Monument commemorating the landing of Capt. Peter Churchill from HMS Unbroken at Cap d'Antibes on 21 April 1942
In Operation DELAY II Peter Churchill’s mission was to land four SOE agents on the French Riviera by submarine. On 26 February 1942 Churchill flew from Bristol to Gibraltar with two radio operators, Isidore Newman «Julien» for the URCHIN network and Edward Zeff «Matthieu» for the SPRUCE network, where they were joined by Marcel Clech «Bastien», radio operator for the AUTOGIRO network, and Victor Gerson «René», an SOE agent on a special mission to organise the VIC Escape Line. They travelled in HM Submarine P 42 “Unbroken” to Antibes where on the night of 21 April 1942 Churchill took Newman and Zeff and their radios to the shore by canoe, and led them to their contact Dr Élie Lévy. Churchill then returned to the submarine and dropped off Clech and Gerson by canoe at Pointe d’Agay near Fréjus before returning to the UK.
In May Newman joined the URCHIN network of Francis Basin "Olive" on the Côte d'Azur and established radio links with London, sending around 200 messages before Basin was arrested in Cannes on 18 August. Peter Churchill returned to Cannes on 27 August to organise and coordinate the SOE F Section SPINDLE Network which directed the delivery of supplies to support the CARTE Organisation run by André Girard and Newman joined SPINDLE as Network Manager. A quarrel arose between Newman and Girard because of the excessive length of the messages that Girard imposed on him, in contradiction with the rules of security. Considering it vital to remain on good terms with Girard, Churchill sent Newman back to London in early November.
He was brought by Lysander on the night of 19/20 July 1943 near Azay-sur-Cher to be radio operator of Philippe Liewer's SALESMAN network in Rouen and Le Havre. His nom de guerre was "Peter" (or "Pepe"). During this mission Newman sent 54 messages. SALESMAN needed a reliable radio link with London to begin coordinating supply drops and made effective use of the arms it then received, sinking an 800-ton minesweeper in September, and wrecking a local power station the following month. Newman maintained tight security, transmitting from three separate locations and never transmitting more than twice from the same location before moving to the next, but German direction-finding teams were close to arresting him and he was forced to cease transmission for six weeks at one point.[1] On 8 March 1944, Claude Malraux, who was temporarily in charge of SALESMAN, was arrested and within hours all his contacts were blown.
Newman was arrested on 31 March 1944 and was subsequently suspected of revealing the locations of his safe houses. He was taken to the Gestapo prison in Paris, then Fresnes prison, and lastly transferred to Mauthausen concentration camp where he was executed on 7 September 1944.
Source: Wikipedia.
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