66518 T/ Major Airey Middleton Sheffield Neave, DSO, OBE, MC, TD, RA

Discussion in 'Royal Artillery' started by Drew5233, May 9, 2011.

  1. Drew5233

    Drew5233 #FuturePilot 1940 Obsessive

    Found this citation tonight whilst looking for another one and thought I'd start a thread on him as I can't find anywhere else to post it.

    Recommendation for Award for Neave, Airey Middleton Sheffield Rank: Captain ... | The National Archives
    Reference: WO 373/100/258
    Name Neave, Airey Middleton Sheffield
    Rank: Captain
    Service No: 66518
    Regiment: Royal Artillery
    Theatre of Combat or Operation: The London Omnibus List For Gallant and Distinguished Services in the Field
    Award: Distinguished Service Order
    Date of announcement in London Gazette: 15 November 1945

    Airey Neave.jpg

    There should be a Military Cross somewhere too I think.
     
  2. wtid45

    wtid45 Very Senior Member

  3. bamboo43

    bamboo43 Very Senior Member

    Nice one lads, Jedburgh and I had a small discussion about him only last month.:)
     
  4. bamboo43

    bamboo43 Very Senior Member

    I remember his death in the underground car park at the House of Commons and what a shock it was even at my tender age at the time.

    There was a very good documentary on not long ago about Mrs. Thatcher and her early parliamentary days. He was her first real 'spin doctor' and supporter it seems, she was extremely upset by his death and I would imagine this was a major factor in her policy on Irish terrorism afterwards.

    It was suggested that he used his SOE training in mis-information to help her secure the nomination for Tory Party leader and defeat Ted Heath in the leadership election!
     
  5. Owen

    Owen -- --- -.. MOD

    I first read ‘’They Have Their Exits’’ in the late 1970s when I was about 11. It was an old yellowing , fragile 1950s paperback copy bought cheaply from the church jumble sale.
    The man himself was still alive then , although as a young boy I didn’t really know who he was. It was a shock a few months later to hear on the TV news about his murder in a car-bomb attack.
    oldpaperback.jpg


    In recent years I kept meaning to re-read the book which surely has to be one of the most famous of all WW2 escape stories .
    When Pen & Sword recently asked if we’d like to review a new edition for the forum I readily jumped at the chance.

    newcover.JPG

    http://www.pen-and-sword.co.uk/They-Have-Their-Exits/p/4205/

    The latest paperback edition arrived and am happy to say it up to the usual high production standards of Pen & Sword. The book is a larger format than the old version I read years ago with crisp clear white pages with a clear readable text that my Mum, who is in her late 70s ,said was very easy to read.
    All the maps, diagrams & photographs have reproduced well.

    I’m sure with a book this famous that has been around so long most people are aware of Airey Neave’s story.
    As an officer in a Searchlight unit he is involved in the fighting at Calais in 1940 , is wounded and captured.
    After an unsuccessful escape attempt he is sent to Colditz where he tries again to escape, dressed as a German soldier. That fails but he tries yet again , this time with a Dutch companion , both dressed as German officers and are successful.
    Then disguised as Dutch workmen travel across German into Switzerland .
    From there in company with a British officer he travels through Vichy France into Fascist Spain to Gibralter and finally back to the UK.
    Back in Britain he is recruited into MI9 to organise the return of other evaders . Returning to France in July 1944 he is involved in the rescue of Allied airmen in Normandy and later in helping to rescue Airborne troops after the fighting at Arnhem.
    After the war he served with the Nuremburg War Crimes Tribunal where he comes into direct contact with leading members of the Nazi hierarchy in their cells.

    He often refers to his time as a PoW when describing this reversal of roles.
    He revisits places he had last seen as a PoW in 1940 and describes his thoughts and feelings at returning to them.
    His insight into life in wartime Germany as he travels through that country in disguise makes for very interesting reading . It’s quite amazing he and his Dutch companion Tony Luteyn never got caught.
    He also pays tribute to the many anonymous people who aided him and his fellow escapers from Switzerland through Vichy France to Spain. Putting their lives at risk to help the Allied escapers on their way to freedom. Some had patriotic reasons for helping, others because their families were involved , some purely for the financial gain .
    Even after all those trials and tribulations of escaping and evading successfully , for many the risks were not over. Many escaped so they could continue the fight and not sit the war out in a PoW camp. Airey Neave lists many names of escapers who were killed in later fighting . Including the officer who travelled from Switzerland all the way back to the UK with him , Hugh Woollatt. He was killed in Normandy in July 1944.

    I can find only one minor error in the book , there wouldn’t have been an ‘‘old Crusader’’ (page 9) tank in the fighting at Calais in 1940. That’s just be being a tank-nerd.

    All in all an excellent read of one of the classic stories to come from WW2.
    According to the back cover all the royalties from this edition are being donated to ‘The Airey Neave Trust’ so that’s an even better reason to buy a copy.
     
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  6. TomTAS

    TomTAS Very Senior Member

    Hi Owen,

    I good friend of mine was involved with Airey Neave and Pegasus 1... Alan Kettley Glider Pilot Regiment who sadly pass away last year, He told me the story of then they were in no mans land in a house with Leo Heaps...
     
  7. bamboo43

    bamboo43 Very Senior Member

    Neave's DSO citation. Sent to me a while back by Jedburgh22. I remember so clearly the day he was killed.
     

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  8. dbf

    dbf Moderatrix MOD

    Last edited: Jul 18, 2020
  9. PsyWar.Org

    PsyWar.Org Archive monkey

    Airey Neave's escape report to MI9:
    MOST SECRET

    M.I.9/S/P.G.(G)676
    The information contained in this report is to be treated as
    MOST SECRET




    INTERIM ACCOUNT OF ESCAPE OF
    Lt. NEAVE, A.M.S. 1 SEARCHLIGHT REGT., R.A.

    Captured: 26 May 40.
    Escaped: 6 Jan. 42.
    Arrived: Switzerland, 9 Jan 42.

    1. CAPTURE
    I was Troop Commander in 2 Bty., 1 Searchlight Regt. R.A. We retired from ARRAS and took up position 2 kms. south of CALAIS on 19 May 40. On 24 May I was wounded while defending a forward position and was taken to a French hospital, which was shelled and bombed during the next two days. On 26 May I contacted the last line of defence of the British forces, but it was impossible to evactuate the wounded. I was captured on a stretcher on the shore at about 1730 hrs. on 26 May.
    Being wounded, I did not reach Germany till August and from then I was in three camps altogether.

    Aug. 40 – Mar. 41 OFLAB IXA. SPANGENBERG

    (1) OFLAG IXA, SPANGENBERG, nr. KASSEL, Hesse. Aug. 40 – Mar. 41. This was a well guarded Schloss, considerably over-crowded by 250 P/W. Medical stores were scanty, and health was bad as a result. No Red Cross parcels had as yet arrived and food was poor. There were several cases of brutality.

    Mar. – May 41. STALAG XXA. THORN.

    (2) STALAG XXA, THORN, Poland. Mar.-May 41.
    This was the reprisal camp for Fort KINGSTON, Canada. The following conditions obtained:-
    Underground rooms with no daylight. (Windows were boarded up if necessary);
    Guards with rubber truncheons;
    Three appels a day;
    Revolting sanitary conditions;
    Officers were locked in their rooms at 2000 hrs. till 0700 hrs.
    The effect on morale was negligible, and the Germans seemed rather ashamed of the whole affair. After a month most of the restrictions were withdrawn. The food was the same as elsewhere.

    FIRST ESCAPE.
    On 16 April I attempted to escape to Russia, but was captured near WARSAW and handed over to the Gestapo. During my escape I observed:-
    (i) All crucifixes and many religious monuments have been deliberately destroyed in occupied Poland.
    (ii) In LESLAU I saw a young member of the Hitler-Jugend beat an old Pole about the head and stamp on his hat in the street amid roars of applause.
    (iii) I was told that the Ghetto in WARSAW is in a bombed quarter of the city and that leaving the boundaries of it was punishable by death.
    (iv) I was in the Strafgefängnis in the town of PLOCK. It is run by the Gestapo and political prisoners of both sexes were mixed with thieves and other criminals. I saw people being kicked and heard sounds of beating.
    (v) Members of the Gestapo admitted to me that hundreds of Germans were being murdered by the Poles.
    (vi) The morale of the Poles is remarkable and they are always ready to help escaped prisoners.
    (3) OFLAG IVC, COLDITZ, Sachsen. May 41 – Jan. 42.
    This is a camp for “Ausbrecher”, or escapers. There were also Jews and political prisoners there. The total number was over 550 and it is very strongly guarded by a complete battalion. General morale was very high and everything was done by escapes, demonstrations, etc., to keep guards occupied. The result was a series of minor incidents and reprisals. There is overcrowding and little opportunity for exercise. Medical attention is poor, but parcels come in well. Censorship of letters and books is very inefficient.
    ACCOUNT OF ESCAPE

    6 Jan. 42 ESCAPE
    On 6 January 1942 I made my escape with a Dutchman, both of us dressed as German officers. By a complicated scheme involving breaking through a ceiling we emerged from the guard house and passed two sentries without arousing suspicion. At 0545 hrs. we took a train from LEISNIG to LEIPZIG. There we learnt that the best train left at 2052 hrs. We therefore spent the day in the town, visiting the cinema twice. From LEIPZIG to REGENSBURG (where we changed) and then to ULM we travelled without difficulty. At 1030 hrs. on 7 January we attempted to take a ticket to ENGEN near SINGEN in the frontier district. We attracted some suspicion here and were handed over to the Reichsarbeitspolizei, to whom we presented our Dutch papers. They seemed satisfied with these, but said they were not valid for travel beyond ULM. A Policeman accompanied us to the Reichsarbeitsdienst where we were supposed to report. Fortunately, he said that, as we spoke such good German, he would wait for us below. We went upstairs and managed to make our exit through a door at the other end of the building.
    As it was now impossible to travel by express to the frontier, we walked and travelled by local trains until we were 3 kms. from SINGEN about 0400 hrs. on 8 January. There we were questioned by workmen on bicycles who seemed suspicious, and we heard them say they would inform the police. We had hoped to get over the frontier during the darkness, but we were now obliged to hide up for a whole day. We hid in a small hut and slept there. Weather conditions were terrible and the temperature very low. At 1800 hrs. we left the hut carrying large spades and a couple of long white coats found in the hut. A Hitler Jugend patrol stopped us and we satisfied them that we were Westphalian workmen. They told us they were looking for two prisoners of war who were reported in the district. We entered SINGEN and from the station we walked west as far as a signpost to GOTTMADINGEN 4 km. There we travelled north and then round a large wood that fringed the GOTTMADINGEN-SINGEN road, eventually travelling south over the railway line that runs north of this road to a point where road and frontier meet for about 50 yards. There we threw away the spades and put on the white coats. An open space lay before us with woods all round. Seventy metres away we saw a sentry at a barrier and cars being stopped. This was to our left. At about 0030 hrs., walking and crawling, we crossed the road and this open space which was about 200 yards across and thus passed over the frontier. We saw no Swiss guards and no lights. After accidentally crossing back into Germany (which we discovered by observing a sentry to our left – i.e., to the East) we followed compass line to RAMSEN and were there interned at 0100 hrs.

    Notes.
    1) As far as our observations went, no one but the military were asked for passes in trains.
    2) It would attract undesirable attention to eat chocolate in public or smoke too much.
    3) Station waiting rooms may be dangerous, as I have noticed that railway police ask civilians for passes, particularly on large stations at night. Coffee and beer can be bought without difficulty.
    4) Cinemas are good places to rest in.
    5) It seems probable that the local civilian population in the frontier areas are instructed to question strangers who may be prisoners of war.
    6) Since the black-out in Switzerland at 2200 hrs. there will be no lights visible as a guide after that hour.
    7) Trains are very stringently controlled in occupied countries, especially Poland, and it was generally thought too dangerous to travel in them.
    8) Advantage can be taken from the presence of two sorts of foreigners in Germany:-
    (a) Volksdeutsche (German nationals) who may speak very little German and who have been repatriated from places like Bessarabia, Volkynia, and Lithuania. This is particularly useful for those escaping in Poland where large transplantations of the population have taken place.
    ( b ) Workers from occupied countries and Italy, especially Dutch, Walloons, and Flemish. There are many of these in industrial areas of Germany adjoining Holland. All of these speak only a certain amount of German.
     
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  10. ritsonvaljos

    ritsonvaljos Senior Member

    Congratulations on this well considered review, Owen. I have now ordered this book and look forward to reading it when it arrives.
     
  11. Owen

    Owen -- --- -.. MOD

    Now reading 'Fight Another Day' by Jimmy Langley, I was laughing out loud reading this extract which is about Airey Neave in the hospital in Lille.
    The British Senior Medical Officer had to ask the wounded British PoWs not to escape as the Germans had threatened to shoot RAMC staff in reprisals if they did.

     
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  12. TomTAS

    TomTAS Very Senior Member

    Hi Owen & All

    Airey Neave also wrote a book called The Flames of Calais, and Owen the above early ’They Have Their Exits’’ was the book I let Alan have
     

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  13. 4jonboy

    4jonboy Daughter of a 56 Recce

    Although not really my area of interest but having received my free copy of the book from Pen & Sword, I have now read the book and was pleasantly surprised how interesting and easy it was to read.

    I can only agree with everything Owen has written in his review about the book. Airey Neave writes in such a way that the content is brought vividly to life; he writes fondly about the men who helped him and gave up their chance to escape from Colditz, and the people who risked their lives sheltering and accompanying him on his long journey back to safety.

    An excellent read.
     
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  14. Sussex by the Sea

    Sussex by the Sea Senior Member

    I have nearly finished the book, it is late to go back to the library. I have found it an excellent read, what a shame about his ultimate fate.

    Steve
     
  15. Mr Jinks

    Mr Jinks Bit of a Cad

    Hi,

    Can anyone confirm that this book (They have their exits) mentions an account of an attempted escape by a man called Lyster Todd where his place in the camp was taken by a Sgt Qualtrough?

    Thanks

    Kyle
     
  16. Owen

    Owen -- --- -.. MOD

    Just having a flick through now, Qualtrough is mentioned on page 18 ,

    ...I had hoped to have as my companion John Hyde-Thomson MC of the DLI . He, however, had succeeded in getting out of the camp a few weeks earlier by changing places with CSM Qualtrough.

    I'll keep looking for Todd
     
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  17. Mr Jinks

    Mr Jinks Bit of a Cad

    Hi Owen,

    Thanks Hyde-Thomson and Lyster Todd were originally from the same regiment so it could be Hyde-Thomson I`m looking for Qualtrough was an MC for services whilst a PoW but no citation I think what you have found is the incident I have been looking for
    Cheers for your help
    Best

    Kyle
     
  18. dbf

    dbf Moderatrix MOD

    Recommendation for Award for Neave, A M S Rank: Second Lieutenant Award: ... | The National Archives
    Reference: WO 373/92/442
    Name Neave, A M S
    Rank: Second Lieutenant
    Theatre of Combat or Operation: B E F 1939-40
    Award: Mention in Despatches
    Date of announcement in London Gazette: 12 May 1942


    Recommendation for Award for Neave, Airey Middleton Sheffield Rank: Captain ... | The National Archives
    Reference: WO 373/98/251
    Name Neave, Airey Middleton Sheffield
    Rank: Captain
    Service No: 66518
    Regiment: Royal Artillery
    Theatre of Combat or Operation: The London Omnibus List for Gallant and Distinguished Services in the Field
    Award: Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire
    Date of announcement in London Gazette: 30 August 1945

    Recommendation for Award for Neave, Airey M S Rank: Major Regiment: ... | The National Archives
    Reference: WO 373/148/744
    Name Neave, Airey M S
    Rank: Major
    Regiment: British Army
    Theatre of Combat or Operation: Foreign to British: USA
    Award: Meritorious Service
    Date of announcement in London Gazette: 23 July 1948

    Croix de Guerre

    Screen Shot 2018-04-05 at 22.06.56.png
     
    Last edited: Aug 24, 2019
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  19. bamboo43

    bamboo43 Very Senior Member

    Something poignant to add to this thread:

    12.jpg 14.jpg 16.jpg
     
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  20. bamboo43

    bamboo43 Very Senior Member

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