Castle of the Eagles

by Felton, Mark;

  Jim Hargest spotted an opportunity when he was in the lower cloisters outside the prisoners’ accommodation one day. The castle’s curtain wall, which was about three feet thick at this point, had been pierced, probably during Temple-Leader’s tenure, presumably to provide people in the lower cloisters with a splendid view of distant Florence. During the conversion of the castle to a POW camp these two windows had been filled in with cemented rocks and the mortar plastered so as to fit in with the surrounding ancient stone.

  Rabbits came into the equation because the rabbit-keeper, Brigadier Pip Stirling (who had taken over this duty from Brigadier Todhunter) kept a line of wooden hutches against the wall in front of one of the bricked-up windows. Hargest decided to work with just two other officers for this escape attempt – Boyd and Hargest’s fellow countryman Reg Miles.

  Hargest asked Stirling to stack some empty hutches on top of the occupied ones, so creating a wooden wall three feet tall, with a sufficient gap behind to allow a man to work in secret. The only downside to Hargest’s plan was the Italian sentries on the wooden walkway fitted to the inside of the castle battlements. Every few minutes a sentry would stroll along the walkway, arriving at a position high above the spot where Hargest would be interfering with the wall; Hargest needed to know when this occurred so he could cease work and be silent till the sentry reversed his beat and moved out of earshot. Sergeant Howes volunteered to act as a stooge. He spent all day sitting under the blazing sun sketching, and giving Hargest a surreptitious signal at the approach of the sentry.19

  Hargest, armed with a large meat knife that Boyd had fitted with a stout wooden handle, slipped behind the barrier of hutches, his movement shielded by Stirling as he tended to his rabbits. Working quickly, Hargest scraped off the plaster that covered the mortar holding two of the rocks together. It was all looking too simple.

  Later that evening Neame popped into Hargest’s room to talk to him.

  ‘Word is, Hargest, that you are working on an escape plan concerning the wall?’ asked Neame casually. Neame was actually quite angry that Hargest and his associates had decided not to share the details with the other prisoners. The reason for their reticence was that Boyd believed that earlier plans had come to naught partly because of too many people knowing about them, leading to careless talk or slip-ups. Neame, though, thought that everyone should share with everyone else – that the castle’s POWs were too few in number not to cooperate on every escape scheme.

  ‘I don’t approve of such secrecy, Hargest,’ said Neame plainly. ‘I hope that you will share your plan with us all. In the meantime, can you give me the basics now?’

  Hargest understood Neame’s position, but he also agreed with Boyd’s point about careless talk or actions.

  ‘Once we’ve made a hole through the window space we’ll pass through it feet foremost, holding on by a rope fastened to a cross-stick on the inside,’ replied Hargest. ‘Once through, we’ll be about twelve feet above the ground on the outside. We can lower ourselves by means of the rope.’

  ‘Have you ever tried going through a hole backside foremost and ending up twelve feet above ground and doing it without noise?’ asked Neame in a concerned voice.

  ‘No, I haven’t,’ replied Hargest, ‘but it seems easy.’

  ‘Well,’ said Neame wearily, ‘just try it to make sure.’20

  Privately, Neame didn’t think that Hargest’s plan had much chance of success,21 but by this stage, and with a long string of failed attempts behind them, anything was worth a try. Boyd rigged up a wooden box of the approximate dimensions of the hole that they would have to squeeze through and the three of them spent time perfecting the feet-first escape. After some initial difficulties, the technique was mastered.

  Meanwhile, work continued on the wall. After two weeks of careful excavations Hargest, Miles and Boyd had managed to loosen several of the large stones by scraping away the mortar that bound them together. The stones were left in situ – they would only be fully removed from the wall when the moment came for the escape. But then disaster struck.

  In the evening, Hargest and the others, at Neame’s urging, outlined the plan to the rest of the prisoners. The following morning some of the prisoners were taken outside the castle for a walk in the grounds. As they passed the place where Hargest and his team were excavating, a couple of the prisoners paused and glanced at the wall. Though it was almost involuntary, the guards noticed. Major Bacci was informed.22

  Early the following morning Bacci and a platoon of Carabinieri marched into the castle and headed straight for the cloister wall. Fortunately, Hargest and friends had not yet begun work. Conferring with First Captain Tranquille, Bacci ordered Brigadier Stirling and some of the orderlies to immediately remove the stack of rabbit hutches close to the wall. Bacci and Tranquille probably assumed that the hutches were to be used by the prisoners to climb the wall. Bacci inspected the wall behind the hutches carefully. He quickly noted that several of the rocks in the filled-in window were loose, but he didn’t seem to realise that the prisoners had worked them loose.23 Bacci gave orders that they be cemented back into place. Even worse, Tranquille posted a new sentry at night below the outer wall and put up more searchlights on the battlements.24

  CHAPTER 10

  ___________________

  Six Seconds

  ‘In spite of the difficulties it seemed that the plan was a possibility, although it contained a large number of “ifs”.’

  Lieutenant-General Sir Richard O’Connor

  ‘If we can’t escape by night, then we should try to escape by day,’1 stated Dick O’Connor to the gathered escape committee. ‘I still maintain that the theory behind the white wall plan was sound. While sterling efforts have been made by several of the officers around this table to get under or through the castle’s walls, the fact remains that none have succeeded.’ The others all nodded their heads. The run of bad luck since the white wall job had been blown had been unremitting, with every possible escape avenue that they had explored ending in a dead end or near-discovery by the Italians. Morale was low, and worse, the Italians were suspicious.2

  ‘The wall, gentlemen, still remains our best chance of getting out of here,’ said O’Connor, ‘and I think I’ve found the way.’

  The others were intrigued. O’Connor’s reputation for dogged determination concerning escape planning was respected by everyone. The man was relentless in his scheming and the recent reverses had not soured him one bit.

  ‘Our illustrious commandant doesn’t think that escaping in broad daylight is possible, so he reduces the day sentries while increasing the number of sentries posted at night,’3 said O’Connor conspiratorially.

  ‘I’m sorry, Dick, but I think the man may have a point,’ piped up General Gambier-Parry from the end of the dining room table.

  ‘Nonsense, G-P,’ replied O’Connor, ‘I think that his over-confidence is actually a weakness, so let me outline to you my plan.’4

  O’Connor reached inside his tunic as he sat at the big dining room table with the rest of the escape committee and pulled out a piece of notepaper on which he had traced a basic map of the castle, with the guards’ various sentry boxes marked on it. He continued to outline his new escape scheme.

  ‘The sentries on the walls cover their beats in their own time, in no regular routine, so one cannot predict where they will be at any given time, right?’5 asked O’Connor to the group.

  ‘Agreed,’ said General Neame at O’Connor’s elbow.

  ‘Wrong,’ said O’Connor. ‘There is a time during the day when we can know exactly where every man jack of them will be: relief time.’ This was when the sentries were changed, timed to occur every even hour. ‘During the relief every sentry is at his box.’ O’Connor pointed with a pencil to ‘Tower A’ on his diagram. ‘Starting here, the relief moves clockwise along the sentry platform, finally descending into the area on the far side of the white wall near Tower B. The relief consists of a corporal and four privates. As
you’ve all seen, they have a short handover ceremony at each box immediately after which the party, with the corporal at the head and the latest relieved sentry in rear, continues marching in quick time towards the next sentry to be relieved.’6 O’Connor paused.

  ‘It goes without saying that no ladder can be used to reach the top of the wall without a sentry seeing it, and the height up to the wooden walkway is too high to climb up unassisted.’ The others studied the drawing or watched O’Connor’s face closely. A plan was starting to take form before them.

  ‘The escape I have in mind is initially just for myself,’ said O’Connor lightly, ‘though I will need help. I think that if successful we can get out two more men on the same day. I’ve given the scheme a great deal of thought, and I think that the best place for me to be hoisted up on to the battlements walkway is this stone bench here,’ said O’Connor, indicating with his pencil.

  ‘I’ll need two men to hoist me up,’ said O’Connor.

  Brigadiers Combe and Miles quickly volunteered.

  ‘You chaps will have to stand on the bench, which is about eighteen inches high, and hoist me right up.’ Fortunately for everyone, General Dick was a small, wiry man.

  ‘I’ve picked this bench for another reason,’ continued O’Connor. ‘It’s quite close to the main door to the courtyard, so we can smuggle out the necessary escape kit quickly and stash it without much risk of being seen. I’ve also noticed that the projection of the wall in this part of the castle completely masks the sentry’s view from Box 3 here,’ said O’Connor, pointing with his pencil, ‘provided the chap remains immediately outside the box and does not move in the direction of Sentry Box 2 here.’7

  ‘I see where you are going with this, Dick,’ said Neame. ‘You’re going to make the attempt during the relief?’

  ‘That’s right, Phil. It’s the only time when the sentries are all at their boxes. This means that my attempt to scale the wall is restricted to that special moment,’ said O’Connor.

  ‘You won’t have long, old chap,’ said General De Wiart. ‘The relief is normally pretty quick.’

  ‘I’ve taken that into account in my calculations, Carton,’ replied O’Connor.

  O’Connor had chosen to use the marching guards as a screen between himself and the sentry at Box 2. He planned to make his climb up the wall just at the instant when the guards had passed; in this way the marching guards would be between Sentry No. 2 and himself. The guards would block the sentry’s view and it was unlikely that they would look back. The noise of the soldiers’ heavy boots would provide O’Connor with further cover.8

  ‘What about the sentry at Box 3?’ asked Neame.

  ‘He could be a problem. If he moves so much as five feet towards Box 2, any movement on the platform or wall above the bench will be visible to him. Also, it goes without saying that Sentry No. 1 has to be prevented from moving towards the end of his beat at Box 2, where he would be in a position to see what was going on.’9

  ‘So you manage to get past the sentries without being seen,’ said Gambier-Parry, ‘but how do you get off the wall without being spotted?’

  ‘Obviously I’ll be using a rope, but it has to be fixed in such a manner that it cannot be seen from the inside of the wall,’ said O’Connor. ‘I’ve decided upon the following method. If you look on my diagram I’ve marked these points on the wall X, Y and Z.’ O’Connor pointed with his pencil as everyone strained to see. It became apparent that Dick planned to head for one of the embrasures on the far side of the walkway, and make his way down from there. ‘These points were once loopholes,’ he continued. ‘You may have noticed that Temple-Leader had some of them filled with red-brick boxes that are about six inches wide at the inside of the wall and four inches high, about twelve inches long, and tapering to about four inches wide at the outer face of the wall.’10 It was this eye for detail that marked O’Connor out as such a serious escaper.

  ‘The loophole at ‘Z’ is empty. I was thinking that it might be possible to make a block of wood of the same shape and size as the flower box, paint the side that faces inside red, and fix a strong hook at the outside end of the block, sufficiently strong to bear the weight of the rope and myself.’11

  ‘Brilliant, Dick, absolutely brilliant,’ said Neame, grinning.

  ‘If I can push the block in the aperture and fix a rope on the hook, I should be able to slip down to the ground. The chances of being discovered are very unlikely because the back of the block will perfectly blend with the other flower boxes. And it’s equally unlikely that the rope will be seen hanging from the outside as any ground sentries only come on at night and few people pass by the walls during the day. I further suggest that the rope should be camouflaged to resemble the colour of the castle’s wall.’12

  ‘How do you propose to get the rope and block up to the wall in the first place?’ asked Brigadier Combe.

  ‘I shall wear the rope coiled over my left shoulder and under my right arm. The block will be attached by its hook to a strong belt of string round my waist,’13 replied O’Connor. ‘I shall also be taking a small valise that I shall strap to my back like a rucksack during the descent.’

  ‘What about clothing?’ asked Brigadier Miles. ‘I mean, you can’t come swanning into the courtyard in mufti.’

  ‘Quite,’ replied O’Connor. ‘I’ll have to walk out dressed in uniform then slip my uniform off while sitting on the bench. I’ll wear civilian clothes under my uniform and the tunic can be stowed under the bench.’

  ‘Well, Dick, it’s a fantastic plan,’ said Neame, ‘but it does contain quite a lot of “ifs”.’

  ‘What about rope?’ asked Brigadier Todhunter. ‘We lost some in those damned searches after the white wall fiasco.’

  ‘My servant Stones and Able Seaman Cunningham have already started helping me make the necessary rope. Lord Ranfurly has kindly donated his bed sheets. We’re making it in sections of seven feet, up to 49 feet in total. I estimate that at least 28 feet will be required to cover the drop on the other side of the wall, and the less rope that I have to carry the better.’14

  ‘So, the arrangements that need to be made are some practice sessions for Combe and Miles hoisting me up from a bench,’ said O’Connor. ‘We’ve got a few seconds to play with, so we have to work as a well-oiled team. I’d appreciate some suggestions as to how we can prevent Sentry No. 3 from moving towards Box 2.’15

  ‘Well, I’d like to have a try at distracting around Box 2,’ volunteered Pip Stirling.

  A fair discussion of everything O’Connor had placed before them followed. It was decided that O’Connor would attempt to escape at 2.00pm on a day yet to be chosen. Brigadier Combe would go at 4.00pm (another officer taking over hoisting duties) and Air Vice-Marshal Boyd at 6.00pm. The advantage for Combe and Boyd was that O’Connor’s block and rope would already be in place, so they would have less to worry about. All they would need to do was have themselves hoisted up to the battlements and then climb down the outside of the wall.16

  *

  The first order of business was manufacturing sufficient rope for the attempt. Ranfurly had donated some bed sheets, and these were being made into rope by O’Connor’s batman Trooper Stones, who was from Brigadier Combe’s old regiment, the 11th Hussars, and Able Seaman Cunningham, who had been sent to the castle to act as a barber.17 Cunningham’s training in shipboard knots and rope work proved particularly useful. He cut the sheets into narrow strips about seven feet long and two inches wide and then plaited them together. The resulting rope was strong, light and very flexible.18 The only problem was the rope’s cream colouring – something would have to be done about it before the escape.

  O’Connor, Miles and Combe started immediate practice sessions. It was estimated that O’Connor would have about six seconds in which to be hoisted up on to the battlement walkway and disappear into the embrasure. That was an incredibly tight schedule, but O’Connor felt that if he, Combe and Miles could perfect the hoist from the bench it
was workable. Obviously, such training sessions had to be concealed from the Italians, so O’Connor’s room was used. Against one wall was a high wardrobe that would double as the castle’s outer wall, the top acting as the guards’ walkway. A wooden bench was brought into O’Connor’s room and placed below the wardrobe. The three men sat on the bench and then, at the given signal, O’Connor would stand on the bench facing the wardrobe, legs stiff, on tiptoe. Miles on the left and Combe on the right would immediately bend down and seize O’Connor under his insteps, then push him up to the full length of their arms above their heads, ending with O’Connor clambering on to the top of the wardrobe. Later, the three practised with O’Connor wearing his valise and rope coiled across his trunk, with the wooden block hooked to his waist. After exhaustive practice, O’Connor knew that he could make it within the six-second window of opportunity.19 Practice sessions were also held where fresh hoisters were brought in ready to allow Combe and Boyd to attempt the same escape at two-hour intervals following O’Connor. If everything went according to plan, three senior British officers would be free in the Italian countryside before the enemy discovered their absence.

  *

  The issue of the rope’s colour was solved one evening by O’Connor, who managed to stain the material a darker hue in a bath full of coffee. He then hung the long rope in coils all about his bathroom ceiling to dry. He intended to hide it once it had dried out and went down for supper as usual. O’Connor was tired from his training programme and the usual boisterous conversation in the mess tired him out further. Every night it was the same: noisy games of backgammon at which De Wiart excelled; Neame and Boyd arguing about which was better, the army or the air force; G-P chattering away about art or music while Combe and Miles contradicted each other. Lots of strong personalities locked up together in a small space made for a lively and frequently cantankerous social scene. O’Connor excused himself and headed for bed. He had a nagging feeling that something was off, out of kilter, but he couldn’t think what it was. He closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep.