A Superb & Exceptional D-DAY & (BATTLE OF FALAISE GAP)
“Caterpillar Club” (P.O.W.) Tiger Tank Killer, Typhoon Pilot’s
“Aircrew Europe (F&G) Group of Four.
To:
Flt/Sgt- F/O CLIFFORD POLE. (181 Squadron) R.A.F.
Shot Down Twice
Hit by Ground Fire, 4th August 1944 (Crash Landed)
Hit by Flak, 19th August 1944 (Baled Out)
Taken Prisoner of War
Took part in THE LONG WINTER MARCH from Stalag Luft 7
19th January - 8th February 1945
[THE MEDALS]
1939-45 Star Aircrew Europe Star(France & Germany clasp)
War Medal 1939-45
[FLYING LOG BOOK] 1942 to 19th August 1944
The Flying Log Book records all Pole’s flying from the time of his training in Canada, right through his many important ground attack sorties over occupied France prior and after D-Day.
Flt/Sgt Pole also took part in a previously unknown (to us) and clandestine flight over the then occupied Channel Islands (Guernsey) just 10 days before D-Day on 27th May 1944.
His log book reports that he had encountered German flak.
Clearly the sortie was to establish if there was any apparent German military activity that might have been in any way indicative of enemy knowledge or readied opposition to the upcoming D-Day landings and Operation Overlord in nearby Normandy.
[GUN CAMERA PHOTOS]
Also here are two important gun camera photos of an attack on a German armoured column south of Caen at about the time he was shot down.Please note that in the upper left of the photograph you can actually see an immediately launched underwing rocket with its propellant burning brightly out of the rear combustion chamber.
[SHOOT DOWN No.1]
4th August 1944. VENDES, FRANCE.
Flt/Sgt Pole was first shot down on Wednesday August 4th 1944 when he was conducting a low level rocket attack on a column of German vehicles on the roads south of Caen. He was flying just above tree top height at less than 100 feet when he encountered small arms fire which punctured his glycol tank, compromising the cooling system of his Typhoon Mk1b JP651, EL-“L”
He then immediately selected a suitable field into which to execute a forced landing. He survived the event, but sadly the aircraft did not.
Please see the picture of Flt/Sgt Pole standing by the wreckage.
He had forced landed unhurt near VENDES with his log book stating a position of “AUNAY-SUR-ODON” & near “NOYERS (Normandy)” and luckily this area had newly come into the hands of the allies. He was picked up by the British Army and returned to his base (B.6) at Coulombs.
[SHOOT DOWN No.2] 19th August 1944. VIMOUTIERS, FRANCE.
Flt/Sgt Pole was again unluckily shot down on Saturday 19th August while attacking a column of German tanks near VIMOUTIERS. We think he was probably on his way to shoot up the enemy fuel dump at Chateau-De-L’Horloge which was the refuelling destination of many of the tanks which the squadron encountered on the road that day.
This time he was hit by Flak at ultra low level and had to rapidly convert his speed to height in order to be able to safely abandon his aircraft. (Typhoon 1b MN961. EL-“Q”)
He was quite badly burned on the arm during his climb to safe height as his aircraft was on fire. He bailed out with a landing made 4 miles east of VIMOUTIERS which on 19th August 1944 was still regrettably a good distance inside the German occupied area.
[THE ATTEMPTED GERMAN TANK ESCAPE]— “THE FALAISE GAP”—
On the 19th August 1944 several German tanks from mixed units, (including the now famous Vimoutiers Tiger I,) were making their way to get refuelled at the Army fuel dump set up in the Chateau de l'Horloge.
They were trying to escape the encirclement of the Falaise pocket and had to make a detour along the Vimoutiers-Gace road for fuel.
A number of the panzers ran out of fuel on that road, before they got to the Chateau and had to be abandoned. These included a Panzer III, a number of Panzer IVs, three Tiger I tanks and a King Tiger. It is believed that around 60 German tanks were abandoned around the rolling hills and rich dairy farmland that surrounds Vimoutiers during the last days of August 1944. Most were cut up after the war by scrap-metal merchants.
During the attack in these tanks, Flt/Sgt Pole’s aircraft was seen to crash in flames by one of his fellow pilots (F/O Edward “Ted” Jarvis) who initially assumed Pole was dead, but suddenly saw him during his decent by parachute, so knew he was at least comparatively safe.
We are greatly privileged to have a copy of the relevant page in Ted Jarvis’ flying log book which includes 19th August 1944 where he records the full circumstances of the loss of Flt/Sgt Pole’s aircraft as he was also flying in his own 181 Squadron Typhoon just ahead of Pole when his aircraft went down. Ted Jarvis’ log book relates that he himself was hit in the hydraulics during this same attack and his cockpit was filled with smoke.
[SQUADRON OPERATIONS BOOK]
-19th AUGUST 1944-
(124 Wing Airfield, (B.6)
181 Squadron Coulombs, Normandy
“Another big and profitable day, though we flew eight less sorties than yesterday. Also we sustained more losses. Sgt Pole baled out into enemy lines and was last seen suspended by his parachute from a tree. W/O Gilbert* was seen last heading south at a very low altitude. Neither of them have yet returned, though we are hopeful. P/O Shearburn aircraft rendered “Cat-B” by flak after he had forced landed at B.3 (St Croix-Sur-Mer) Normandy.
That’s the debit.
On the credit side we had Tanks - Two Flamers, Two Smokers, and One Damaged.
Total of:
28 Flamers,
15 Smokers,
9 Damaged.
All together two very good days work and it cannot now be said that the weather always favours The Hun—-nor must the ground crews valuable contribution to these successes be overlooked as sometimes happens” (*Note:) 413188 W/O R.D. GILBERT, R.A.A.F. age 22, was lost without trace & is commemorated with eternal honour on the Runnymede RAF memorial to the missing.
[CAPTURED & PRISONER of WAR]
Flt/Sgt Pole was last seen hanging in a tree by his parachute canopy (presumably by Jarvis or a fellow overflying pilot) and was apparently cut down by locals and then captured by members of the German Army who had also seen him come down.
He was unlucky not to be spirited away and hidden by the locals, but on the other hand he was VERY lucky indeed not to have been seen by members of the Waffen SS Panzer units who’s tanks and vehicles he was attacking as they would almost certainly have shot him while hanging in the tree. It was the 102nd Heavy SS Panzer Battalion who were involved.
[INTO CAPTIVITY]
After what apparently was a short period of medical attention for his burnt arm, Flt/Sgt Pole was transferred to his first Prison of War camp (Dulag Luft) Stalag XIIA at LIMBURG where he arrived on 22nd August 1944, just three days after his capture, becoming prisoner No. 86-397.
;From there he was transferred east to Stalag Luft VII at BANKAU, near KREULBURG in Upper Silesia (Now Poland) where he arrived just 42 days later on 3rd October 1944 and continued to be prisoner No. 86-397.
By January of 1945 it had become obvious to the Germans high command that their eastern P.O.W. camps and positions in Poland were under threat and about to be overrun by the Russian Army which was fast approaching from the east. For this reason the German authorities decided to relocate all allied prisoners of war into camps located further to the west in order to prevent them from being liberated.
Clifford Pole was made to join the “INFAMOUS” LONG WINTER MARCH from Stalag Luft VII to Stalag IIIa (BANKAU to LUKENWALDE) and was forced marched with 1500 of his fellows POW’s at gunpoint for over 230 miles in the most atrociously bitter European weather conditions for over 200 years. The men had little food, clothing or shelter and about 400 died during what were shocking sub-zero temperatures in January 1945.
On the official POW papers compiled at the end of the war he was recorded as “missing during the unofficial evacuation” on what has became famously known as the infamous “Long March” (*see more details below).
[THE LONG MARCH]-19th January-8th February 1945.
Stalag Luft VII (Bankau, near Kreulburg, Silesia )
The German prison of war camp Stalag Luft VII was opened on 6 June 1944, for RAF NCO flying crews and by July it held 230 prisoners. They were soon joined by members of the Glider Pilot Regiment who has been captured at the Battle of Arnhem in September 1944. By 1 January 1945, the camp held 1,578 prisoners. This was made up of 1,075 British, 252 Canadian, 134 Australian, 26 New Zealand, 24 French, 15 Polish, 14 South African, 11 Irish and 10 US. Others were Rhodesian, Maltese, Dutch, Belgian and Czechs
On 19th January 1945, 1,500 prisoners were ordered out of the camp into the bitter cold of the worst European winter for over 200 years and over the next 20 days were marched in inhuman conditions over 230 miles to the west in order to prevent liberation by the advancing Russian army.
They crossed a bridge over the river Oder on 21 January, reached Goldberg on 5 February, and were loaded onto a train. On 8 February they reached Stalag III-A located about 52 km (32 mi) south of Berlin near Luckenwalde, which already held 20,000 prisoners, consisting mainly of soldiers from Britain, Canada, the U.S. and Russia.
Flt/Sgt Pole was commissioned during his period of captivity as Pilot Officer in October 1944 and was promoted to the rank of Flying Officer in January 1945.
As all of our “truly obsessed” flying medal enthusiasts will know, this is a seriously desirable and historically important assembly.
It contains P.O.W. material of such great rarity that it is frankly hardly ever seen.
Just how Cliff Pole managed to bring out no less than three complete POW identification cards actually defies explanation....and quite why he had received two identical ID cards from his first camp at Stalag XIIA is quite a mystery.
Miraculously it has all survived intact and “as issued” for 76 years.
Caterpillar Club Card & Gold Pin with Red Ruby Eyes.
Several telegrams detailing Flt/Sgt Pole as missing in action, (20.8.44) a “censored” POW postcard sent to his wife confirming his safety as a POW and then two further telegrams announcing his imminent return home.
Discharge book, ration book, and much additional research paperwork included P.O.W. rolls & records. Also newspaper cuttings recording his post-war reunion & meeting with fellow pilot & golfer Edward “Ted”Jarvis in 1986.
Assembled all together in a display folder this is a totally exceptional “museum quality” grouping , fit for the very finest collection.
SOLD (*EXPORT*)
Flt/Sgt- F/O CLIFFORD POLE. (181 Squadron) R.A.F.
Shot Down Twice
Hit by Ground Fire, 4th August 1944 (Crash Landed)
Hit by Flak, 19th August 1944 (Baled Out)
Taken Prisoner of War
Took part in THE LONG WINTER MARCH from Stalag Luft 7
19th January - 8th February 1945
[THE MEDALS]
1939-45 Star Aircrew Europe Star(France & Germany clasp)
War Medal 1939-45
[FLYING LOG BOOK] 1942 to 19th August 1944
The Flying Log Book records all Pole’s flying from the time of his training in Canada, right through his many important ground attack sorties over occupied France prior and after D-Day.
Flt/Sgt Pole also took part in a previously unknown (to us) and clandestine flight over the then occupied Channel Islands (Guernsey) just 10 days before D-Day on 27th May 1944.
His log book reports that he had encountered German flak.
Clearly the sortie was to establish if there was any apparent German military activity that might have been in any way indicative of enemy knowledge or readied opposition to the upcoming D-Day landings and Operation Overlord in nearby Normandy.
[GUN CAMERA PHOTOS]
Also here are two important gun camera photos of an attack on a German armoured column south of Caen at about the time he was shot down.Please note that in the upper left of the photograph you can actually see an immediately launched underwing rocket with its propellant burning brightly out of the rear combustion chamber.
[SHOOT DOWN No.1]
4th August 1944. VENDES, FRANCE.
Flt/Sgt Pole was first shot down on Wednesday August 4th 1944 when he was conducting a low level rocket attack on a column of German vehicles on the roads south of Caen. He was flying just above tree top height at less than 100 feet when he encountered small arms fire which punctured his glycol tank, compromising the cooling system of his Typhoon Mk1b JP651, EL-“L”
He then immediately selected a suitable field into which to execute a forced landing. He survived the event, but sadly the aircraft did not.
Please see the picture of Flt/Sgt Pole standing by the wreckage.
He had forced landed unhurt near VENDES with his log book stating a position of “AUNAY-SUR-ODON” & near “NOYERS (Normandy)” and luckily this area had newly come into the hands of the allies. He was picked up by the British Army and returned to his base (B.6) at Coulombs.
[SHOOT DOWN No.2] 19th August 1944. VIMOUTIERS, FRANCE.
Flt/Sgt Pole was again unluckily shot down on Saturday 19th August while attacking a column of German tanks near VIMOUTIERS. We think he was probably on his way to shoot up the enemy fuel dump at Chateau-De-L’Horloge which was the refuelling destination of many of the tanks which the squadron encountered on the road that day.
This time he was hit by Flak at ultra low level and had to rapidly convert his speed to height in order to be able to safely abandon his aircraft. (Typhoon 1b MN961. EL-“Q”)
He was quite badly burned on the arm during his climb to safe height as his aircraft was on fire. He bailed out with a landing made 4 miles east of VIMOUTIERS which on 19th August 1944 was still regrettably a good distance inside the German occupied area.
[THE ATTEMPTED GERMAN TANK ESCAPE]— “THE FALAISE GAP”—
On the 19th August 1944 several German tanks from mixed units, (including the now famous Vimoutiers Tiger I,) were making their way to get refuelled at the Army fuel dump set up in the Chateau de l'Horloge.
They were trying to escape the encirclement of the Falaise pocket and had to make a detour along the Vimoutiers-Gace road for fuel.
A number of the panzers ran out of fuel on that road, before they got to the Chateau and had to be abandoned. These included a Panzer III, a number of Panzer IVs, three Tiger I tanks and a King Tiger. It is believed that around 60 German tanks were abandoned around the rolling hills and rich dairy farmland that surrounds Vimoutiers during the last days of August 1944. Most were cut up after the war by scrap-metal merchants.
During the attack in these tanks, Flt/Sgt Pole’s aircraft was seen to crash in flames by one of his fellow pilots (F/O Edward “Ted” Jarvis) who initially assumed Pole was dead, but suddenly saw him during his decent by parachute, so knew he was at least comparatively safe.
We are greatly privileged to have a copy of the relevant page in Ted Jarvis’ flying log book which includes 19th August 1944 where he records the full circumstances of the loss of Flt/Sgt Pole’s aircraft as he was also flying in his own 181 Squadron Typhoon just ahead of Pole when his aircraft went down. Ted Jarvis’ log book relates that he himself was hit in the hydraulics during this same attack and his cockpit was filled with smoke.
[SQUADRON OPERATIONS BOOK]
-19th AUGUST 1944-
(124 Wing Airfield, (B.6)
181 Squadron Coulombs, Normandy
“Another big and profitable day, though we flew eight less sorties than yesterday. Also we sustained more losses. Sgt Pole baled out into enemy lines and was last seen suspended by his parachute from a tree. W/O Gilbert* was seen last heading south at a very low altitude. Neither of them have yet returned, though we are hopeful. P/O Shearburn aircraft rendered “Cat-B” by flak after he had forced landed at B.3 (St Croix-Sur-Mer) Normandy.
That’s the debit.
On the credit side we had Tanks - Two Flamers, Two Smokers, and One Damaged.
Total of:
28 Flamers,
15 Smokers,
9 Damaged.
All together two very good days work and it cannot now be said that the weather always favours The Hun—-nor must the ground crews valuable contribution to these successes be overlooked as sometimes happens” (*Note:) 413188 W/O R.D. GILBERT, R.A.A.F. age 22, was lost without trace & is commemorated with eternal honour on the Runnymede RAF memorial to the missing.
[CAPTURED & PRISONER of WAR]
Flt/Sgt Pole was last seen hanging in a tree by his parachute canopy (presumably by Jarvis or a fellow overflying pilot) and was apparently cut down by locals and then captured by members of the German Army who had also seen him come down.
He was unlucky not to be spirited away and hidden by the locals, but on the other hand he was VERY lucky indeed not to have been seen by members of the Waffen SS Panzer units who’s tanks and vehicles he was attacking as they would almost certainly have shot him while hanging in the tree. It was the 102nd Heavy SS Panzer Battalion who were involved.
[INTO CAPTIVITY]
After what apparently was a short period of medical attention for his burnt arm, Flt/Sgt Pole was transferred to his first Prison of War camp (Dulag Luft) Stalag XIIA at LIMBURG where he arrived on 22nd August 1944, just three days after his capture, becoming prisoner No. 86-397.
;From there he was transferred east to Stalag Luft VII at BANKAU, near KREULBURG in Upper Silesia (Now Poland) where he arrived just 42 days later on 3rd October 1944 and continued to be prisoner No. 86-397.
By January of 1945 it had become obvious to the Germans high command that their eastern P.O.W. camps and positions in Poland were under threat and about to be overrun by the Russian Army which was fast approaching from the east. For this reason the German authorities decided to relocate all allied prisoners of war into camps located further to the west in order to prevent them from being liberated.
Clifford Pole was made to join the “INFAMOUS” LONG WINTER MARCH from Stalag Luft VII to Stalag IIIa (BANKAU to LUKENWALDE) and was forced marched with 1500 of his fellows POW’s at gunpoint for over 230 miles in the most atrociously bitter European weather conditions for over 200 years. The men had little food, clothing or shelter and about 400 died during what were shocking sub-zero temperatures in January 1945.
On the official POW papers compiled at the end of the war he was recorded as “missing during the unofficial evacuation” on what has became famously known as the infamous “Long March” (*see more details below).
[THE LONG MARCH]-19th January-8th February 1945.
Stalag Luft VII (Bankau, near Kreulburg, Silesia )
The German prison of war camp Stalag Luft VII was opened on 6 June 1944, for RAF NCO flying crews and by July it held 230 prisoners. They were soon joined by members of the Glider Pilot Regiment who has been captured at the Battle of Arnhem in September 1944. By 1 January 1945, the camp held 1,578 prisoners. This was made up of 1,075 British, 252 Canadian, 134 Australian, 26 New Zealand, 24 French, 15 Polish, 14 South African, 11 Irish and 10 US. Others were Rhodesian, Maltese, Dutch, Belgian and Czechs
On 19th January 1945, 1,500 prisoners were ordered out of the camp into the bitter cold of the worst European winter for over 200 years and over the next 20 days were marched in inhuman conditions over 230 miles to the west in order to prevent liberation by the advancing Russian army.
They crossed a bridge over the river Oder on 21 January, reached Goldberg on 5 February, and were loaded onto a train. On 8 February they reached Stalag III-A located about 52 km (32 mi) south of Berlin near Luckenwalde, which already held 20,000 prisoners, consisting mainly of soldiers from Britain, Canada, the U.S. and Russia.
Flt/Sgt Pole was commissioned during his period of captivity as Pilot Officer in October 1944 and was promoted to the rank of Flying Officer in January 1945.
As all of our “truly obsessed” flying medal enthusiasts will know, this is a seriously desirable and historically important assembly.
It contains P.O.W. material of such great rarity that it is frankly hardly ever seen.
Just how Cliff Pole managed to bring out no less than three complete POW identification cards actually defies explanation....and quite why he had received two identical ID cards from his first camp at Stalag XIIA is quite a mystery.
Miraculously it has all survived intact and “as issued” for 76 years.
Caterpillar Club Card & Gold Pin with Red Ruby Eyes.
Several telegrams detailing Flt/Sgt Pole as missing in action, (20.8.44) a “censored” POW postcard sent to his wife confirming his safety as a POW and then two further telegrams announcing his imminent return home.
Discharge book, ration book, and much additional research paperwork included P.O.W. rolls & records. Also newspaper cuttings recording his post-war reunion & meeting with fellow pilot & golfer Edward “Ted”Jarvis in 1986.
Assembled all together in a display folder this is a totally exceptional “museum quality” grouping , fit for the very finest collection.
SOLD (*EXPORT*)