This page is dedicated to the memory of 7 Commandos, one Canadian and six British, who were held prisoner at Colditz for a short period of time before being executed under Hitler’s ‘Commando Order’.
The men, their mission, their brief liaison with Colditz and the ‘Order’ will be discussed. Further reading on the subject is of course always encouraged. The significance of the episode is important to Colditz as it relayed to the prisoners for the first time, at first hand, the change in tact by the German towards soldiers captured in uniform outside the recognised fields of battle.
The Men:
Capt. Graeme Black (33), Canadian, South Lancashire Regiment (iC)
Capt. Joseph Houghton (31), Queen’s Own Cameron Highlanders (2iC)
C.S.M. Miller Smith (27), Coldstream Guards
L.Sgt. William Chudley (20), Royal Artillery
Pte. Reginald Makeham (28), London Scottish Regiment
Rfn. Cyril Abram (20), Rifle Brigade
Pte. Eric Curtis (21), Queen’s Own Royal West Kent Regiment
The following photographs were taken on October 8th 1942, the morning after their arrival at Colditz and a couple of weeks before they were executed:
Capt. Joseph Houghton (31), Queen’s Own Cameron Highlanders (2iC)
Pte. Eric Curtis (21), Queen’s Own Royal West Kent Regiment
The photos of the others will follow shortly
Their Mission:
“Then, on the night of 20th/21st September, Operation ‘Musketoon’ was launched. This was an attack by a detachment of No.2 Commando with some Norwegian troops upon the hydro-electric power station at Glomfjord in Norway. The raiders were under the command of Captain G.D. Black, M.C. (South Lancashire Regiment), and Captain J.B.J. Houghton (Queen’s Own Cameron Highlanders). The power station was of considerable importance, for it supplied current to the chief aluminium manufacturing plant in Norway, situated a few miles away.
After a successful landing from a Free French submarine Captain Houghton and a Norwegian carried out a four-hour reconnaissance, during which they found a way across what was described as the ‘black glacier’. This was successfully crossed in a long day’s march. That evening they caught sight of the pipeline through which ran the waters of the mountain torrent supplying power to the turbines and dynamos of the power house.
After a rest they pressed on, but the precipitous nature of the way put them into great peril, for they were soon moving along the side of a mountain which at this point fell sheer into a lake. There were many loose stones and boulders on the rough track. To dislodge one of these would bring down others and set the whole wild valley roaring. Treading delicately they descended in silence and darkness, and by dawn they had reached good cover within a short distance of the power station, now clearly visible.
Shortly before eleven in the evening the party moved to the attack. Captain Houghton and a companion crawled close to the guard room, reached it, held up the guards and shot one of them. While they were thus occupied, the demolition party, Sergeant Smith and Guardsman Fairclough, of the Coldstream and Grenadier Guards respectively, put their charges under the machinery. The raiders then withdrew, and a moment later two explosions followed by a vivid glow showed them that they had been successful. Two others, Lance Sergeant O’Brien (Royal Berkshire Regiment), and Private Makan (London Scottish Regiment), had in the meantime blown up a section of the pipeline.
Having accomplished their tasks, and wreaked havoc at a very sensitive spot, the raisers met the covering party and all moved off, but presently ran into a German patrol. There was a fight and some became casualties. Houghton and Black were wounded, captured, and subsequently shot in captivity.”
‘The Green Beret The Story of the Commandos 1940-1945′ by Hiliary St. George Saunders
As prisoners in Colditz:
“Seven Commandos - one Canadian and six British were temporary prisoners in Colditz Castle in October 1942 while on route for Berlin where, six days later, in flagrant violation of the Geneva Convention protecting prisoners-of-war, they were secretly executed.
“The mission, code-named ‘Musketoon’, was completed on 21 September, 1942, by twelve commandos of the No.2 Special Service Commando Unit. Only 4 escaped. They were Sgt. O’Brien, of the Royal Berkshire Regiment; Cpl. John Fairclough, of the Grenadier Guards; Pte. Fred Trigg, of the Royal Sussex Regiment; and Cpl. Sverre Granlund, of the Royal Norwegian Army. Cpl. Hogwold Djupdraet, also of the Royal Norwegian Army, received a mortal bayonet wound while fleeing the devastated hydro-electric power station.
The seven commandos arrived in Colditz on 7 October, and their presence left the Kommandant, Oberst Glaesche, far from pleased. He had received no advance notice of their arrival, which was contrary to standing orders. However, he subsequently received orders from the Oberkommando der Wehrmacht to put the commandos in isolated custody until further notice. The following morning all seven men were photographed (see above, GW) by the official photographer, Johannes Lange.”
“Their arrival at Colditz marked their sixteenth day as prisoners, but they seemed to be under no illusion as to their fate. The NCO in charge of them was ‘Tiger’ Teicher, and perhaps the sight of this somewhat decrepit warrior, coupled with the fact they had no way of knowing they were being held in the most heavily guarded prison in Europe, prompted them to attempt an abortive escape that very night. A few days later Black and Houghton were transferred to prison cells in the town where Peter Storie-Pugh was already in solitary confinement for one of his many misdemeanours. Through the cell wall he was able to ask Black why they had been sent to Colditz. The leader of the commando team replied he didn’t know. But they had already been told, he added, that they were to be shot. Storie-Pugh, incredulous, refused to believe it, claiming that as they had been captured in uniform, their captors couldn’t possibly do that.
The British contingent in the Castle was greatly concerned about the fate of their comrades. An official request by the Senior British Officer, Lt.Col. D.S.Stayner, to talk to the commandos was refused. The secrecy surrounding their arrival and the manner in which they were being kept in strict isolation gave credibility to Black’s claim that they were to be shot.
Their names were passed through illicit channels to London. The neutral Swiss authorities, among whose functions it was to represent the interests and welfare of prisoners-of-war, were notified and urged to intervene, but time was against them.
On Tuesday, 13 October, four SS officers arrived at Colditz. Black, Houghton, Chudley and Curtis were escorted out of the Castle under heavy guard. Abram, Makeham and Smith, similarly escorted, followed a short while later. They were all taken by the SS to Berlin for interrogation under the direct supervision of SS Obergruppenfuehrer Heinrich Mueller, superior officer to the notorious Adolf Eichmann.”
“The commandos were transferred on 22 October to a civilian concentration camp on the outskirts of Berlin called Camp Sachsenhausen. Shortly before dawn on 23 October they were each killed by a single shot in the back of the neck. Their bodies were conveniently disposed of in the camp crematorium. Of the four commandos who survived that mission, only Sgt. Richard O’Brien and Cpl. John Fairclough survived the war. Fairclough took part in four commando missions, was awarded the Military Medal and was demobbed in November 1945.”
‘Camera in Colditz’ by Ron Baybutt
(Editors note - Baybutt & St.George Saunders conflict over the name Makeham & Makan , respectively. GW)
It is worth quoting directly from a account by a prisoner who briefly mentions the commandos in his diary (although incorrectly describing them as ‘parachutists’). In you notice the date maybe he can be forgiven for having his mind on other things around that time - Pat Reid, Hank Wardle, Ronnie Littledale and Bill Stephens escaped the night of 14/15th October. The diary entry for 14th was ‘ A very quiet but busy day. An intense, exciting evening.’
“Saturday 10 October. Seven British Parachutists are in the cells under the last archway, hence it has been difficult to establish communication with them. Their first enquiry convulsed us: were they in some sort of detention barracks because they were on half rations? It cheered us tremendously to hear them describe our full rations as half rations, and to hear that bread is still unrationed at home and there is ample food for everyone.”
‘Padre in Colditz - The Diary of J.Ellison Platt’ edited by Margaret Duggan
The Commandos were mentioned in another ex-prisoner’s recollections of life at Colditz. Capt. Rupert Barry was writing about communicating with London by code when in his article the subject of the commandos were referred to:
“Six Commandos ex-Norway had arrived in the Colditz local police lock-up in the village. We knew they were there and rations for 6 were duly ordered. We knew nothing of them, not even their names, but we did know that because they were Commandos their position n Germany was, to say the least, insecure. Goldman (Solly Goldman, Orderly extroadinaire, ..Ed. GW) was asked to obtain any details he could but at the very least he must get their names. As things turned out they were not prepared to talk at all, neither would they divulge their names as they did not know who Goldman was. It was not until the next day that they believed he was who he said he was and not, as they had suspected, some enemy agent. He did then obtain all their names. These were immediately sent back to Britain by code. As events turned out this was important later on the Germans tried to make out that they had all been killed in the operation they were engaged on in Norway, whereas they were murdered by the Gestapo in Berlin a few days later.”
‘Cooking up a Code’ by Rupert Barry an extract from ‘Colditz Recaptured’ by Reinhold Eggers
Even these accounts differ in the ‘facts’ so the reader can understand how difficult it is piecing the various accounts together and trying to substantiate them. The author of the web site prefers instead to let each account stand as it is and let the reader make their own judgements, if they feel they have to .
The 7 commandos were shot before dawn on 23rd October 1942. After their capture and before their day of execution, on the 18th to be precise, Adolf Hitler signed a decree which sealed their, and all subsequent captured commandos, fate. There appears to be no other Commando mission on or around these exact dates so one might tentatively assume the success of the ‘Musketoon’ Mission led to the decree:
“On October 18, 1942, Adolf Hitler himself threw a verbal grenade into Falkenhorst’s peaceful Norwegian parlour. On that day, he signed a decree which became known as the Hitler Befehl. Only 12 copies were issued, of which Falkenhorst received number 4. It was a top-secret order which was to have tragic and far-reaching consequences. In essence, the Befehl was a ‘no quarter’ order directed against Commando Radars operating in any theatre of war, and the Fuehrer expressed his decisions in four important paragraphs. He wrote as follows (the italics are mine):
“From now on, all opponents brought to battle by German troops in so-called commando operations in Europe or in Africa, even when it is outwardly a matter of soldiers in uniform or demolition parties with or without weapons, are to be exterminated to the last man in battle or while in flight. In these cases it is immaterial whether they are landed for their operations by ship or aeroplane or descend by parachute. Even should these individuals, on their being discovered, make as if to surrender, all quarter is to be denied them on principle. A detailed report is to be sent to the OKW on each separate case for publication in the Wehrmact Communique.
“If individual members of such commandos working as agents, saboteurs, etc, fall in to the hands of the Wehrmact by other means – e.g. through the police in any of the Counties occupied by us – they are to be handed over to the SD immediately. It is strictly forbidden to hold them in military custody e.g. in PW camps, etc, even as a temporary measure.
“This instruction does not apply to the treatment of those enemy soldiers who are taken prisoner in open battle or who surrender in the course of normal battle operations (offensives, large scale landing operations and large scale air landing operations). Equally little does this regulation apply to enemy soldiers who have fallen into our hands after naval encounters or are seeking to save their lives by parachute after air battles.
“In the case of non-execution of this order, I shall make responsible before a Court Martial all commanders and officers who have either failed to carry out their duty in instructing the troops in this order, or who act contrary to this order in carrying it out.”
(Sgd). A.Hitler”
Now this decree as it stood was almost a legitimate order. According to the accepted rules of conduct in war, there was nothing illegal about the idea of “no quarter being given” - in short, a policy of complete extermination of the enemy during combat, a policy that could be applied equally to Commando raiders and to units on any field of battle.
The legitimacy of such an order, however, is determined by one condition: it may be issued by a commander on the strict understanding that it’s terms are made known not only to his own troops but also to the enemy. What turned the Befehl into a totally illegal document was the plain, undeniable fact that it was marked “Top Secret”. In addition, it was accompanied by a lengthly note of explanation - also top secret - giving the Fuehrer’s reasons for the decree. It ended abruptly with the odd statement: “Should it prove advisable to spare one or two men in the first instance for interrogation reasons, they are to be shot immediately after their interrogation”… a conclusion that seemed strangely contradictory to the terms of the actual Befehl.
The Befehl was illegal by virtue of its top-secret nature, but it was not in itself an order to murder, despite the confusion arising out of the “shooting” reference at the end of Hitler’s accompanying notes. It is interesting to recall that both Rommel and Kesselring received the Befehl and refrained from passing it on to the officers under their command.
Alone of the German generals who got the Fuehrer’s document, Nicholas von Falkenhorst decided to invest it with a truly lethal force. He took it upon himself, indeed, to go one better than Hitler. For in Norway Falkenhorst issued his own version of the Befehl, and added to its ruthless character in a peculiar savage fashion. Riveting his attention on the final words of Hitler’s explanatory note, Falkenhorst’s order contained the startling new provision: “IF A MAN IS SAVED FOR INTERROGATION HE MUST NOT SURVIVE HIS COMRADES FOR MORE THAN TWENTY-FOUR HOURS”.
Not even Adolf Hitler had gone that far in his instructions to the German commanders.”
‘The London Cage’ by Lt.Col. AP.Scotland