Michael Sinclair (British Army officer)

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Lieutenant Michael Sinclair, DSO (ca. 1918 - 25 September 1944), known as the Red Fox,[1] was a British prisoner at Colditz Castle (POW camp Oflag IV-C) during World War II. He was involved in a number of escape attempts throughout the war and was recognized within the camp for his determination to escape.[2]

Contents

[edit] Prior to Colditz

Sinclair was most likely born sometime in 1918[3] in the city of Winchester.[4] He was a soldier in The King's Royal Rifle Corps[4] when he was captured by German forces and sent to Stalag XXI-D (Posen) POW camp in the north of Poland.[5]

Sinclair escaped from the camp, along with comrade and fellow Winchesterman, Ronnie Littledale. They received assistance from Polish citizens and spent some time living in a large town. They eventually headed for Switzerland but got caught during a mass check-up of the inhabitants of Prague after the assassination of Reinhard Heydrich in June 1942. Both men were interviewed and tortured before being sent to Colditz.[5]

[edit] Arrival and escape

Sinclair arrived in Colditz, along with Littledale, in mid 1942[6] and almost immediately made an attempt to escape. He received a court martial charge for an offence allegedly committed in his prior POW camp. He was taken to Leipzig for his trial, but managed to make a getaway whilst in a lavatory at a Leipzig barracks.[7] He was recaptured a few days later in Cologne, during a civilian hunt for RAF pilots believed to have been shot down over the city during a bombing raid in the preceding days. His clothing, primarily of RAF origin, gave him away.[8]

[edit] The "Franz Josef" Escape

In April 1943, Dick Howe, the incumbent British Escape Officer, was approached by Sinclair, who had just been released from a long spell of solitary confinement for a previous escape attempt, and his fellow POW, Monty Bissell, with perhaps one of the more audacious escape plans to emerge from the within the walls of Colditz.[9]

Howe had mused over the possibility of switching German guards with British imposters.[10] His comments were not lost on Bissell,[11] who quickly noticed the physical similarities between Sinclair and one of the German Guard Commanders[12][13], Stabsfeldwebel (Sergeant Major) Fritz Rothenberger, who was better known to the prisoners and guards as "Franz Josef" for his strong resemblance to Franz Josef, the former Austrian Emperor.[14][15]

Rothernberger's duties included nightly inspections of the sentries on the eastern terrace of the castle, which overlooked a park area.[16] This beat was one of the least popular amongst the German guards,[17] as the narrow pathway abutted the walls of the castle and caused severe discomfort for the sentries who were required to watch the walls.[18] It was from here that Sinclair and Bissell intended to escape.

They proposed to Howe that Sinclair, disguised as Rothenberger, along with two other prisoners disguised as German guards, climb through one of the windows overlooking the eastern terrace and descend to the sentry path with a rope made of bed-sheets.[19] Then, he planned to alert the sentries about an escape attempt on the other side of the castle, and order them to return to the guardroom.[20] Once the guards on the path had been dismissed, he would then march to the gate and replace the two guards on duty with their British counterparts.

If successful, the British would have perhaps three and a half minutes,[21] to send as many men through the gates as possible before the real German guards returned to the guard house - and the real Rothenberger - and discovered the ruse.

The escape attempt hinged on the ability of Sinclair to fool the German guards into believing he was the real Rothenberger. Already a fluent German speaker,[22] he spent the next month, along with Teddy Barton and Alan Cheetham, studying his habits, mannerisms, gestures and accent.[23] Whenever he entered the courtyard he was besieged by prisoners engaging him in idle conversation whilst observers noted every detail.[24]

To take care of physical appearance, the services of Barton, who had honed his make-up skills in the camp theater,[25] were called upon and, with Cheetham's assistance, manufactured no less than fourteen Rothenberger moustaches before they were happy with their work.[26] Rex Harrison was given the task of producing three perfect German uniforms,[27] whilst Major W. F. Anderson and Scarlet O'Hara set to work to produce two imitation German rifles, two bayonets with scabbards, a revolver complete with holster, buttons, badges, medals and belt clasps.[28]

The escape attempt took place on 19 May 1943 immediately after the 9.00 pm Appell (roll-call).[29] Sinclair and his two "guards" - John Hyde-Thomson and Lancelot Pope, both good German speakers[30] - successfully descended from the window and made it down to the path.[31] Tension built for the observing British prisoners as Sinclair successfully relieved first one sentry, and then another, and their places were taken up by the British men.[32]

The soldier guarding the gate, however, refused to budge, remaining adamant that his orders were to stay put.[33] Sinclair, faced with the choice of either persisting with the stubborn guard, or making a run for it with his two colleagues, decided to continue with the facade.[34] He became increasingly annoyed with the sentry and soon started yelling at the him,[35] and it was not long before guards arrived from all over the camp, including the real Rothenberger.[36]

Confusion ensued, with the German guards running around in panic and the NCOs unsure of the allegiance of the men under their command.[37] Before long, a shot rang out and Sinclair sank to his knees, wounded.[38] As the confusion began to subside, the prisoners were summoned to the courtyard for an Appell, and the wounded Sinclair was left on the ground, unattended, for nearly 10 minutes.[39] This caused much anger and resentment within the prisoner contingent, with many believing Sinclair had been killed.[40]

Finally, at the Appell, Oberst Pravitt, the camp Commandant, announced "Lieutenant Sinclair is wounded but out of danger".[41]

Howe later lamented over his decision to not give Sinclair any specific order to quit if the plan went awry:

To be quite candid I've taken the can back for it. I left the final decision to Mike himself instead of giving him a specific instruction to quit at the slightest sign of obstruction. What some chaps argued afterwards was that, knowing Mike, I should also have known that he just wasn't the type who would quit and I should, therefore, have given him an order.

—Dick Howe, [42]


[edit] Final escape

Sinclair was killed on 25 September 1944 when he tried an escape across the wire and was shot dead in the attempt. He was the only prisoner to be killed during an escape attempt at Colditz. The Germans buried him in Colditz cemetery with full military honours — his coffin was draped with a Union Flag made by the German guards, and he received a seven-gun salute.

For his "relentless devotion to escaping whilst a POW" he was posthumously awarded the Distinguished Service Order after the war's end, the only lieutenant to be awarded the medal during World War II for an action in captivity.

He is buried in grave number 10.1.14 at Charlottenburg War Cemetery in Berlin.

[edit] References

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Reid, 308. His red hair and audacity had earned him the title among the Germans of 'Der Rote Fuchs' - the Red Fox.
  2. ^ Reid, 308-309. his life was devoted to escaping, and his determination was as valuable as a hundred ton battering ram matched against the walls of Colditz.
  3. ^ Reid, 308. He was a few years younger than Rupert - about twenty-six.
  4. ^ a b Reid, 208. Late arrivals included Major Ronnie Littledale and Lieutenant Michael Sinclair, both of Winchester and of the 60th Rifles.
  5. ^ a b Reid, 208. Ronnie Littledale and Michael Sinclair had escaped together from a camp in the north of Poland.
  6. ^ Reid, 208. During 1942 the number rose further, until by summer there were about 60.
  7. ^ Reid, 208. His court martial was in Leipzig, but he managed to elude his guards
  8. ^ Reid, 209. the colour of most of his clothing was unfortunate because a witch-hunt of RAF parachute survivors was in progress
  9. ^ Chancellor, 221. In April 1943, Mike Sinclair and Monty Bissell approached the British Escape Officer, Dick Howe, with a plan more audacious than any impersonation attempted so far
  10. ^ Reid, 408. "I was thinking that, if we could change a sufficient number of sentries..."
  11. ^ Reid, 408. Then Dick drifted away and Monty was left alone. That was how the escape attempt started.
  12. ^ Reid, 408-409. Mike was of medium build, just about the same height as one of the German Guard Commanders, who was known in the Castle as Franz Josef
  13. ^ Chancellor, 223. Mike Sinclair spoke impeccable German, and, like Stabsfeldwebel Rothenburger, he had red hair
  14. ^ Reid, 413. He was a living impersonation of Fraz Josef, Emperor of Austria
  15. ^ Chancellor, 221. Stabsfeldwebel Rothernberger - known to the prisoners and guards as 'Frans Josef'
  16. ^ Chancellor, 221. One of Rothenberger's tasks was to make a nightly inspection of the sentries on the eastern terrace of the castle overlooking the park.
  17. ^ Chancellor, 222. it was one of the least popular beats
  18. ^ Chanellor, 222. "You couldn't look up at the walls for more than five minutes at a time"
  19. ^ Reid, 409. "Monty has an idea for an escape..."
  20. ^ Chancellor, 222. instead of waking the sentries up, he would give them a bogus story...
  21. ^ Reid, 414. This interval of time was checked repeatedly as a minimum of three and a half minutes
  22. ^ Reid, 308. He was, by now, a fluent German speaker.
  23. ^ Reid, 414. Teddy Barton, Mike Sinclair and Alan Cheetham studies Franz Josef's gestures, facial expressions, manner of speech, accent and intonation for a month on end.
  24. ^ Reid, 414. Franz Josef was dogged every time he entered the courtyard.
  25. ^ Reid, 413. Teddy Barton was one of the theatre past-masters.
  26. ^ Reid, 414. He and his principle aide, Alan Cheetham, manufactured fourteen Franz Josef moustaches before they were happy with their handiwork.
  27. ^ Reid, 413. Rex Harrison ... would have to product three perfect German uniforms.
  28. ^ Reid, 413. Major W. F. Anderson and Scarlet O'Hara were commissioned ...
  29. ^ Reid, 416. (the date was settled on) the 19th of May, and the hour was to be - immediately after the 9pm Appell.
  30. ^ Reid, 414. They were John Hyde-Thomson and Lancelot Pope. Both were good German speakers.
  31. ^ Reid, 419. "Our guard party on their way - past first sentry"
  32. ^ Reid, 419. "My God!" whispered Dick, in a dripping perspiration, "it's going to work. get ready!"
  33. ^ Reid, 413. "The sentry says he's under orders not to move."
  34. ^ Reid, 419. "What the hell! ... Mike ought to go. He's wasting time. The three of them can make it."
  35. ^ Reid, 419. "He's getting annoyed with the sentry."
  36. ^ Reid, 420. A dozen Goons came through the archway ... At their rear ... ran Franz Josef
  37. ^ Reid, 422. They were no longer certain of the allegiance of the men they commanded.
  38. ^ Reid, 422. One of the Franz Josef's swayed and sank to his knees.
  39. ^ Reid, 423. For nearly ten minutes, Mike was left lying on the ground
  40. ^ Reid, 423. In the courtyard feeling among the prisoners was running high. Many thought that Mike had been killed.
  41. ^ Reid, 423. Oberst Pravitt, the German Commandant of the Camp, hurried into the yard.
  42. ^ Reid, 506. "To be quite candid..."

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