Frenchman who beat Colditz dies

[Martel]

Frenchman who beat Colditz dies

General Alain Le Ray, a leading figure in France's wartime Resistance who escaped from Germany's notorious Colditz Castle, has died, aged 96.

He was reported to be the first man to have escaped from the Nazi high-security jail in eastern Germany.

He was captured after the German invasion of France in 1940 and interned at the castle near Leipzig.

But he escaped in April 1941, making his way to Switzerland before returning to France to join the Resistance.

He was the first of only 18 allied officers to get away from the fortress, which the Nazis deemed to be "escape-proof".

Le Ray recounted his escape in a 1976 book Premiere a Colditz (First in Colditz).

French Interior Minister Michele Alliot-Marie called Le Ray a "man of conviction and commitment" who "devoted his life to the fight for freedom and embodied the spirit of Resistance".

Le Ray rose within the Resistance to become an important commander in the Alpine region of the Vercors.

After World War II, he was decorated for his military service in both Indochina and Algeria.

[Salonen]

From The Times
June 9, 2007


Lieutenant-General Alain Le Ray

Resourceful and courageous French officer who made the first successful escape from Colditz Castle

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/multimedia/archive/00175/Alain_Le_Ray_175338a.jpg
Alain Le Ray was the first prisoner of war to escape from Oflag IVC – Colditz Castle in Saxony – during the Second World War. His audacious individual escape proved a tonic to the several hundred comrades he left behind, especially when word reached them that he had covered the 300 miles to neutral Switzerland and crossed the closely guarded frontier.

Serving as a lieutenant in command of a company of the elite 159ème Régiment d’infanterie alpine, he was wounded and taken prisoner during the Battle of France in spring 1940. Initially, he was held in a prison camp at Jastrow on the Oder estuary to the Baltic.

He escaped from there with a fellow French officer, André Tournon, in the midwinter of 1940-41 while northern Europe was under snow. During nights spent in the open they dug a “snow grave” and huddled in it together for warmth and, by boarding freight trains, they covered 500 miles to cross the Rhine, which was their major obstacle, at Mainz in only five days. The next day they were recaptured at the small town of Bingerbrück, only 60 miles from the frontier of occupied France. Both were sent to the “Sonderlager” or special camp at Colditz, which was reserved for determined or habitual escapers.

Le Ray was a professional soldier and, despite the failure of his first attempt to reach freedom, he resolved to return to France. His arrival in Colditz preceded the setting up of an international escape committee to ensure that escape plans did not conflict with one another, as they sometimes had in the past with unfortunate results. He joined a French team digging a tunnel, dragging out earth and disposing of it around the castle grounds. Through lessons to improve his English, he got to know Captain Harry Elli-ott, adjutant of the British contingent, who had been ordered by the senior British officer to establish closer relations with the French. But, weary of the nightly shift in the tunnel, Le Ray was on the lookout for an opportunity to escape.

Out of respect for the Geneva Convention, the Colditz inmates were occasionally permitted to exercise in a wired-off field below the castle walls. Only very short notice was given, so it was difficult for the prisoners to prepare in advance for any advantage that might present itself and, in any case, escape from the open field in daylight was virtually impossible. The walk down the winding path from the castle took a quarter of an hour, however, and this offered Le Ray the chance he sought. The path was overlooked for most of its length by sentries on the walls and prisoners taking exercise were counted immediately before leaving the castle yard, on arrival at the field, again before leaving and finally on return. So his plan had to include some ruse to prevent the alarm being raised before he was well away from the castle and the local town.

On the way from the exercise field, Le Ray had noticed a small ruined house at a bend in the track. As a keen athlete he took every opportunity to take exercise and, on Good Friday 1941, he made his move. He had put on prison-made civilian clothes under his uniform and walked back up the hill with Tournon and another French prisoner – Pierre Lebrun – who were both aware of his plan. In a five-second gap when he could not be seen by the guard behind, he dived through the open door of the ruined house and down into the cellar. Tournon and Lebrun quietly told those around them to act as if nothing had happened. On reaching the prison yard, the two men staged a violent quarrel ending in a fight, which distracted the guards making the count, leaving Le Ray’s absence initially unnoticed.

Hardly had the footsteps of his comrades died away when Le Ray heard others coming down the track. It was a group of guards tramping down to the field to play football. He waited until early evening for their return then, after discarding his uniform, made his way stealthily down the track and climbed over the fence where it joined the castle wall. With enough German to get by, a handful of Reichmarks exchanged with the guards for cigarettes and chocolate and boundless self-confidence, he bought a train ticket to Nuremburg. But on the journey he discovered that some of his Reichmarks were out of date so, on arrival in the city that evening, he knocked down a civilian and robbed him of his coat and wallet.

He took a train through Stuttgart and on the Monday evening reached Schaffhausen, just short of the Swiss frontier. Knowing that by then his escape would have been discovered and all frontier guards alerted, he made a detour through the woods to the village of Gottmadingen and hid in bushes behind the station until the arrival of the last train to cross the frontier at 11pm. He crept to the end of the departure platform and watched while the train was searched. Then, as soon as the guard blew his whistle for departure, he jumped onto the front of the engine and crouched on the ledge between the lights. Five minutes later he was in Switzerland.

Alain André Le Ray was born in Paris and entered the French Army through the École militaire des sous-officiers in 1931. After his escape from Colditz, he returned to his former battalion and served in the 100,000-strong army permitted under the Franco-German armistice but, after the German occupation of the whole of France in November 1942, joined the element of the French Resistance that became the Forces françaises de l’in-térieur (FFI).

His subsequent career reflected his ability and forcefulness. He attended the École supérieure de guerre in Paris 1946 and then joined the office of the Minister of Defence. From 1953 to 1955 he served in French Indo-China (now Vietnam) as a lieutenant-colonel in command of a sector and then on the staff of the Commander-in-Chief in Indo-China. In 1956-58 he commanded a mobile tactical group during the insurrection against French rule in Algeria, then a brigade. He command the 27th Infantry Division in France 1962-63 and the 7th Division 1965-67.

He was promoted général de corps d’armée (lieutenant-general) in 1968 and served until his retirement in 1970 as Inspector-General of Operational Defence. He was appointed to the Grand Cross of the Legion of Honour in 1970.

He is survived by his wife Luce, whose father was the writer François Mauriac, and by three daughters.

Lieutenant-General Alain Le Ray, soldier, was born on October 3, 1910. He died on June 4, 2007, aged 96

[Paddy51]

RIP - not many of those heroes left.

[mas-36]

R.I.P. and RESPECT!! Never a dull moment in this man's life!

[darklands]

respect and r.i.p. sir!
i've once read a story about three allied prisoners who escaped from colditz, from theri description of the place and the guards it was thought to be escape proof. imagination and guts, it can be done.
respect to all who have done their time at colditz.

[Royal]

RIP Sir

Pierre Lebrun (mentioned in the Times obit) later made a sucessful attempt himself from the park (dressed only in PT gear).