351 lines
15 KiB
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Executable File
351 lines
15 KiB
Plaintext
Executable File
news
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obituaries
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military-obituaries
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special-forces-obituaries
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7528727
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-----
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# Colonel George Lane
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## Colonel George Lane, who has died aged 95, fought with SOE and was awarded
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an MC for his service with the Commandos during the Second World War; captured
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on a secret mission, he was invited to tea by Field Marshal Rommel, who, Lane
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always thought, courteously prevented him from being shot by the Gestapo.
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![Colonel George Lane][1]
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Image 1 of 2
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Lane, standing centre, back row Photo: ANDY HALL
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![Colonel George Lane][2]
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Image 1 of 2
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Photo: ANDY HALL
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6:03PM GMT 26 Mar 2010
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[Comments][3]
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During the lead-up to D-Day, an RAF fighter strafed a pillbox on the French
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coast. The aircraft carried a camera, and the scientists who examined the film
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were puzzled that the plane's rockets, which fell short, appeared to have set
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off underwater explosions.
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It was imperative to discover if this indicated that the Germans were using a
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new kind of mine on the beaches. Lane - a Hungarian-born lieutenant serving
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with 3 Troop, 10 Commando - led a hazardous reconnaissance mission that
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required a two-mile approach to a heavily defended coastline.
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On the night of May 17 1944 he crossed the Channel in an MTB which dropped him
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near Ault on the north-east coast. He found that the Germans were fixing
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Teller mines to the tops of stakes. These would be submerged at high tide and
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would explode if they came into contact with a landing craft. Lane reported
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that the mines were not waterproofed and that the firing mechanisms had become
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so corroded that the explosion of the rocket had set them off. He was not
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believed.
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He was ordered to return the next night, and the next - this time with a
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sapper officer, Roy Wooldridge, who was a mine expert. They found nothing but
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Teller mines, but had orders to photograph other obstacles on the beach using
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infrared equipment.
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Suddenly, starshells illuminated the beach and Lane and Wooldridge, hiding in
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the dunes, came under fire from two German patrols. They were cut off from the
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others in their group who, unable to wait any longer, had left them a rubber
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dinghy and swum out to their boat. When the firing stopped, the two men
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returned to the beach and paddled out to sea as fast as they could.
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Although it was dark and pouring with rain, a German patrol boat spotted them.
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The two men jettisoned their photographic equipment before they were taken
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prisoner. They were told that they would be handed over to the Gestapo and
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shot.
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For several days they were interrogated by German officers. Eventually they
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were bound, blindfolded and pushed into a car. They drew up at a castle, and
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Lane was shoved into a room guarded by a ferocious dog. His blindfold was
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removed and an elegant German officer arrived with sandwiches and real coffee.
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Lane was then taken to a large library. Sitting at a desk at the far end was
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Rommel. The Field Marshal got up and invited Lane, who was standing to
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attention, to join him at a table which was laid for tea.
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Rommel had experienced a lot of trouble with "gangster commandos", as he
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called them. "You must realise," he said, "that you are in a very tricky
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situation. Everyone seems to think that you are a saboteur."
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Lane feigned ignorance of the German language, and was anxious not to arouse
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suspicion that he was not English-born. So he spoke like a Welshman and
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replied: "Well, if the Field Marshal believed that I was a saboteur he would
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not have done me the honour of inviting me here."
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"So you think that this is an invitation?" Rommel rejoined.
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"I do, sir, and I must say I am highly honoured." The Field Marshal smiled,
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the atmosphere became relaxed and the two men had a long conversation.
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Later that day Lane and Wooldridge were taken to Fresnes prison, near Paris.
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There they were told that they would be hanged or shot. The screams from the
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other cells were terrifying, Lane said, but after two days the pair were sent
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on to the castle prison for officers at Spangenberg, Oflag IX/A-H.
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There were 300 British officers in the castle. They had an excellent library
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and Lane studied estate management through a correspondence course. As the
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Allies closed in, the prisoners were moved out under guard. On the second
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night Lane slipped into a deep ditch. He then hid in a tree, but no sooner had
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he got settled than he saw a German soldier climbing up behind him. Lane
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cursed his luck at his swift discovery, but the man turned out to be a
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deserter.
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He advised Lane to walk to a nearby hospital and wait for American forces to
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arrive. Lane did so. A doctor there said that the SS regularly searched the
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hospital, but was persuaded not to hand Lane over, after Lane insisted that
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the Americans were very close and that when they arrived, the doctor would
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need a friend. Lane then proceeded to round up some of the sick and wounded
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from his PoW column and bring them back for treatment. Two days later he was
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able to give the Americans such a good account of the doctor that they put him
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in charge of the entire hospital.
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Lane got a lift to Paris, where he stayed with his brother-in-law. He longed
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for a hot bath. "I have lots of Chateau Lafite," said his host, "and lots of
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Dom Perignon. But I cannot provide you with a bath because there is no hot
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water." Lane said afterwards that he could have cried.
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George Henry Lane was born Lanyi Dyuri, the son of landowners in northern
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Hungary, on January 18 1915. At the end of the First World War, that region
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was given to Czechoslovakia and George, aged four, became a refugee. He went
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to school in Budapest and then wished to see the world. He had no money but
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was an excellent swimmer and toured widely with the Hungarian Olympic Water
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Polo Team; he also worked as a freelance journalist for a Hungarian newspaper.
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In 1935 Lane came to England and was studying at London University when the
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Second World War broke out. He volunteered to join the Army and was accepted
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by the Grenadier Guards. The Home Office, however, served him with a
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deportation order.
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Lane had often stayed at Leeds Castle, the home of the American-born political
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hostess Lady Baillie, where he had met Anthony Eden and David Margesson, the
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government Chief Whip. With their help the order was rescinded, but he had to
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spend a year in the Alien Pioneer Corps doing manual labour.
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Lane then joined SOE. After intensive training, he became adept in unarmed
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combat, weapons and explosives, parachuting and small boat handling. He went
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on missions to Belgium and Holland, but was not attracted by the prospect of
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parachuting into Hungary, so he transferred to 4 Commando under the leadership
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of Lord Lovat.
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Lane joined X Troop (later renamed 3 Troop), all the members of which spoke
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German, and was commissioned in 1943. For one mission he had to parachute into
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northern France, rifle a safe in a German brigade HQ and bring back some
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important papers. A top safe breaker was released from prison for two days and
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taught Lane how to open it.
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For another, he was part of a small group which was dropped behind enemy lines
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to examine a new gun sight. A report was wanted urgently, so they tied this to
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a carrier pigeon brought along for the purpose. The pigeon climbed into the
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sky and was heading for home when a hawk darted out from under the cliffs and
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seized it. Just as with his dashed hopes of a warm bath, the frustration of
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seeing so much effort wasted, Lane said later, nearly reduced him to tears.
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During the war he had met Miriam Rothschild, the renowned entomologist, when
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recovering at her house after an accident. They married in 1943, and after the
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war he helped to run the Rothschild estate at Ashton Wold, Northamptonshire.
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The marriage was dissolved in 1957 and Lane went to America. He joined a firm
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of stockbrokers in New York and studied at night school until he had passed
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the stock exchange examinations. He later opened offices in France and
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Switzerland. After he remarried in 1963 he lived in London, travelled widely
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and pursued a number of business interests. A great sportsman, he loved
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shooting in Scotland and in his native Hungary.
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In 1984 he returned to the chateau where he had met Rommel for an article in
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_The Sunday Telegraph_, and 10 years later went back there for the BBC. He
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always believed that Rommel had saved his life.
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George Lane died on March 19. His second wife was Elizabeth Heald, the
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daughter of Sir Lionel Heald, Attorney General in the last Churchill
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government. She survives him with a son and three daughters from his first
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marriage.
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Telegraph
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## [Special Forces Obituaries][9]
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* ### [News »][10]
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* ### [Obituaries »][11]
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* ### [Military Obituaries »][12]
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### [Frank Bessac][16]
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[![Eileen 'Didi' Nearne][17] ][18]
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### [Eileen Nearne][18]
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### [John Herivel][20]
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### [Knut Haugland][22]
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