Oliver Churchill
Encyclopedia
Major William Oliver Churchill DSO MC (1914–1997) was an SOE officer during World War II.
He was a brother of Group Captain Walter Churchill
DSO DFC and Captain Peter Churchill
DSO Croix de Guerre.
Oliver was born in Stockholm in 1914 and educated at Stowe School
and Cambridge University where he read Modern Languages at King's College
, after which he studied architecture at Cambridge before his studies were interrupted by the war.
(SOE) and in December 1941 was posted to Malta and the Middle East to train Italian partisans and later involved in clandestine, behind-the-lines work in Greece and Italy. His nom de guerre was Anthony Peters.
, Churchill was parachuted with a radio operator into Corfu in Operation Acheron to make contact with the Italian commander, Colonel Lusignani, who was resisting the German invasion, but unfortunately the radio equipment was damaged by the parachute drop and further communication could not be made with SOE Headquarters in Cairo for further instructions. After discussions with Colonel Lusignani, who informed him the Germans had broken through their defences and were advancing on the town, he decided to exfiltrate himself and the radio operator from the island. With the Germans approaching, they spent several days dressed in peasant clothing evading them before he could arrange their escape by sea.
It took several days before an unreliable motorboat skippered by a septuagenarian could be made seaworthy and its departure was then delayed for two days by strong winds and currents. With a crew of three who Churchill described as "one dotard, one drunkard and the father of a thief" and 11 Italian soldier and sailor escapees who joined the boat, he and the signalman were taken by night to the islands of Mathraki
, Erikoussa and Fanos, before making an overnight crossing of the Adriatic towards the heel of Italy. The wind changed direction during the night and blew them off course, passing to the west the heel of Italy into the Bay of Taranto. Churchill described "By first light we saw land. But for one of the Italian sailors from Corfu, the captain would have turned about. He did not recognise the coast, and thought we had sailed in a circle and were off Albania. The captain was too bleary-eyed to read the compass and the boson helpless with the sails. All this the sailor saw to, as well as keeping the mechanic at the pumps. Our sailor saw that we were in the Bay of Taranto. The drift had carried us five hours off our course." The boat was turned round and sailed around the peninsula to land at Otranto
. He was then transferred to a ship and taken to Brindisi where he was debriefed by Captain De Haan at the Italian SOE base at the Allied Military Mission, before being instructed by Cmdr Holdsworth, Commander of No 1 Special Force, to return to base at SOE Headquarters in Cairo.
, in Operation Floodlight/Fairway with General Cadorna
, Commander of the Partisan Movement in Northern Italy, to act as head of British liaison mission to the command of the Partisan Movement in Northern Italy, where he spent several months behind enemy lines.
Incorrect details of their landing ground had been given, possibly deliberately by a local faction, resulting in them arriving in the wrong location and all of the stores, apart from the wireless transmitters, but including his personal kit and 1 million lire which had been issued to him for the operation, were taken by the locals. The group of parachutists comprising Churchill, General Cadorna, Augusto De Laurentis (Liaison Officer to Milan Committee), and Sergeant Delle Monache (Wireless Operator), had great difficulty finding the proper reception committee and a few hours after reaching the safe house found their cover was blown and had to leave in great haste to avoid an SS search party which had been sent to look for them. After this, they were out of touch for about 20 hours.
They then went to the Fiamme Verdi headquarters in Cividate Camuno
, which proved to be eight hours march away. De Laurentis went to Milan
almost at once in order to reconnoitre, and about a fortnight later the ground was prepared sufficiently for General Cadorna to go to Milan also, and this was successfully arranged with the help of the Franchi organisation. Churchill remained with the Fiamme Verdi for about four weeks as it was considered unsafe for him to go too, but became convinced that nothing would be achieved unless he also went to Milan, and wrote to see whether this could be arranged. He received a reply from General Cadorna saying that under no circumstances should he go as conditions were far too difficult and dangerous, and suggested that if he went, he would probably last only a few hours. In the same post he received a letter from Edgardo Sogno
saying that everything had been prepared for him to go to Milan and that he should come at once. Churchill decided to accept Sogno’s invitation and went on 14 September. During first seven days in Milan he had to change houses six times, though not entirely due to security reasons.
The partisan leaders he worked with included:
Churchill was based in Milan
with the partisans of different factions, and made trips to Biella
to meet Major Alistair MacDonald, leader of the Cherokee Mission and Turin
to meet other partisan leaders, narrowly missing capture on some of these visits. In mid-November he received an insider tip from the police advising him that his position was becoming precarious and he should leave as soon as possible for his own safety and on 2 December he took the train to Como using the alias of Giulio Kravic, an Italian Slovene, as a convenient method of explaining his foreign accent, and then crossed the frontier over the mountains on foot and reported to the Swiss authorities using the alias Paolo Brichetto, one of the names agreed on between the Swiss and the Franchi organisation. After meetings with SOE representatives John Birkbeck in Lugano and Jock McCaffery in Berne, he returned to the SOE Italy base in Monopoli, where he remained until being recalled to the UK on 27 January 1945 to report on recent operations and be awarded the DSO. He went back to Italy on 26 March and, after the surrender of German forces in Italy on 2 May, finally returned to the UK on 6 May.
during the war.
They moved back to Cambridge where Oliver practiced as an architect. He died in Cambridge in 1997.
Oliver's eldest son, Toby
, is a leading disabled entrepreneur in the UK who founded an eponymous company, Toby Churchill Ltd, manufacturing world-leading communication aids for people who cannot speak.
He was a brother of Group Captain Walter Churchill
Walter Churchill
Group Captain Walter Myers Churchill DSO DFC was a Royal Air Force pilot during World War II.He was a brother of Captain Peter Churchill DSO Croix de Guerre, and Major Oliver Churchill DSO MC, both of whom were SOE officers during World War II....
DSO DFC and Captain Peter Churchill
Peter Churchill
Peter Morland Churchill DSO Croix de Guerre was an SOE Officer in France during World War II.He was a brother of Group Captain Walter Churchill DSO DFC and Major Oliver Churchill DSO MC who was also an SOE Officer during World War II.-Biography:...
DSO Croix de Guerre.
Biography
His father was William Algernon Churchill (1865–1947) a British Consul who served in Amsterdam, Stockholm, and Milan. His father was also an art connoisseur, and author of what is still the standard reference work on early European paper and papermaking, Watermarks in Paper. His mother was Violet (née Myers).Oliver was born in Stockholm in 1914 and educated at Stowe School
Stowe School
Stowe School is an independent school in Stowe, Buckinghamshire. It was founded on 11 May 1923 by J. F. Roxburgh, initially with 99 male pupils. It is a member of the Rugby Group and Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference. The school is also a member of the G20 Schools Group...
and Cambridge University where he read Modern Languages at King's College
King's College, Cambridge
King's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England. The college's full name is "The King's College of our Lady and Saint Nicholas in Cambridge", but it is usually referred to simply as "King's" within the University....
, after which he studied architecture at Cambridge before his studies were interrupted by the war.
Wartime activities
As war became imminent he joined the Territorial Army and was soon called up to The Worcestershire Regiment. Oliver, like his brother Peter, joined the Special Operations ExecutiveSpecial Operations Executive
The Special Operations Executive was a World War II organisation of the United Kingdom. It was officially formed by Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Minister of Economic Warfare Hugh Dalton on 22 July 1940, to conduct guerrilla warfare against the Axis powers and to instruct and aid local...
(SOE) and in December 1941 was posted to Malta and the Middle East to train Italian partisans and later involved in clandestine, behind-the-lines work in Greece and Italy. His nom de guerre was Anthony Peters.
Corfu
On 21 September 1943, two weeks after surrender of the Italian Armed Forces and their transfer of allegiance from the Axis Powers to the Allies, and a week after Germany invaded CorfuCorfu
Corfu is a Greek island in the Ionian Sea. It is the second largest of the Ionian Islands, and, including its small satellite islands, forms the edge of the northwestern frontier of Greece. The island is part of the Corfu regional unit, and is administered as a single municipality. The...
, Churchill was parachuted with a radio operator into Corfu in Operation Acheron to make contact with the Italian commander, Colonel Lusignani, who was resisting the German invasion, but unfortunately the radio equipment was damaged by the parachute drop and further communication could not be made with SOE Headquarters in Cairo for further instructions. After discussions with Colonel Lusignani, who informed him the Germans had broken through their defences and were advancing on the town, he decided to exfiltrate himself and the radio operator from the island. With the Germans approaching, they spent several days dressed in peasant clothing evading them before he could arrange their escape by sea.
It took several days before an unreliable motorboat skippered by a septuagenarian could be made seaworthy and its departure was then delayed for two days by strong winds and currents. With a crew of three who Churchill described as "one dotard, one drunkard and the father of a thief" and 11 Italian soldier and sailor escapees who joined the boat, he and the signalman were taken by night to the islands of Mathraki
Mathraki
Mathraki is an island and a former community of the Ionian Islands, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Corfu, of which it is a municipal unit. Population 297 . Mathraki is a 45 minute boat ride off the coast of Corfu . It has three restaurants that double...
, Erikoussa and Fanos, before making an overnight crossing of the Adriatic towards the heel of Italy. The wind changed direction during the night and blew them off course, passing to the west the heel of Italy into the Bay of Taranto. Churchill described "By first light we saw land. But for one of the Italian sailors from Corfu, the captain would have turned about. He did not recognise the coast, and thought we had sailed in a circle and were off Albania. The captain was too bleary-eyed to read the compass and the boson helpless with the sails. All this the sailor saw to, as well as keeping the mechanic at the pumps. Our sailor saw that we were in the Bay of Taranto. The drift had carried us five hours off our course." The boat was turned round and sailed around the peninsula to land at Otranto
Otranto
Otranto is a town and comune in the province of Lecce , in a fertile region once famous for its breed of horses.It is located on the east coast of the Salento peninsula. The Strait of Otranto, to which the city gives its name, connects the Adriatic Sea with the Ionian Sea and Italy with Albania...
. He was then transferred to a ship and taken to Brindisi where he was debriefed by Captain De Haan at the Italian SOE base at the Allied Military Mission, before being instructed by Cmdr Holdsworth, Commander of No 1 Special Force, to return to base at SOE Headquarters in Cairo.
Italy
In August 1944 Churchill was parachuted into German occupied Northern Italy near Lago di Endine, BergamoBergamo
Bergamo is a town and comune in Lombardy, Italy, about 40 km northeast of Milan. The comune is home to over 120,000 inhabitants. It is served by the Orio al Serio Airport, which also serves the Province of Bergamo, and to a lesser extent the metropolitan area of Milan...
, in Operation Floodlight/Fairway with General Cadorna
Raffaele Cadorna, Jr.
Raffaele Cadorna, Jr. was an Italian general who fought during World War I and World War II. He is famous as one of the commanders of the Italian Resistance against German occupying forces in north Italy after 1943....
, Commander of the Partisan Movement in Northern Italy, to act as head of British liaison mission to the command of the Partisan Movement in Northern Italy, where he spent several months behind enemy lines.
Incorrect details of their landing ground had been given, possibly deliberately by a local faction, resulting in them arriving in the wrong location and all of the stores, apart from the wireless transmitters, but including his personal kit and 1 million lire which had been issued to him for the operation, were taken by the locals. The group of parachutists comprising Churchill, General Cadorna, Augusto De Laurentis (Liaison Officer to Milan Committee), and Sergeant Delle Monache (Wireless Operator), had great difficulty finding the proper reception committee and a few hours after reaching the safe house found their cover was blown and had to leave in great haste to avoid an SS search party which had been sent to look for them. After this, they were out of touch for about 20 hours.
They then went to the Fiamme Verdi headquarters in Cividate Camuno
Cividate Camuno
Cividate Camuno is an Italian comune of 2,732 inhabitants in Val Camonica, province of Brescia, in Lombardy.-Geography:...
, which proved to be eight hours march away. De Laurentis went to Milan
Milan
Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...
almost at once in order to reconnoitre, and about a fortnight later the ground was prepared sufficiently for General Cadorna to go to Milan also, and this was successfully arranged with the help of the Franchi organisation. Churchill remained with the Fiamme Verdi for about four weeks as it was considered unsafe for him to go too, but became convinced that nothing would be achieved unless he also went to Milan, and wrote to see whether this could be arranged. He received a reply from General Cadorna saying that under no circumstances should he go as conditions were far too difficult and dangerous, and suggested that if he went, he would probably last only a few hours. In the same post he received a letter from Edgardo Sogno
Edgardo Sogno
Edgardo Sogno Rata del Vallino was an Italian diplomat, partisan and political figure. He was born in an aristocratic family from Piedmont.- Under Fascism :...
saying that everything had been prepared for him to go to Milan and that he should come at once. Churchill decided to accept Sogno’s invitation and went on 14 September. During first seven days in Milan he had to change houses six times, though not entirely due to security reasons.
The partisan leaders he worked with included:
- Alfredo PizzoniAlfredo PizzoniAlfredo Pizzoni was an Italian banker and politician who was president of the Comitato di Liberazione Nazionale Alta Italia during the late stages of World War II....
who was chairman of the CLNAI (Comitato di Liberazione Nazionale - High Committee for National Liberation Italy) since its establishment until the end of the war; who on 7 December 1944 with Giancarlo PajettaGiancarlo PajettaGiancarlo Pajetta was an Italian communist politician.Pajetta was born in Turin and become a member of the Italian Communist Party during his youth. In 1927 this caused him a condemn to two years of imprisonment...
, Ferruccio Parri and Edgardo Sogno was a signatory of an agreement with the Allies represented by General Henry Maitland Wilson, SACMED (Supreme Allied Commander for the Mediterranean) which, in addition to recognising the role played by the CLNAI resistance, financed their guerrilla warfare with a loan of 160 million lire a month. The agreement, to cooperate fully with the Allies and for the subordination of the military CLNAI allied forces, ensured the survival of the Italian Resistance and its success more from a political than a military point of view. - Lionello Levi SandriLionello Levi SandriLionello Levi Sandri was an Italian politician and European Commissioner.Upon completing his education in 1932, Levi Sandri entered a career as a civil servant in the Italian employment administration and was promoted to high-ranking posts at a young age. In 1940 he became a lecturer in industrial...
leader of the Fiamme Verdi partisan brigade in Brescia who went on to become a European Commissioner. - Edgardo SognoEdgardo SognoEdgardo Sogno Rata del Vallino was an Italian diplomat, partisan and political figure. He was born in an aristocratic family from Piedmont.- Under Fascism :...
who created the Organizzazione Franchi partisan group which helped hundreds of Italian Jews and others seek safe haven in Switzerland and who represented the Italian Liberal Party at the CLNAI. - Luigi LongoLuigi Longothumb|right|Luigi Longo portrayed on a 1981 [[USSR]] postage stamp.Luigi Longo , also known as Gallo, was an Italian communist politician and secretary of the Italian Communist Party from 1964 to 1972.-Early life:...
, a communist politician who went on to become secretary of the Italian Communist Party. - Ferruccio ParriFerruccio ParriFerruccio Parri was an Italian partisan and politician who served as the 43rd Prime Minister of Italy for several months in 1945. During the resistance he was known as Maurizio.-Biography:...
leader the Action PartyAction PartyAction Party may refer to:*Canadian Action Party, Canada*Citizens' Action Party, Costa Rica*Guyana Action Party, Guyana*Sardinian Action Party, Italy*Partito d'Azione, Italy* Action Party *Liberian Action Party, Liberia...
(Partito d'Azione) and president of the CLN (Comitato di Liberazione Nazionale), who went on to become Prime Minister of Italy in 1945.
Churchill was based in Milan
Milan
Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...
with the partisans of different factions, and made trips to Biella
Biella
Biella is a town and comune in the northern Italian region of Piemonte, the capital of the province of the same name, with some 45,800 inhabitants as of 2009. It is located about 80 km northeast of Turin and about 80 km west-northwest of Milan.It lies in the foothills of the Alps,...
to meet Major Alistair MacDonald, leader of the Cherokee Mission and Turin
Turin
Turin is a city and major business and cultural centre in northern Italy, capital of the Piedmont region, located mainly on the left bank of the Po River and surrounded by the Alpine arch. The population of the city proper is 909,193 while the population of the urban area is estimated by Eurostat...
to meet other partisan leaders, narrowly missing capture on some of these visits. In mid-November he received an insider tip from the police advising him that his position was becoming precarious and he should leave as soon as possible for his own safety and on 2 December he took the train to Como using the alias of Giulio Kravic, an Italian Slovene, as a convenient method of explaining his foreign accent, and then crossed the frontier over the mountains on foot and reported to the Swiss authorities using the alias Paolo Brichetto, one of the names agreed on between the Swiss and the Franchi organisation. After meetings with SOE representatives John Birkbeck in Lugano and Jock McCaffery in Berne, he returned to the SOE Italy base in Monopoli, where he remained until being recalled to the UK on 27 January 1945 to report on recent operations and be awarded the DSO. He went back to Italy on 26 March and, after the surrender of German forces in Italy on 2 May, finally returned to the UK on 6 May.
Post-war
After the war he married Ruth Briggs, who was a key member of the British intelligence code-breaking team at Bletchley ParkBletchley Park
Bletchley Park is an estate located in the town of Bletchley, in Buckinghamshire, England, which currently houses the National Museum of Computing...
during the war.
They moved back to Cambridge where Oliver practiced as an architect. He died in Cambridge in 1997.
Oliver's eldest son, Toby
Toby Churchill
Toby Churchill DSc FRSA is a British disabled entrepreneur.He founded a company manufacturing communication aids for people who cannot speak.-Biography:...
, is a leading disabled entrepreneur in the UK who founded an eponymous company, Toby Churchill Ltd, manufacturing world-leading communication aids for people who cannot speak.
Decorations
- Military Cross 23 March 1944
- Distinguished Service Order 13 March 1945
- Italian Partisan Medal 14 July 1945
External links
- Special Forces Roll of Honour
- Secondment to Operation Floodlight (see footnote)