Pat Clayton
Encyclopedia
Patrick Andrew Clayton DSO
MBE
(16 April 1896 - 17 March 1962 ) was a British
surveyor
and soldier. He was the basis for the character of Peter Madox in The English Patient
.
Clayton spent nearly 20 years with the Egyptian Survey department during the 1920s and 1930s extensively mapping large areas of previously unmapped desert. In 1931, Clayton was running triangulation from Wadi Halfa
to Uweinat when he came across refugees fleeing from the Italian occupation of Kufra
, via Uweinat and helped save many from death in the arid desert. Clayton had collaboratad extensively with Ralph Bagnold
in the preparation and mapping associated with Bagnold's pre-war exploration trips. He served in the British Army
's Long Range Desert Group
(LRDG) during World War II
.
At the start of the war Clayton was a government surveyor
in Tanganyika
. Bagnold had him returned to Egypt because of his detailed knowledge of the Western Desert. He was commissioned into the Intelligence Corps.
Clayton was leading "T" Patrol in a planned attack on Kufra
when the patrol was engaged by the Italian Auto-Saharan Company
on 31 January 1941, near Gebel Sherif
. During the action Captain Clayton was wounded and his car damaged. He along with his colleagues was taken Prisoner of war
. He was moved to the Abruzzo
region in Italy
where he was visited by Laszlo Almasy
after Almasy's spy mission, Operation Salaam
, to transport two German spies across the Libyan desert to Cairo.
Distinguished Service Order
The Distinguished Service Order is a military decoration of the United Kingdom, and formerly of other parts of the British Commonwealth and Empire, awarded for meritorious or distinguished service by officers of the armed forces during wartime, typically in actual combat.Instituted on 6 September...
MBE
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
(16 April 1896 - 17 March 1962 ) was a British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
surveyor
Surveying
See Also: Public Land Survey SystemSurveying or land surveying is the technique, profession, and science of accurately determining the terrestrial or three-dimensional position of points and the distances and angles between them...
and soldier. He was the basis for the character of Peter Madox in The English Patient
The English Patient
The English Patient is a 1992 novel by Sri Lankan-Canadian novelist Michael Ondaatje. The story deals with the gradually revealed histories of a critically burned English accented Hungarian man, his Canadian nurse, a Canadian-Italian thief, and an Indian sapper in the British Army as they live out...
.
Clayton spent nearly 20 years with the Egyptian Survey department during the 1920s and 1930s extensively mapping large areas of previously unmapped desert. In 1931, Clayton was running triangulation from Wadi Halfa
Wadi Halfa
Wadi Halfa is a city in the state of Northern, in northern Sudan, on the shores of Lake Nubia . It is the terminus of a rail line from Khartoum and the point where goods are transferred from rail to ferries going down the Lake Nasser...
to Uweinat when he came across refugees fleeing from the Italian occupation of Kufra
Kufra
Kufra is a basin and oasis group in Al Kufrah District, southeastern Cyrenaica in Libya. Kufra is historically important above all because at the end of nineteenth century it became the center and holy place of the Senussi order...
, via Uweinat and helped save many from death in the arid desert. Clayton had collaboratad extensively with Ralph Bagnold
Ralph Alger Bagnold
Brigadier Ralph Alger Bagnold, FRS OBE, was the founder and first commander of the British Army's Long Range Desert Group during World War II. He is also generally considered to have been a pioneer of desert exploration, an acclaim earned for his activities during the 1930s...
in the preparation and mapping associated with Bagnold's pre-war exploration trips. He served in the British Army
British Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
's Long Range Desert Group
Long Range Desert Group
The Long Range Desert Group was a reconnaissance and raiding unit of the British Army during the Second World War. The commander of the German Afrika Corps, Field Marshal Erwin Rommel, admitted that the LRDG "caused us more damage than any other British unit of equal strength".Originally called...
(LRDG) during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
.
At the start of the war Clayton was a government surveyor
Surveying
See Also: Public Land Survey SystemSurveying or land surveying is the technique, profession, and science of accurately determining the terrestrial or three-dimensional position of points and the distances and angles between them...
in Tanganyika
Tanganyika
Tanganyika , later formally the Republic of Tanganyika, was a sovereign state in East Africa from 1961 to 1964. It was situated between the Indian Ocean and the African Great Lakes of Lake Victoria, Lake Malawi and Lake Tanganyika...
. Bagnold had him returned to Egypt because of his detailed knowledge of the Western Desert. He was commissioned into the Intelligence Corps.
Clayton was leading "T" Patrol in a planned attack on Kufra
Battle of Kufra (1941)
The Battle of Kufra was part of the World War II Allies Western Desert Campaign in the colony of Italian Libya, in the Libyan Desert of present day southeastern Libya...
when the patrol was engaged by the Italian Auto-Saharan Company
Auto-Saharan Company
The Auto-Saharan Companies were Italian military units specialised in long range patrols of the Sahara Desert. The units operated from the late 1930s to the Italian surrender in 1943.-History:...
on 31 January 1941, near Gebel Sherif
Gebel Sherif
Jebel Sherif is a mountain in southeastern Libya, about 130 km southwest of Kufra. It was the site of an action during the Battle of Kufra.-References:*http://www.nzetc.org/tm/scholarly/WH2-1Epi-fig-WH2-1Epi-e017a.html...
. During the action Captain Clayton was wounded and his car damaged. He along with his colleagues was taken Prisoner of war
Prisoner of war
A prisoner of war or enemy prisoner of war is a person, whether civilian or combatant, who is held in custody by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict...
. He was moved to the Abruzzo
Abruzzo
Abruzzo is a region in Italy, its western border lying less than due east of Rome. Abruzzo borders the region of Marche to the north, Lazio to the west and south-west, Molise to the south-east, and the Adriatic Sea to the east...
region in Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
where he was visited by Laszlo Almasy
László Almásy
László Ede Almásy de Zsadány et Törökszentmiklós was a Hungarian aristocrat, motorist, desert researcher, aviator, Scout-leader and soldier who also served as the basis for the protagonist in Michael Ondaatje's 1992 novel The English Patient and the movie based on it.-Biography:Almásy was born in...
after Almasy's spy mission, Operation Salaam
Operation Salaam
Operation Salaam was a 1942 World War II military operation under the command of the Hungarian aristocrat and desert explorer László Almásy...
, to transport two German spies across the Libyan desert to Cairo.