Ronald Littledale
Encyclopedia
Lieutenant Colonel
Ronald 'Ronnie' Bolton Littledale DSO
(KIA
1 September 1944), was a British Army
officer who became a Prisoner of War
and successfully escaped from Colditz Castle
during the Second World War.
, Cheshire
the only son of Captain John Bolton Littledale and his wife, Clara Stevenson.
He was educated at St. Aubyn's, Rotttingdean
and then Eton
.
and was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant
on 1 February 1923.
He served with the King's Royal Rifle Corps
(KRRC) in the BAOR
, India
, Palestine
and Northern Ireland
, rising through the ranks during the 1920s and 1930s
serving as a Major
. On 26 May 1940 he was captured by a German patrol near the Fort at the harbour mouth.
to Trier
, Mainz
and onward to Oflag VII-C
Laufen
in Mid June 1940.
In March 1941 he was transferred to Stalag XXI-D
, Poznań
in Poland
.
As a Prisoner of War
he made several escape attempts. In May 1941, with two other British officers; Lieutenant
Mike Sinclair and Gris Davies-Scourfield
, he escaped by hiding in a modified handcart carrying rubbish to a pit outside the camp. They made contact with the Polish underground movement in Warsaw
but, after parting company, Davies-Scourfield was recaptured in March 1942. Littledale and Sinclair were recaptured in Bulgaria
after 8 months of freedom and handed back to the Germans.
at Colditz Castle
, Littledale arriving there on 15 July 1942.
On 15 October 1942, together with Captain
Pat Reid, Lieutenant Commander
William E. Stephens RNVR, and Flight Lieutenant
Howard D. Wardle
, he escaped from Colditz, and travelling with Stephens arrived in neutral Switzerland
on 20 October 1942.
Littledale left Switzerland on 25 January 1943, and with Flight Lieutenant
Hedley Fowler
, who had escaped earlier from Colditz, travelled across unoccupied France
. They crossed into Spain
on 30 January 1943, however they were arrested by the Spanish authorities later the same day.
They were taken to a military prison
at Figueras, where they were held in filthy and cramped conditions until 22 February 1943. Then they were taken to the British Consul
in Barcelona
. From there they travelled to Gibraltar
arriving on 25 March 1943.
For his escape and actions whilst in captivity he was awarded the Distinguished Service Order
on the 4 May 1943.
He was killed in action
on 1 September 1944, commanding the 2nd Battalion of the King's Royal Rifle Corps
and is buried at Airaines
Cemetery in France.
Lieutenant colonel
Lieutenant colonel is a rank of commissioned officer in the armies and most marine forces and some air forces of the world, typically ranking above a major and below a colonel. The rank of lieutenant colonel is often shortened to simply "colonel" in conversation and in unofficial correspondence...
Ronald 'Ronnie' Bolton Littledale DSO
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...
(KIA
Killed in action
Killed in action is a casualty classification generally used by militaries to describe the deaths of their own forces at the hands of hostile forces. The United States Department of Defense, for example, says that those declared KIA need not have fired their weapons but have been killed due to...
1 September 1944), was a 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...
officer who became a 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...
and successfully escaped from Colditz Castle
Colditz Castle
Colditz Castle is a Renaissance castle in the town of Colditz near Leipzig, Dresden, and Chemnitz in the state of Saxony in Germany. Used as a workhouse for the indigent and a mental institution for over 100 years, it gained international fame as a prisoner-of-war camp during World War II for...
during the Second World War.
Early life
Born summer 1902 in NorthwichNorthwich
Northwich is a town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire West and Chester and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. It lies in the heart of the Cheshire Plain, at the confluence of the rivers Weaver and Dane...
, Cheshire
Cheshire
Cheshire is a ceremonial county in North West England. Cheshire's county town is the city of Chester, although its largest town is Warrington. Other major towns include Widnes, Congleton, Crewe, Ellesmere Port, Runcorn, Macclesfield, Winsford, Northwich, and Wilmslow...
the only son of Captain John Bolton Littledale and his wife, Clara Stevenson.
He was educated at St. Aubyn's, Rotttingdean
Rottingdean
Rottingdean is a coastal village next to the town of Brighton and technically within the city of Brighton and Hove, in East Sussex, on the south coast of England...
and then Eton
Eton College
Eton College, often referred to simply as Eton, is a British independent school for boys aged 13 to 18. It was founded in 1440 by King Henry VI as "The King's College of Our Lady of Eton besides Wyndsor"....
.
Pre-WWII Army Career
Littledale was trained at the Royal Military CollegeRoyal Military Academy Sandhurst
The Royal Military Academy Sandhurst , commonly known simply as Sandhurst, is a British Army officer initial training centre located in Sandhurst, Berkshire, England...
and was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant
Second Lieutenant
Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces.- United Kingdom and Commonwealth :The rank second lieutenant was introduced throughout the British Army in 1871 to replace the rank of ensign , although it had long been used in the Royal Artillery, Royal...
on 1 February 1923.
He served with the King's Royal Rifle Corps
King's Royal Rifle Corps
The King's Royal Rifle Corps was a British Army infantry regiment, originally raised in colonial North America as the Royal Americans, and recruited from American colonists. Later ranked as the 60th Regiment of Foot, the regiment served for more than 200 years throughout the British Empire...
(KRRC) in the BAOR
British Army of the Rhine
There have been two formations named British Army of the Rhine . Both were originally occupation forces in Germany, one after the First World War, and the other after the Second World War.-1919–1929:...
, India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
, Palestine
Palestine
Palestine is a conventional name, among others, used to describe the geographic region between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River, and various adjoining lands....
and Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...
, rising through the ranks during the 1920s and 1930s
WWII
Littledale took part in the defence of CalaisSiege of Calais (1940)
The Siege of Calais was a battle for the port and town of Calais during the German blitzkrieg which overran northern France in 1940. It immediately preceded Operation Dynamo, the evacuation of the British Expeditionary Force through Dunkirk....
serving as a Major
Major
Major is a rank of commissioned officer, with corresponding ranks existing in almost every military in the world.When used unhyphenated, in conjunction with no other indicator of rank, the term refers to the rank just senior to that of an Army captain and just below the rank of lieutenant colonel. ...
. On 26 May 1940 he was captured by a German patrol near the Fort at the harbour mouth.
Prisoner of War: Stalag XXI-D
With other captured officers he was marched across northern France for about 10 days then taken by train from near LuxembourgLuxembourg
Luxembourg , officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg , is a landlocked country in western Europe, bordered by Belgium, France, and Germany. It has two principal regions: the Oesling in the North as part of the Ardennes massif, and the Gutland in the south...
to Trier
Trier
Trier, historically called in English Treves is a city in Germany on the banks of the Moselle. It is the oldest city in Germany, founded in or before 16 BC....
, Mainz
Mainz
Mainz under the Holy Roman Empire, and previously was a Roman fort city which commanded the west bank of the Rhine and formed part of the northernmost frontier of the Roman Empire...
and onward to Oflag VII-C
Oflag VII-C
Oflag VII-C was a World War II German prisoner-of-war camp for officers located in Laufen Castle in south-eastern Bavaria from 1940 to 1942. Most of the prisoners were British officers captured during the Battle of France in 1940. To relieve overcrowding, some of the officers were transferred to...
Laufen
Laufen
Laufen is a municipality on the southeastern border of Bavaria with Austria.-History:It was first mentioned in a deed of 748. The rapids that gave the town the name were also responsible for the town's wealth from the salt trade...
in Mid June 1940.
In March 1941 he was transferred to Stalag XXI-D
Stalag XXI-D
Stalag XXI-D was a German World War II PoW Camp based in Poznań , Poland.- Description :Following the invasion of Poland in 1939 and the establishment of the Reichsgau Wartheland, Poznań became the administrative centre of 'Wehrkreis XXI' . Some of Poznań's eighteenth century forts were used as...
, Poznań
Poznan
Poznań is a city on the Warta river in west-central Poland, with a population of 556,022 in June 2009. It is among the oldest cities in Poland, and was one of the most important centres in the early Polish state, whose first rulers were buried at Poznań's cathedral. It is sometimes claimed to be...
in Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
.
As a 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 made several escape attempts. In May 1941, with two other British officers; Lieutenant
Lieutenant
A lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer in many nations' armed forces. Typically, the rank of lieutenant in naval usage, while still a junior officer rank, is senior to the army rank...
Mike Sinclair and Gris Davies-Scourfield
Gris Davies-Scourfield
Brigadier Edward Grismond Beaumont 'Gris' Davies-Scourfield was a British Army officer who became a Prisoner of War and escaped from Stalag XXI-D and Colditz Castle during the Second World War.- Early Life and Education :...
, he escaped by hiding in a modified handcart carrying rubbish to a pit outside the camp. They made contact with the Polish underground movement in Warsaw
Warsaw
Warsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River, roughly from the Baltic Sea and from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population in 2010 was estimated at 1,716,855 residents with a greater metropolitan area of 2,631,902 residents, making Warsaw the 10th most...
but, after parting company, Davies-Scourfield was recaptured in March 1942. Littledale and Sinclair were recaptured in Bulgaria
Bulgaria
Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...
after 8 months of freedom and handed back to the Germans.
Prisoner of War: Oflag IV-C, Colditz Castle
The three were all sent to Oflag IV-COflag IV-C
Oflag IV-C, often referred to as Colditz Castle because of its location, was one of the most famous German Army prisoner-of-war camps for officers in World War II; Oflag is a shortening of Offizierslager, meaning "officers camp"...
at Colditz Castle
Colditz Castle
Colditz Castle is a Renaissance castle in the town of Colditz near Leipzig, Dresden, and Chemnitz in the state of Saxony in Germany. Used as a workhouse for the indigent and a mental institution for over 100 years, it gained international fame as a prisoner-of-war camp during World War II for...
, Littledale arriving there on 15 July 1942.
On 15 October 1942, together with Captain
Captain (British Army and Royal Marines)
Captain is a junior officer rank of the British Army and Royal Marines. It ranks above Lieutenant and below Major and has a NATO ranking code of OF-2. The rank is equivalent to a Lieutenant in the Royal Navy and to a Flight Lieutenant in the Royal Air Force...
Pat Reid, Lieutenant Commander
Lieutenant Commander
Lieutenant Commander is a commissioned officer rank in many navies. The rank is superior to a lieutenant and subordinate to a commander...
William E. Stephens RNVR, and Flight Lieutenant
Flight Lieutenant
Flight lieutenant is a junior commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and the air forces of many Commonwealth countries. It ranks above flying officer and immediately below squadron leader. The name of the rank is the complete phrase; it is never shortened to "lieutenant"...
Howard D. Wardle
Howard D. Wardle
Howard Douglas Wardle MC , commonly known as Hank, was a Canadian pilot in the Royal Air Force during World War II.Wardle was born in Dauphin, Manitoba, Canada....
, he escaped from Colditz, and travelling with Stephens arrived in neutral Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
on 20 October 1942.
Littledale left Switzerland on 25 January 1943, and with Flight Lieutenant
Flight Lieutenant
Flight lieutenant is a junior commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and the air forces of many Commonwealth countries. It ranks above flying officer and immediately below squadron leader. The name of the rank is the complete phrase; it is never shortened to "lieutenant"...
Hedley Fowler
Hedley Fowler
Hedley Nevile 'Bill' Fowler MC was a Royal Air Force pilot who became a prisoner of war and successfully escaped from Oflag IV-C at Colditz during the Second World War.-Early life:Fowler was born in London on 8 June 1916...
, who had escaped earlier from Colditz, travelled across unoccupied France
Vichy France
Vichy France, Vichy Regime, or Vichy Government, are common terms used to describe the government of France that collaborated with the Axis powers from July 1940 to August 1944. This government succeeded the Third Republic and preceded the Provisional Government of the French Republic...
. They crossed into Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
on 30 January 1943, however they were arrested by the Spanish authorities later the same day.
They were taken to a military prison
Military prison
A military prison is a prison operated by the military. Military prisons are used variously to house prisoners of war, enemy combatants, those whose freedom is deemed a national security risk by the military or national authorities, and members of the military found guilty of a serious crime...
at Figueras, where they were held in filthy and cramped conditions until 22 February 1943. Then they were taken to the British Consul
Consul
Consul was the highest elected office of the Roman Republic and an appointive office under the Empire. The title was also used in other city states and also revived in modern states, notably in the First French Republic...
in Barcelona
Barcelona
Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...
. From there they travelled to Gibraltar
Gibraltar
Gibraltar is a British overseas territory located on the southern end of the Iberian Peninsula at the entrance of the Mediterranean. A peninsula with an area of , it has a northern border with Andalusia, Spain. The Rock of Gibraltar is the major landmark of the region...
arriving on 25 March 1943.
Free again
Littledale returned to the UK shortly afterwards.For his escape and actions whilst in captivity he was awarded the Distinguished Service Order
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...
on the 4 May 1943.
He was killed in action
Killed in action
Killed in action is a casualty classification generally used by militaries to describe the deaths of their own forces at the hands of hostile forces. The United States Department of Defense, for example, says that those declared KIA need not have fired their weapons but have been killed due to...
on 1 September 1944, commanding the 2nd Battalion of the King's Royal Rifle Corps
King's Royal Rifle Corps
The King's Royal Rifle Corps was a British Army infantry regiment, originally raised in colonial North America as the Royal Americans, and recruited from American colonists. Later ranked as the 60th Regiment of Foot, the regiment served for more than 200 years throughout the British Empire...
and is buried at Airaines
Airaines
Airaines is a commune in the Somme department in Picardie in northern France.-Geography:The commune is situated south of Amiens, at the junction of the D901 and D936 roads.-Hamlets and neighbourhoods:...
Cemetery in France.
Further reading
- The Colditz Story by Pat Reid
- Colditz - The Full Story by Pat Reid
- In the Presence of My Foes by Gris Davies-ScourfieldGris Davies-ScourfieldBrigadier Edward Grismond Beaumont 'Gris' Davies-Scourfield was a British Army officer who became a Prisoner of War and escaped from Stalag XXI-D and Colditz Castle during the Second World War.- Early Life and Education :...
- Those Who Dared by GA Brown