Sergeant William Patrick Duffy
National Archives catalogue reference - WO 208/3324/150
Name: 2568672 Sgt. Duffy, William Patrick.
Unit: 1st Special Air Service Regiment, Airborne Division.
Captured: 6th August 1944.
Escaped: 20th August 1944.
Left: Cherbourg, 3rd September 1944.
Arrived: Southampton, 3rd September 1944.
Date of Birth: 27th December 1915.
Army Service: Since 13th November 1939.
Peacetime Profession: Tailor.
Private Address: 6 Roberts Avenue, Leeds.
At 1330 hrs on 6 Aug 44 I was with Major FENWICK, Sgt. DUNKLY, Cpl. MAGINOT, and a French officer (name unknown) in a Jeep leaving our camp in the woods about five kms West of CHAMBON (FRANCE, 1:250,000, Sheet 15, W 9555). The nearby Maquis camp had been attacked by a large force of Germans the previous day, and we had returned to our camp in order to collect our radio transmitter, code book, etc.
We had collected this equipment and were proceeding along a track to the main road leading to CHAMBON when we noticed two lorries some distance along an intersecting track. Major FENWICK, who was driving the jeep, stopped and decided to go back in order to discover what the lorries contained. The jeep was backed to the intersection, and I examined the lorries through my field glasses. I saw that there were two civilians and a number of German officers standing beside the lorries examining a map. The lorries were full of German troops. Major FENWICK decided to attack and he backed the jeep along the intersecting track to within approximately 200 yards of the lorries. We then opened fire with our machine guns, and after a few minutes we drove off towards CHAMBON.
On the outskirts of CHAMBON we were fired on by machine guns. We returned the fire. I felt a wet splash on my face and saw Major FENWICK slump over the steering wheel. We were then travelling at about 60 m.p.h. The last thing I can remember was first a burst down the road ahead of us. I then lost consciousness.
I regained consciousness some time later and discovered that I was bandaged and lying on a stretcher by the roadside. Sgt. DUNKLY was standing near me, handcuffed. After a few minutes he was marched away, and I did not see him again. [Note: Major Ian Fenwick was killed and is buried at Chambon. Sergeant Frank Wilfred Dunkley is commemorated on the Bayeux Memorial; it is assumed that he was executed. The fate of the remaining occupants is unknown.]
After some time I was taken by an ambulance to a hospital at ORLEANS (W 6440), where I remained until 9 Aug, when I was taken to an emergency hospital in FONTAINEBLEAU (Sheet 16, X 2991). I was the only Britisher there. All the wounded were Germans. My injuries were:- fractured thigh, fractured right hand, and a double fracture of the right jaw. After my arrival in hospital I did not receive any treatment for my leg or jaw, but my hand was occasionally bandaged with paper bandages.
On 19 Aug I made contact with four French girls who were working in the hospital. They agreed to my suggestion that they should assist me to escape. At about 1300 hrs on 20 Aug one of these girls brought me a German Medical Officer's cap, tunic, and pantaloons, which were concealed in a pail. At this time there were four German wounded in the ward and two of them were asleep. The other three girls stood in front of the two patients who were awake and engaged them in conversation while the pail was placed by my bed. The girl who had brought the pail then joined her companions, and while the four of them engaged the attention of the two Germans who were awake, I removed the uniform from the pail and hid it under my bed clothes. After a few minutes the four girls left the ward, taking the empty pail with them.
At about 1515 hrs the four Germans were asleep, and I got out of bed and dressed in the Medical Officer's uniform. The boots were much too small, but I managed to squeeze into them. At 1525 hrs I tip-toed out of the ward and entered the courtyard, where a large number of German wounded were walking, and orderlies and troops were engaged in loading lorries, etc., preparatory to evacuation. The courtyard was surrounded by a 20 ft. wall, and the only way out was through the gate. I marched through the courtyard to the gate, doing my utmost not to limp. As I approached the two sentries there they saluted smartly. I returned the salute and walked through the gate, down the drive to the main road, and then into the forest on the West side of FONTAINEBLEAU.
As soon as I was covered from possible observation I removed the tunic, cap, and boots and hid them in the undergrowth. My reason for removing the boots was they were so small that I was in great agony. I had no socks, so I walked barefoot through the forest. About three hours later I came to an empty shack, where I found an old pair of trousers and a jacket which was too small for me. I removed the pantaloons and wore the trousers.
I remained at the shack until dawn on 21 Aug, when I started walking S.W., carrying the jacket over my arm. At 0830 hrs I met a French farmer on the main MILLY-FONTAINEBLEAU road. I explained my identity. After looking at my feet the farmer told me to ride on the back of his horse. He was going towards MILLY (X 1192). Shortly afterwards two Germans on a motor cycle came along the road. They stopped and asked me in broken French for directions. The farmer was walking some distance behind. I did not know the whereabouts of the place they had asked for, but I pointed them down the road and said: "Ten kilometres". They thanked me and went on.
At about 0900 hrs we came to a German tank which had been damaged. A group of French people were gathered round it, and the farmer spoke to one of them. This Frenchman, who was the local chief of the Maquis, and his son carried me to their home near MILLY. I was given civilian clothes and I remained at this house until 25 Aug. On that day members of the Maquis took me in a car to MILLY, where I met a French officer who sent me by lorry to LE MANS (Sheet 15, Z 4962). On arrival there I reported to the American Military Police, who sent me in a lorry to CHARTRES, where I reported to a British Intelligence Officer. I was briefly interrogated and sent by car to an American camp at CARENTAN, where I reported to the medical officer on the morning of 26 Aug. I was in the 5th U.S.A. General Hospital at CARENTAN until 3 Sep, when I was sent by ambulance to CHERBOURG and then by hospital ship to SOUTHAMPTON, where I arrived on 3 Sep.