Shot Down and on the Run: True Stories of RAF and Commonwealth Aircrews of WWII by Graham Pitchfork

Author:Graham Pitchfork [Pitchfork, Graham]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Published: 2017-07-27T04:00:00+00:00

PART THREE

The Middle East and Mediterranean

Chapter Nine

Introduction

After the Italian Army’s first incursions into Egypt in September 1940, the British Commander-in-Chief in the Middle East, General Sir Archibald Wavell, established a secret organization, given the name ‘A’ Force, under the command of Lt.-Col. (later Brig.) Dudley Clarke, with his headquarters in Cairo. Its role was ‘to organize by every available means the deception of the enemy high command’. It was also tasked to train fighting men in the art of escape and evasion and to provide them with any help they might need. This latter organization was known as ‘N’ Section. From September 1941 until the end of the war its leader was Lt.-Col. Tony Simonds.

Until Dudley Clarke’s arrival in Cairo in the autumn of 1940, no MI 9 organization existed in the Middle East, and he may justifiably be regarded as the founder of MI 9 in the area. He had a considerable knowledge and experience of MI 9 work in Great Britain, and he took a keen interest in its establishment in the Mediterranean area, despite his main priority being the development of ‘A’ Force. As a result of signals exchanged between Clarke and Brig. Crockatt in London, the start of the MI 9 organization in the Middle East, corresponding to MI 9(b) in the War Office, was approved. A Charter was issued in early January 1941 establishing MI 9 – ‘N’ Section – ‘with the object of securing information from British POWs, and assisting them to escape’.

Although Clarke understood his instructions, the handicaps under which he started MI 9 in the Middle East were considerable. No organization for escape and evasion had existed in the area before the war, and there were no ‘Underground’ or ‘Resistance movements’ which could be utilized for the rescue of escapers and evaders. Quite apart from the lack of an active escape organization, there were many difficulties in organizing MI 9 work because of a shortage of staff, transport, wireless facilities, and, above all, the active support of the other secret departments already well established in Cairo. In due course, these handicaps were overcome, very largely through the persistence of Dudley Clarke.

The original charter was soon amended to recognize two distinct aspects to MI 9’s work – escape work and preventive training. However, the ebb and flow of the campaigns in North Africa generated many escapers and evaders, and the small MI 9 staff had to concentrate on the operational aspects of their work, with the result that preventive training could not be carried out to any significant degree. Furthermore, the organization soon found itself heavily involved in new operational areas, in particular Greece and Crete, where the ultimate retreat and withdrawal of Allied forces generated a huge influx of evaders.

For its first year of existence MI 9 grew up piecemeal, and was largely an ad hoc organization formed to meet the varying and pressing needs as they arose. However, as the tasks, responsibilities and commitments became more clearly defined, it was possible to evolve a working system of staff and operational control.

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