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Lot 363
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Archive of "Caterpillar Club" Founder Leslie Irvin Related to Stalag Luft III
Archive of "Caterpillar Club" Founder Leslie Irvin Related to Stalag Luft III
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Description:

Archive of "Caterpillar Club" Founder Leslie Irvin Related to Stalag Luft III

An archive of "Caterpillar Club" founder Leslie Irvin, featuring a letter written to an R.A.F. bombardier imprisoned at Stalag Luft III—the scene of "The Great Escape." Includes two letters, a membership pin and car, and a metal plaque. Both letters have been dry-mounted to foam core and matted in blue with the corresponding membership pin attached. Expected flattened mail folds to letters, else very good condition overall. Accompanied by a copy of the letter of provenance from War Museum founder Rodney H. Brown.

Includes the following:

(1) Typed Letter Signed, "Leslie L Irvin," 1 page, 4.5" x 7.75" (visible), Letchworth, Herts, August 13, 1945, to airman Flight Lieutenant W. Allen, an airman injured in his successful parachute escape and then in an RAF Hospital

(2) Inlaid Enamel Membership Pin, 1.25" x .75", for the club featuring a parachute flanked by wings and the word "IRVIN" at bottom

(3) Membership Card, 3.25" x 2", laminated, signed by Irvin

(4) Typed Letter Signed (in a clerical hand), "for Leslie L. Irvin," 1 page, 4.5" x 7" (visible), Letchworth, Herts, March 2, 1944, to Flight Sergeant Stephen Powell, then a P.O.W. in Germany, welcoming him to the society and enclosing his inlaid enamel membership pin

(5) Metal Plaque, 7" x 4", featuring the raised-enameled emblem of the Royal Air Force Escaping Society, used to commemorate a deceased airman who had successfully escaped from an Axis P.O.W. camp, reading: "IN MEMORIAM THE ROYAL AIR FORCE ESCAPING SOCIETY." 

Leslie Irvin was a career daredevil and a protégé of Charles Broadwick who made his first parachute jump at age 14 performing a stunt for the film, Sky High. A member of the Army Air Service's parachute research team, in 1919 he successfully tested what became known as the Airplane parachute Type-A which incorporated most of the elements we associate with modern chutes. Two months following his successful jump, the Irving Air Chute company was formed in Buffalo, New York (someone mistakenly added the "g" to "Irvin," an error that was not corrected until 1970). By the start of the Second World War, 45 countries had adopted Irving parachutes which saved over 10,000 lives during the conflict.

Sergeant Powell was the bombardier who undertook at least seven missions over Germany between July and August 1943 before his Lancaster bomber was shot down over Namur in Belgium after a raid on Dusseldorf. Sergent Powell evaded capture until early September when he attempted to make contact with the Belgian resistance instead finding himself in a false "safe house" operated by notorious Belgian collaborator, Prosper de Zitter. He spent some time at Stalug IV B in Mühlburg before the Luftwaffe transferred him to Stalag Luft III in Sagen. Although he is not among the men who made their escape from the P.O.W. camp later the same month as Irvin's letter, he very well may have participated in one of the several tunnel projects (over 600 imprisoned airmen took some part in the operation).

The P.O.W. camp at Sagen was known as Stalag Luft III, and was managed by the Luftwaffe to house Allied airmen downed over Germany. The camp was the scene of two famous escape plots, both involving tunneling: one in 1943, which was depicted in the film The Wooden Horse (1950) and another in 1944, immortalized in the 1963 film The Great Escape starring Steve McQueen, James Garner, Richard Attenborough, Charles Bronson, and James Coburn. The real-life "Great Escape" was an extremely sophisticated attempt to mount a mass escape of 200 or more prisoners via a tunnel dug from inside one of the barracks to the woods outside the perimeter of the camp. Tunneling was particularly difficult at Stalag Luft III, as the barracks stood on raised platforms so any tunnel started within could be easily detected. Complicating matters further, the sub-surface soil was sandy and bright yellow which contrasted sharply with the drab, gray surface soil, thus rendering it difficult to mask tunneling projects as the excess soil would stand out when dumped on the surface. The prisoners employed a wide range of subtle ruses to dispose of the soil without tipping off the guards. The plot, conceived by R.A.F. Squadron Leader Roger Bushell, played by Attenborough in the film, involved the construction of several tunnels simultaneously so that if one was discovered, the others would hopefully remain secret. The strategy proved successful. When one of the long tunnels was uncovered, the guards stopped their search as they could not imagine that two others were still under construction. Although over 600 prisoners worked on the tunnels only 200 were slated to use it for their escape. On the night of March 24, 1944, the prisoners began their escape. Much to their dismay, as they emerged on the other side, they realized that the tunnel entrance was short of the tree line. Amazingly, 76 men escaped through the tunnel before guards spotted what was going on. As the 77th man surrendered to the guards, the others bolted into the woods. Of the 76 that escaped, 73 were recaptured—half of whom were executed by the SS.

From the collection of "Great Escape" relics assembled by the founder of "The War Museum". These items were largely obtained from former Allied prisoners of war as well as local farmers and townspeople in the town of Zagen, Poland (formerly Sagen, Germany). The camp is seven square miles in total and is covered in pine forests. In the last weeks of the war, as the Russians reached the camp, the German guards hurriedly buried their equipment, changed into civilian clothes, and fled. The Allied POWs were sent on a forced march in the snow southward to Nurnberg, then to another camp at Moosburg where they were liberated on April 29, 1945. At Zagan there are still various compounds and many areas of derelict buildings and footings. In the 1950s and ‘60s, the local townsfolk and farmers explored and excavated relics from the areas which were only accessible with a four-wheel drive vehicle in the more remote parts, having various maps and a compass, and even then it was easy to get lost. Such relic hunting has not been permitted over the last several decades, making these early recoveries prized and sought-after pieces of history.

This item comes with a Certificate from John Reznikoff, a premier authenticator for both major 3rd party authentication services, PSA and JSA (James Spence Authentications), as well as numerous auction houses.

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