By Eric
SOF -
Dec 3, 2014
The great escapes of a paratrooper
who survived a firing squad, escaped from a prisoner of war camp and was shot
four times in battle have emerged after his medals were put up for auction.
Lieutenant Percy ‘Clem’ Clements
became one of the most highly-decorated soldiers of the Second World War for
his heroics and acts of bravery.
Now the Nottingham-born soldier’s
medals, along with a map he used to escape from the Italian camp, a diary he
kept while on the run and a memo written as he lay injured in the 1944 Battle
of the Bulge have been put up for sale by his family, with the awards expected
to sell for £40,000.
Lt Clements was a founding member of
the airborne SAS and was involved in the very first British paratroop drop over
Italy in 1941.
A group of 35 men, including Lt
Clements, were captured after the successful mission to blow up an aquaduct. They
were stripped and lined up against a wall in front of 20 irate civilians armed
with shotguns.
However, just as the order to fire
was about to be given, an Italian army officer arrived on horseback and put a
stop to the summary execution that would have been in breach of the Geneva
Convention.
Lt Clements then spent two and a
half years in a PoW camp during which time he established clandestine
communications between fellow captured officers and the War Office.
He managed to escape in 1943 and
spent 22 days walking more than 100 miles to reach the advancing Allied forces
in Italy.
Lt Clements rejoined his battalion
and went into the Ardennes Forest in Belgium during the infamous Battle of the
Bulge in December 1944.
Heavily outnumbered and facing
German Tiger tanks in one action, he led his men in a fighting withdrawal and
was shot four times, in the stomach, arm and leg.
His two stretcher bearers were
killed as they carried him but he continued to direct the retreat while lying
down until he passed out from blood loss.
Lt Clements won the prestigious
Distinguished Conduct Medal, Military Cross and Military Medal for his bravery,
with the medal group being sold at London auction house Spinks later this
month.
Being auctioned alongside it is a
tiny compass in the form of a button, a covert map he used during his escape in
Italy and the diary documenting his escape.
There is also an incredible note Lt
Clements started to write as he lay wounded in the Ardennes. The message was to
summon an ambulance for injured comrades but he passed out before he could
finish it.
‘Clem Clements’ medals are very rare
group, quite possibly unique in terms of the combination of gallantry awards,’
said Mark Quayle from Spinks.
‘He was one of the most decorated
airborne troops of the Second World War who never knew when he was beaten. He
kept coming back for more up until the point he was wounded four times on the
same occasion.
“We were marched over to a bare patch where the bodies lay
and a very hysterical civilian with two pistols assumed charge of a firing
squad of 12 civilians armed with some ancient double and single barrel
shotguns”
Lt Percy ‘Clem’ Clements
‘The fact that he survived a fire
squad tells you just how remarkable his story of survival was.’
Lt Clements, from Nottingham, joined
the army in 1928 and following the outbreak of the Second World War volunteered
for special service.
The British airborne unit was formed
at the behest of Winston Churchill and carried out Operation Colossus in
February 1941.
After blowing up the Tragino
Aqueduct, the group were sent to meet up with a Royal Navy submarine off the
coast 80 miles away.
But they were hunted down by a mob
of 250 civilians, and a member of the raiding party shot and killed two
Italians before the soldiers surrendered.
Lt Clements said in an interview
later: ‘We were marched over to a bare patch where the bodies lay and a very
hysterical civilian with two pistols assumed charge of a firing squad of 12
civilians armed with some ancient double and single barrel shotguns.’
One ringleader incited the crowd to
avenge the death of the two locals and show no mercy to the British troops. He
reached the point of raising his arm to command the firing squad to take aim.
‘What saved us was the fact the
hysterical chap liked to hear himself talk and while he was still raving a W.O
of the carabinieri came up and took over,’ Lt Clements wrote.
After his escape and march to
freedom while being pursued by the Germans, Lt Clements was awarded the DCM for
his ‘gallant and distinguished service’ as a PoW and subsequent escape.
He was commissioned into the 12th
Parachute Regiment in August 1944 and four months later was sent in to Belgium.
His platoon were ordered to occupy a
hill overlooking the town of Bure but found themselves virtually surrounded by
German forces.
Lt Clements gave orders to withdraw
but was shot in the stomach. Despite the severity of his wound he continued to
give orders and successfully extracted his men before he was hit three more
times and eventually passed out.
He was awarded the Military Cross
for leading his men with distinction against heavy armour and was later awarded
the Military Medal for his outstanding leadership.
After the war, Lt Clements took up a
civilian post with the Ministry of Defence in Shropshire, where he moved with
wife Eileen. He died in 1998.
His son is Brigadier David Clements
who served in Iraq as deputy to American general David Patraeus.
‘His wounds (which he only survived
because of his exceptional fitness) meant that he had to leave the Army after
his recovery and he then worked until his retirement as a Civil Servant in the
Ministry of Defence,’ wrote Brig Clements in a piece for historical website ParaData.
‘Clem Clements was a modest man and
was embarrassed to be regarded as one of the most highly decorated members of
the airborne forces he helped found.
‘All who served with him paid
tribute to his courage, determination and inspirational leadership. Younger men
on the parachute raid, and later in the POW Camp, came to value his advice,
assistance and irrepressible humour. All agree that he was indeed “a man among
men” and one of the great fighting soldiers of the British Army.’
The auction takes place in London on
November 20.
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