PIERS STORIE-PUGH FOUNDING PATRON TELLS HIS FATHER’ S INCREDIBLE STORY
Another failed escape: Peter Storie-Pugh (middle) with two Dutch PoWs. The photo was taken by the German camp photographer to prove to Berlin how well they were doing to stop escapes from Colditz.
Founding Patron, Piers Storie-Pugh, tells the story of his father, a persistent escapee from Colditz and the inspiration behind his extensive work to support veterans today. Piers Storie-Pugh OBE, is a public speaker, architect of the ‘Heroes Return’ Scheme for veterans and former Chief Executive of The Not Forgotten Association. This is the story of his father, Peter StoriePugh, a huge inspiration to him and one of the reasons for his unwavering support of Armed Forces veterans and the Tommy Club. Peter Storie-Pugh was at Queen’s College Cambridge when war was declared in 1939. Commissioned into the 6th (Territorial Battalion) The Royal West Kent Regiment, he went to France with the British Expeditionary Force in 1940 and was very soon in action against a major German armoured thrust. 24
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At the Battle of Doullens near Arras he was severely wounded, awarded the Military Cross and taken as a prisoner to Bapaumne. He escaped but was quickly recaptured and taken to Spangenburg Castle. He escaped again; made it to a local railway station where he was recaptured trying to board a train. Having been beaten up he was taken under heavy guard to Colditz Castle near Leipzig; a special secure PoW camp for persistent escapees. Despite twenty one attempts to escape from Colditz, including through the sewers, by digging into a disused attic in the German quarters and attempting to get onto the very high roof of the Castle, he was destined to remain a prisoner until liberated by the Americans on 16 April 1945.
Then and Now: Piers visits the sewer manhole cover in the canteen at Colditz, used by his father during his first serious escape attempt in 1941.
For these attempts and other bad behaviour he was constantly being sent to solitary confinement. He devised a code for messages, based on his house number (9) at Malvern, which were sent to MI9 via his father; and MI9 used his same code in reply for four years undetected. Whilst in Colditz Peter completed his BA in Humanities which he had started at Cambridge, with fellow officers acting as invigilators and the German postal system guaranteeing safe delivery!! The Times obituary described him as ‘’a cheerful PoW who worked tirelessly to enable others to escape’’. Not a bad epitaph. He was awarded an MBE (for gallantry) for his activities in Colditz and for many years he gave lectures on his experiences. Following the war, Peter Storie-Pugh returned to Cambridge where he gained a First (he said ‘’it wasn’t that I was clever but rather that I had years in Colditz in which to study’’); he went on to qualify as a veterinary surgeon and became a Don in veterinary science at Cambridge.
He also continued to serve in the Territorial Army commanding 1st Battalion The Cambridgeshire Regiment, amalgamated battalions to command 1st Battalion The Suffolk & Cambridgeshire Regiment and was appointed Deputy Commander 161 Infantry Brigade (famous for the Defence of Kohima), finally becoming Commandant of the Cambridgeshire & Huntingdonshire Army Cadet Force. In addition to lecturing in veterinary science he was appointed President of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons for which he was made a CBE in 1981. He was appointed a UK representative to the European Parliament until his retirement to France where he died in 2011, aged 92. Piers Storie-Pugh continues to tell his father’s story having followed in a similar career in the Army. He soon hopes to continue to give his lectures; one of course being his father's story in Colditz. His presentations are all designed to support charities in their fundraising endeavours.
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