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Auction: 16002 - Orders, Decorations, Campaign Medals and Militaria
Lot: 13

The Outstanding and Scarce Second War 1941 'Operation Colossus' M.M. Group of Seven to Warrant Officer II Class A.W.A. 'Taffy' Lawley, Parachute Regiment and 'X' Troop 11 SAS, Late South Wales Borderers. One of the Founding Members of the Airborne Forces, He Took Part in the First British Airborne Raid, Operation Colossus, 10.2.1941. Taken POW after the Raid, He Successfully Escaped from Sulmona Camp, 12.9.1943, Marching Over One Hundred Miles to Allied Lines and Safety, and Subsequently Took Part in Operation Overlord
a) Military Medal, G.VI.R. (3952374 W.O.Cl.2. A.W.A. Lawley. A.A.C.), last initial, surname and unit officially corrected
b) 1939-1945 Star
c) Africa Star
d) Italy Star
e) France and Germany Star
f) Defence and War Medals, M.I.D. Oak Leaf, light pitting, good very fine, mounted as worn, with the following related items:
- Card box of issue for the M.M.
- Mention in Despatches certificate, this in a glazed frame
- Letter of confirmation of his activity in '...recent parachute raid in South Italy' and probable capture, dated 8.3.1941, addressed to Mrs L. Lawley, 8 Linzee Road, Hornsly, London, N8
- Silk field maps in pouch
- Ten photographs of the recipient, together with typed and copied research (lot)

M.M. London Gazette 18.6.1946 No. 3952374 Warrant Officer Class II Arthur William Albert Lolley [sic], 11th Special Air Service Regiment, Army Air Corps (London, N.8)

M.M. London Gazette 25.9.1947 For 3952374 Warrant Officer Class II Arthur William Albert Lolley, Army Air Corps. Read 3952374 Warrant Officer Class II Arthur
William Albert Lawley, Army Air Corps.

M.I.D. London Gazette 8.11.1945 3952374 W.O. II (actg.) A. W. A. Lawley

3952374 Warrant Officer II Class Arthur William Albert Lawley, M.M. (1905-1982), served initially with the South Wales Borderers, seeing service in Egypt and Palestine, 1923-30. Following time with the Army Reserve and working for London Transport from 1937, Lawley then enlisted upon the outbreak of the Second World War as a Driving Instructor with the Royal Army Service Corps. In 1940, with Lawley at the age of 35 he still desired to see serious action, volunteering for special service. The men were 'told that an entry requirement was the ability to fit through a 2 foot diameter hole.' Although many trainees expected to be headed for the commandos or submarine service, Lawley instead found the hole be that of the floor of a Whitley bomber. He was selected in No 2 (Parachute) Commando, latterly the first SAS Unit, 11 SAS.

'X' Troop 11 SAS Battalion
The British airborne establishment was formed, at the order of Winston Churchill, in June 1940. The first airborne unit to be formed was Lawley's unit - No. 2 Commando. This in turn was re-named No. 11 Special Air Service Battalion. Throughout the summer the initial trainees were selected and those destined for active SAS service came to the fore. The initial 'live' training exercise took place on 3.12.1940, at Salisbury Plain during which 32 men of No. 2 Commando were dropped by two sorties of Whitley Bombers; Lawley recalled '...as each one of us landed, we were pounced on by brass-hats who fired all sorts of questions at us.' B Troop, were clearly in an enterprising mood, and '...commandeered a grand vehicle, belonging to H.R.H Prince Olaf of Sweden, viewing the exercise, while on route to their objective.'(Sky Men, Robert Kershaw refers). In January 1941 the numbers were once again reduced, with approximately sixty men remaining. These individuals were then 'detailed for "an advanced course" in demolitions and automatic weapons, plus plenty of forced marches at five and six miles to the hour.' (The Green Tiger, Lieutenant P.P.C. Clements, M.C., D.C.M., M.M., May 1944 refers). Rumours of an operation had circulated amongst the men, Lawley recalls '...by this time we were all getting very bored with all the fun we had had...and were impatient in wanting to do something real, especially when we saw the results of the London, Manchester and Sheffield Blitz.' (ibid)
Operation Colossus was the codename to be used for the first airborne operation undertaken by the British military. The force was to be parachuted in and destroy a fresh-water aqueduct over the River Tragino near Calitri in south-western Italy, thus cutting off the main water supply to the strategically important province of Apulia, including the town of Taranto. It was also an important propaganda exercise to show the reach of the British military.
Finally selected, 'X' Troop 'counted eight officers and 31 other ranks; seven officers and 29 men were scheduled to drop in the actual operation. One officer and two other ranks were held in reserve as replacements.
Moving from their billets at Knutsford to a special accommodation at Ringway itself, 'X' Troop immediately started a rigorous training programme. It lasted six weeks. Each morning, before breakfast, the men had a three mile run, followed by thirty minutes P.T. After breakfast, they had a 15 mile march with full kit. During the day, they had aircraft or container drill, gun practise or lectures on withdrawal and escape. At night, they practised night drops.
A full-scale wooden mock-up of that part of the aqueduct to be attacked was erected in Tatton Park behind Tatton Hall… Here the troops spent the afternoons and evenings training the attack and practising the demolition routine. Plans called for about half a ton of explosives to be placed against the aqueduct piers. In time, the engineers became so efficient that they could do it in just over half an hour.' (Tragino 1941: Britain's First Paratroop Raid, K. Margry)

Operation Colossus- The First British Airborne Raid
On the evening of 7.2.1940, the thirty six men selected for Colossus left RAF Dishford, in a composite flight composed of eight Whitley bombers from 51 and 78 Squadrons. The complete flight arrived at dawn to Luqa Airport, upon Malta, much to the delight of the RAF crew, as all eight aircraft had completed the 1,400 mile journey safely, much of this over occupied France.
It was decided that 10.2.1940 was to be the night of execution of Operation Colossus. As the men departed Luqa, Major T.A.G. Pritchard left them with the following 'You are pioneers, or guinea pigs- and you can decide which you prefer.'
Sky Men adds further detail to the exact details of Colossus 'Eight Aircraft took off between 5.40pm and 6.17pm; six loaded with raiders, explosives and weapons containers and two with bombs for a diversionary attack on Foggia. 'We got to the target without incident,' recalled Arthur Lawley, 'and started dropping at roughly 9pm.' Six men and containers exited at various intervals from the six aircraft. 'Through the hole at my feet some houses and then a river flashed by in the moonlight,' observed Anthony Dean-Drummond. 'Green light! A sudden jolt into reality.' He jumped number 5, one after the containers dropped in the stick middle. 'The first thing I noticed was the silence after the incessant drone of the engines.' interrupted by the slight jerk of his parachute opening. 'We had been dropped rather low, from not more than 500 feet, which gave us about 15 seconds before we touched down.' He found the surrounding countryside illuminated by moonlight 'far wilder and titled at far sharper edges than we had expected.' Lawley 'found myself floating steadily down in beautiful moonlight and everything was deathly silent'. They both came down in a ploughed field on the side of a hill about 100 yards above the aqueduct. 'For a second I listened intently, but could only hear the distant drone of the planes and bombing carried out by two others further up the valley to distract attention.'
The air drop occured in dribs and drabs because aircraft were dispersed by flak over Sicily. Deane-Drummond and Lawley's aircraft dropped at 9.42pm, while others did not show up until about 10.15pm. Five dropped reasonably accurately but one aircraft dropped one and a half hours late two miles away in the next valley to the North-East. Always expect the unexpected once again, as a string of setbacks occurred. Lieutentant Paterson, the senior Royal Engineer officer to reach the objective, was perplexed to discover the aqueduct piers were constructed from concrete not brick. Explosives had been prepared and loaded for the latter. Some containers were missing and others could not be found in the dark. Local inhabitants were pressed into service as bearers carrying explosives from their landing spots to the piers but only 800lbs of the 2,240lbs earmarked for the job could be found. Paterson improvised: instead of blowing three piers he packed what he had around the westernmost pier with 160lbs for an adjoining abutment.
At 12.30am the main charge exploded, followed 30 seconds later by a smaller bang under the small bridge nearby, leading to the aqueduct. This was a tense moment. 'Whoomf! Our bridge went up in a cloud of flying concrete, iron rails and bits of masonry,' recalled Lieutenant Deane-Drummond. 'I had never expected so much debris, and we were showered with blocks of concrete and bits of iron.' Lawley listened intently. 'To hear the water rushing down the mountainside like a raging torrent was music to our ears.' They had done it.'
Following the completion of their Operation, the raiders were ordered to rendezvous at the coast, marching in three parties approximately eighty miles from the aqueduct, in order to be evacuated via the submarine H.M.S. Triumph. In this instance, all members of 'X' Troop were intercepted and taken to Sulmona Camp as P.O.W.'s.

P.O.W- Sulmona Camp
Following Operation Colossus, the men were taken to Sulmona Camp, with The Green Tiger giving further information, 'Three weeks saw us moved from Naples and we arrived at our new home, Sulmona Camp. At this time there we were only 350 prisoners in the whole of Italy, and we were treated fairly well with lots of food to eat...For the first seven months at Sulmona we actually had too much to eat and even had to burn bread, macaroni and potatoes so that the Italians would not cut the ration down; then we lost all fresh fruit, eggs, fish, etc., and had the other rations cut by 50 per cent. This lasted until September, 1942, and then the ration was cut again by 60 per cent. This meant that each man received 6 2-5lb. of food every week, and for ten weeks of this period no Red Cross parcels arrived. Luckily no one died, but towards the end everyone in the camp began to complain of stomach cramp, and another month or six weeks would have just about finished us...Many attempts were made to escape from Suloma by different fellows. None succeeded, though, and it has the record for Italian camps, as it was used in the last war for Germans and Austrians, and no one got away from there then...In August and September of last year [1943] American Liberators boosted our morale by making two attacks on Sulmona station and the railway and a munitions factory nearby. Prisoners stood waving on the roofs and window sills as bombs blasted the targets. What a diversion for us! Then, on 8th September, we got news of the armistice whilst a football match was in progress. At first no one would believe it, and even when the truth sank in we shook the Italians by keeping quiet about it and carrying on as before….
Though I have not dwelt in detail when speaking of life in a prison camp, I cannot stress too strongly the great effect such life has on a prisoner from the mental point of view, and I swear that I will never be caught again. Barbed wire has its uses for us, but to appreciate it fully it should only be looked upon from the outside after having first studied its holding properties from inside.'
Whilst in captivity, Lawley also involved himself in the newly formed Sulmona Camp boxing club. A copied newspaper cutting headed 'Our Boys in Italy' notes 'You will be interested to learn how some of our lads in a prisoners of war camp in Italy keep the boxing flag flying. A letter received from Rifleman Don Kandler reveals how the boys have surmounted obstacles in running a boxing club. He writes: "We have some good members, including Arthur 'Taff' Lawley as Chairman and Trainer. He is a former member of the Alexandra Palace B.C. and L.P.T.B. There are also two professionals, Pat O'Hara and Boyo Williams. I act as secretary. "Our membership is 40, and we produce our own sporting magazine. Several tournaments have been staged for the entertainment of 700 British prisoners. Gloves were provided by the British Red Cross, and we plaited ropes for the ring from the string collected from Red Cross. The ring platform is built on rubble, and then our hut doors used for the ring floor. The ropes are bound with red, white and blue colours. We are naturally proud of our job.'

The Escape
Since their internment at Sulmona, the men of 'X' Troop took it upon themselves to make mischief using various channels. From the outset, the men 'showed that they were of a different brand. Pritchard soon set up an escape committee, and he was the leading spirit behind many plans. Although not all attempts were successful, all officers of 'X' Troop made at least one escape attempt. Lea and Deane-Drummond made a daring attempt on the night of December 8/9 disguised as electricians and using a makeshift ladder. Jumping down the other side of the wall, Lea was hit in the leg by a sentry and only Deane-Drummond got away. He almost made it to Switzerland. While he was away, Lucky escaped across the wall with a ladder too, but did not get very far before being recaptured. As punishment, Pritchard, Paterson, Lucky and Deane-Drummond were sent to Campo 27, a special camp for dangerous prisoners in a monastery near Pisa…
Meanwhile, back at Sulmona, Jowett had escaped too. Helped over the wall by Sergeants Clements and Lawley, he managed one train journey towards Switzerland , but was recaptured while changing to another train. For their part, the sergeants and men of 'X' Troop worked on a tunnel for three months and it had already progressed some 172 feet when it was discovered.' (ibid)
In September 1943, as the German Army arrived at the camp to transport the prisoners back to Germany, Sergeants Lawley and Clements made good their escape. After a gruelling four-weeks march south through the mountains they reached Allied lines on the 13th October. In difficult mountainous terrain, poor weather and with scant rations they covered over a hundred miles in 22 days.

Extracts from the pencil diary that Clements kept during the escape give a flavour of the conditions, and the German hunt for other POW's at large:

Mon 20th - Bad head and chest cold. Reached C.M.M. at 9.30. Met an English speaking couple there. Received eggs, bread and cheese from some women and carried on for Schiavi D'Abruzzi. Met Sgt. Law and another Sgt. at C.M.M. gave us English tobacco for a roller. German ambulance passed us on road we were 25 yds away feasting on raw eggs and dry bread. Scared a man, his wife and daughter. Thought we were Js. Warnes us to carry on as Jerry patrols were near Schiavi. Crossed Tragino River. Jerry plane flew over us at height of 200ft.
Mon 27th - German column moving NE on secondary road from Casacalenda through Guadalfiera i Palato - borrowed glasses to observe better but were too weak.
Thurs 30th - Continuation of yesterday's bombing far off. Heard our lads are only 25 kilos away - but have heard since that it's another false alarm. Italian took 6 through to Foggia but was stopped by Jerry lines which stretch from Termoli to Benevento. Decide to hang on a bit longer here as 3 of us cannot obtain civvies at all and the country past Casacalenda is all open.
Mon 4th - Went for a walk with glasses and saw very large Jerry force moving N on Casacalenda secondary road. Lots of tanks. Our planes bombed during the evening N of us.
Tues 12th - Casacalenda ridge flattened by out artillery impossible to sleep at night - Jerry destroyed the bridge at Guardalfiera and 4 or 5 extremely heavy explosions heard south and west - probably other demolitions by Jerry on Campobasso road.
Weds 13th - Went for a walk… heard we were at Casacalenda (TRUE) so we returned to Chapel… 50 yds from there man and woman screamed at us to escape quick because Jerry patrol from Maronne had come down and was waiting for us… we fled and arrived at Casacalenda just after one. Met our troops there and were moved back to S. Croce di Magliano.'
Lawley returned to the UK, but his desire for parachuting was not yet sated, as his quote from a copied newspaper 'It took me some months to wangle my way back into parachuting' implies.

Operation Overlord
Lawley was appointed Company Sergeant Major for the 13th (Lancashire) Parachute Battalion in 1943. During Operation Overlord, Lawley was dropped into Normandy six hours prior to the seaborne invasion.
A copied newspaper report gives further information to another operation in Normandy, on this occasion laying a minefield, 'To carry them I borrowed a wheelbarrow from a nearby house, and we lay the minefield despite periodical sniping from a post we could not locate. It wasn't until I returned the wheelbarrow that I discovered the Hun post was in the upper part of the very house I had borrowed it.'
Lawley was later a part of Operation Varsity, and the advance to the Baltic.

A D.S.O., four M.C.s and four M.M's were awarded for Operation Colossus. Lawley was one of the founder members of the airborne forces.

Lawley's Military Medal was presumably erroneously named 'Lolley' (as per London Gazette entry). Both the London Gazette and his medal have been corrected to read 'Lawley'.

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£10,500