2015 - 75th Anniversary of Le Paradis Massacre
A special brochure was published by Dennis O'Callaghan to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the massacre. Below we reproduce Denis' foreword to that brochure:
Welcome to the 75th anniversary of the massacre at Le Paradis.
Over the years many references and books have been written on what happened here. I am not going to tell you anything new, but will try to tell the story of this action, and its final outcome, by a few short words and pictures depicting the atrocity that happened in May 1940.
On May 27th 1940 at the hamlet of Le Paradis in the Pas-de-Calis, just under one hundred officers and men of the Royal Norfolk Regiment, completely cut off from their Battalion headquarters surrendered to No 4 company of the 1st Battalion of the 2nd SS Totenkopf (Deaths Head) regiment.
Their arms were taken from them and on orders of the German Company Commander Fritz Knoechlien, the prisoners were marched into a field and all mowed down by machine gun fire, those that were still alive were shot by revolver and bayonet thrusts and left for dead.
Miraculously two men, both privates, survived. One being Bert Poolet and the other my father Bill O'Callaghan. They escaped under the cover of darkness and got away but were later taken prisoners of war.
In 1943 Pooley was repatriated to England due to the seriousness of his wounds. When he first told his story to the British military authorities, no one would believe him.
Pooley would not inform the authorities of the second survivor for fear that the information would get into German hands and they would then eliminate him.
My father spent the next five years in various prisoner of war camps mainly in Poland.
O'Callaghan William
5770251
Service records
Enlisted 20/05/1930 into Territorial Army for 4 years
Re-enlisted 1/04/1932 for 7 years as a regular
Final discharge from the services on 15/01/1946
As one can see the army was a big part of his early life.
I know one of his postings was to Gibralter during the Spanish civil war
Any other places I have to date no knowledge.
Dennis concludes the brochure with the following:
The story is nearly told and the two survivors have sadly both joined their fated comrades, in spirit. Bill was the first to diwe in 1975 and Bert in 1982.
They left a legacy for all to follow. We must never forget the terrible event what happened here, in this sleepy French hamlet on May 27th, 1940, so others had the opportunity to escape the Nazi clutches, and return to fight another day.
Their story is unique in the fact that they both survived to bring the Nazi officer Fritz Knoechlein to justice. He was executed for this massacre in 1949. His hangman was a man called Ted Roper who stood six foot eight inches tall and his comments on Knoechlein as he was about to die were he refused the hood and was a Nazi to the end.
My father Bill was a familiar and popular figure on the annual Pilgrimages to Dunkirk and especially Le Paradis.
A small, quiet man, not given to speaking two words where one would suffice, his demeanor hid a steely determination as the terrible affair at Le Paradis demonstrated.
On a warm summer's night in a remote French hamlet, a few hours after 99 prisoners of war remnants of the 2nd Battalion Royal Norfolk Regiment had been massacred by SS troops, he carried Bert Pooley away to safety.
This was a particularly brave act as he himself had been wounded in the arm. Pooley was a man well over 6ft tall and the SS troops were encamped but a few yards away.
Bill's bonds with Le Paradis lasted until his death in 1975, one of his last wishes was that the memorial here should be upgraded. This has now been done, and now so many ex-servicemen and ordinary people make this a yearly pilgrimage, to remember the atrocity.
As the poet says
To live in the hearts of men is not to die.
Welcome to the 75th anniversary of the massacre at Le Paradis.
Over the years many references and books have been written on what happened here. I am not going to tell you anything new, but will try to tell the story of this action, and its final outcome, by a few short words and pictures depicting the atrocity that happened in May 1940.
On May 27th 1940 at the hamlet of Le Paradis in the Pas-de-Calis, just under one hundred officers and men of the Royal Norfolk Regiment, completely cut off from their Battalion headquarters surrendered to No 4 company of the 1st Battalion of the 2nd SS Totenkopf (Deaths Head) regiment.
Their arms were taken from them and on orders of the German Company Commander Fritz Knoechlien, the prisoners were marched into a field and all mowed down by machine gun fire, those that were still alive were shot by revolver and bayonet thrusts and left for dead.
Miraculously two men, both privates, survived. One being Bert Poolet and the other my father Bill O'Callaghan. They escaped under the cover of darkness and got away but were later taken prisoners of war.
In 1943 Pooley was repatriated to England due to the seriousness of his wounds. When he first told his story to the British military authorities, no one would believe him.
Pooley would not inform the authorities of the second survivor for fear that the information would get into German hands and they would then eliminate him.
My father spent the next five years in various prisoner of war camps mainly in Poland.
O'Callaghan William
5770251
Service records
Enlisted 20/05/1930 into Territorial Army for 4 years
Re-enlisted 1/04/1932 for 7 years as a regular
Final discharge from the services on 15/01/1946
As one can see the army was a big part of his early life.
I know one of his postings was to Gibralter during the Spanish civil war
Any other places I have to date no knowledge.
Dennis concludes the brochure with the following:
The story is nearly told and the two survivors have sadly both joined their fated comrades, in spirit. Bill was the first to diwe in 1975 and Bert in 1982.
They left a legacy for all to follow. We must never forget the terrible event what happened here, in this sleepy French hamlet on May 27th, 1940, so others had the opportunity to escape the Nazi clutches, and return to fight another day.
Their story is unique in the fact that they both survived to bring the Nazi officer Fritz Knoechlein to justice. He was executed for this massacre in 1949. His hangman was a man called Ted Roper who stood six foot eight inches tall and his comments on Knoechlein as he was about to die were he refused the hood and was a Nazi to the end.
My father Bill was a familiar and popular figure on the annual Pilgrimages to Dunkirk and especially Le Paradis.
A small, quiet man, not given to speaking two words where one would suffice, his demeanor hid a steely determination as the terrible affair at Le Paradis demonstrated.
On a warm summer's night in a remote French hamlet, a few hours after 99 prisoners of war remnants of the 2nd Battalion Royal Norfolk Regiment had been massacred by SS troops, he carried Bert Pooley away to safety.
This was a particularly brave act as he himself had been wounded in the arm. Pooley was a man well over 6ft tall and the SS troops were encamped but a few yards away.
Bill's bonds with Le Paradis lasted until his death in 1975, one of his last wishes was that the memorial here should be upgraded. This has now been done, and now so many ex-servicemen and ordinary people make this a yearly pilgrimage, to remember the atrocity.
As the poet says
To live in the hearts of men is not to die.