INTRODUCTION
In the late afternoon of May 27th, 1940, 99 soldiers were marched to a barn in the small French hamlet of Le Paradis. They were lined-up along the wall of the building and unceremoniously mowed down in a hail of machine gun bullets by a group of German SS officers trained to kill. Many of the SS Totenkopf Brigade had been trained at the infamous Dachau Concentration Camp.
The Massacre at Le Paradis has gone down in history as one of the worst attrocities of the Second World War, although most histories of the war either completely ignore the event or dismiss it in a couple of paragraphs or sentences.
This book is dedicated to the memory of the 97 who died in the massacre - although, as we will show, this figure may be something of an arbitrary one. It is also the story of the two soldiers from the Royal Norfolk Regiment who survived the massacre.
It is a story of bravery, redemption and the triumph of the human spirit. It is also the story of the fight by the two survivors to bring the perpetrators of the massacre to justice.
Using original sources and interviews, "Hell in Paradise" looks at the lead up to the massacre, the massacre itself, the aftermath and the fight for justice. It also looks at the toll the event has had on the families of the two survivors and the families of those who died.
"Hell in Paradise" is not designed to be a military history, although by necessity, certain details have to be given. It is more a study of the human spirit and the personal tragedy of an event that lasted only a matter of minutes but which has resonated over the past 80 years. It is a study of the indomitable British spirit, the battle to right a wrong and it looks closely at all aspects of the event to try to answer the question: "Why did it happen."
It is a story about ordinary soldiers, men with families, men caught up in the maelstrom that was the Second World War. By and large tje soldiers had little idea about why they had been ordered to fight to the last man and last bullet. They had little or no knowledge of the evacuation of Dunkirk which was taking place just 30 miles away. Yet they were an integral part of that evacuation - they were the rearguard action that allowed over 300,000 troops to escape back to the UK. It was thanks to these men that a major turning point in the war was able to take place. Millions of words have been written about Dunkrik, relatively few have been written about the men who made Dunkirk possible. We hope that this book helps to redress the balance.
Hell in Paradise is dedicated to the bravery of those involved and hopefully and hopefully gives an insight inot the characters of those involved.
CHAPTER ONE - Bill and Bert
There is a certain irony that two of the central characters in our story were born within five miles of each other in West London.
William "Bill" O'Callaghan and Albert "Bert" Pooley could have grown up as friends but neither were aware of the other's existence until many years later when they found themselves serving together in the Royal Norfolk Regiment.
Bill O'Callaghan was born in Brentford on 1914. His father was Henry Ashby O'Callaghan who served with distinction in the Royal Navy during the First World War.
Bill was to remember little about London, however, as he moved to Norfolk at the age of six and forever after looked upon himself as a true man on Norfolk, speaking with a regional Norfolk accent.
Bert, in contrast, was a true Londoner, being born in Southall and returning there after the war. He married the daughter of his next door neighbour and his own two daughters were born in Southall in 1944 and 1946 respectively.
Before signing up Bert worked for the Post Office - a job he returned to after the war, despite horrendous injuries that would have incapacitated a lesser man. Bert's pride in his appearance and work ethic.
Chapter Two - Lead up to the massacre
Chapter Three The Royal Norfolks
Chapter Four The Massacre
Chapter Five The Aftermath
Chapter Six - Prisoners
Chapter Seven - Repatriation
Chapter Eight - The hunt for justice
Chapter Nine - Fritz Knoechlein
Chapter Ten - The Legacy - Pilgrimages.
In the late afternoon of May 27th, 1940, 99 soldiers were marched to a barn in the small French hamlet of Le Paradis. They were lined-up along the wall of the building and unceremoniously mowed down in a hail of machine gun bullets by a group of German SS officers trained to kill. Many of the SS Totenkopf Brigade had been trained at the infamous Dachau Concentration Camp.
The Massacre at Le Paradis has gone down in history as one of the worst attrocities of the Second World War, although most histories of the war either completely ignore the event or dismiss it in a couple of paragraphs or sentences.
This book is dedicated to the memory of the 97 who died in the massacre - although, as we will show, this figure may be something of an arbitrary one. It is also the story of the two soldiers from the Royal Norfolk Regiment who survived the massacre.
It is a story of bravery, redemption and the triumph of the human spirit. It is also the story of the fight by the two survivors to bring the perpetrators of the massacre to justice.
Using original sources and interviews, "Hell in Paradise" looks at the lead up to the massacre, the massacre itself, the aftermath and the fight for justice. It also looks at the toll the event has had on the families of the two survivors and the families of those who died.
"Hell in Paradise" is not designed to be a military history, although by necessity, certain details have to be given. It is more a study of the human spirit and the personal tragedy of an event that lasted only a matter of minutes but which has resonated over the past 80 years. It is a study of the indomitable British spirit, the battle to right a wrong and it looks closely at all aspects of the event to try to answer the question: "Why did it happen."
It is a story about ordinary soldiers, men with families, men caught up in the maelstrom that was the Second World War. By and large tje soldiers had little idea about why they had been ordered to fight to the last man and last bullet. They had little or no knowledge of the evacuation of Dunkirk which was taking place just 30 miles away. Yet they were an integral part of that evacuation - they were the rearguard action that allowed over 300,000 troops to escape back to the UK. It was thanks to these men that a major turning point in the war was able to take place. Millions of words have been written about Dunkrik, relatively few have been written about the men who made Dunkirk possible. We hope that this book helps to redress the balance.
Hell in Paradise is dedicated to the bravery of those involved and hopefully and hopefully gives an insight inot the characters of those involved.
CHAPTER ONE - Bill and Bert
There is a certain irony that two of the central characters in our story were born within five miles of each other in West London.
William "Bill" O'Callaghan and Albert "Bert" Pooley could have grown up as friends but neither were aware of the other's existence until many years later when they found themselves serving together in the Royal Norfolk Regiment.
Bill O'Callaghan was born in Brentford on 1914. His father was Henry Ashby O'Callaghan who served with distinction in the Royal Navy during the First World War.
Bill was to remember little about London, however, as he moved to Norfolk at the age of six and forever after looked upon himself as a true man on Norfolk, speaking with a regional Norfolk accent.
Bert, in contrast, was a true Londoner, being born in Southall and returning there after the war. He married the daughter of his next door neighbour and his own two daughters were born in Southall in 1944 and 1946 respectively.
Before signing up Bert worked for the Post Office - a job he returned to after the war, despite horrendous injuries that would have incapacitated a lesser man. Bert's pride in his appearance and work ethic.
Chapter Two - Lead up to the massacre
Chapter Three The Royal Norfolks
Chapter Four The Massacre
Chapter Five The Aftermath
Chapter Six - Prisoners
Chapter Seven - Repatriation
Chapter Eight - The hunt for justice
Chapter Nine - Fritz Knoechlein
Chapter Ten - The Legacy - Pilgrimages.
