Intermission Stories (18)
Once we get back into WWII, we will mainly have Pacific Theater information here. So, during this intermission time, I’ll take this opportunity to include another European Theater story.
Mr. X Meets the Desert Fox
George Lane aka: Lanyi Gyorgy
British Commando, No. 10 X Troop
In the spring of 1942, Lord Mountbatten created a commando unit made up of 10 troops. No. 10 consisted of European born Jewish volunteers to be described as “unknown warriors,” false identities included. To prove their loyalty, these men were required to perform extremely dangerous operations behind enemy lines.
Lanyi Gyorgy, Hungarian-born, was in England in 1939 and married Miriam Rothschild in 1943; it was through her connections that he was able to enlist in the army at all. On 15-17 May, before D-Day, the newly named “George Lane” and “Roy Woolridge” were sent to Normandy Beach to search for mines. They brought back an old corroded sample. They were sent back to locate and photograph the anti-tank obstacle known as Element C.
Upon eluding capture on shore, a German patrol boat caught them in their dory and brought them back to the beach. Lane’s interrogator insisted he was a saboteur and a member of the special services. (An interpreter was used because Lane insisted he did not speak German). Lane continued to state he had been on a troop ship that sunk in the Channel and he knew nothing. He had his hands bound and a blindfold applied, but it was not done correctly – he could see out of the bottom.
George was led to a car and saw Roy sitting in the rear, he was put in the front. During the drive, he pretended to sleep, head tilted back to view the route and memorize the French street signs. At a large castle, an English-speaking German officer gave him food and tea and requested he was up to meet someone; he said, “…can I count on you to act like an officer and a gentleman?” Lane agreed that he was indeed a gentleman.
He was brought into a vast ballroom and a slim, impressive general walked up to greet him. Lane recognized him at once – the legendary “Desert Fox”, Field Marshal Erwin Rommel. “So you are one of those gangster commandos?” Lanes replied that he heard the commandos were the best in the world. “So, you are a commando? And a saboteur too, I suppose?” Lane answered that he wouldn’t have been invited to the castle if that were true.
“You call this and invitation, do you?” Rommel snorted. “Of course,” Lane said to the interpreter, “But also a privilege,” and then he smiled. Rommel began to laugh and the discussion went on for about 20 minutes. The general promised he would be treated fairly as a POW. Lane and Woolrige both agreed that they were.
At the POW camp, Lane reported to the English senior officer, Col. E. Miller and admitted he was a commando in X-Troop. A coded message was sent to England to confirm his identity along with the name of a road sign he remembered by the castle. 17 July, Rommel’s car was strafed by a Typhoon fighter-bomber, the driver killed and the general injured so badly he was forced to relinquish his command. There is no proof that Lane’s info caused the attack, but he was awarded the Military Cross for his services.
He returned to the castle 40 years later and asserted that he always believed General Rommel had saved his life.
George Lane passed away on 19 March 2010 at the age of 95. His story here was derived from one that appears in “True Stories of D-Day” by Henry Brook and The Telegraph.co.uk. These are the only 2 photos of George Lane I was able to locate.
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Farewell Salutes –
Fred Bickley, Jr. – Birmingham, AL; US Army, WWII
John Boyle – Farmingdale, NY; US Air Force, Korea
David R. Clare – Westfield, NJ & No.Palm Bch., FL; US Navy, WWII
Charles Garrison III – Long Beach, CA; US Army, Ranger
Anne Jarvie – Rotorua, NZ – RAF # 2145065 & RNZ Air Force # 73299, WWII
Sydney Johnson – Colorado Springs, CO; US Army, Korea, Military photographer
David Lake – Buhl, ID; US Army Air Corps, WWII, ETO, flight engineer, B-17’s
John Niceley – Front Royal, VA; US Navy, WWII
Richard Parrish, Jr. – No.Palm Beach; US Army Air Corps, Lt., B-17 pilot
Walter Shackel – Port Washington, NY; US Army, WWII, 86th Mountain Infantry
George Thomas – Toronto, Can; RCAF, WWII, Squadron 435-436, Burma/India Theater
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Posted on May 19, 2014, in WWII and tagged England, family history, Germany, History, Military, Military History, nostalgia, Spies, veterans, WWII. Bookmark the permalink. 86 Comments.
The Desert Fox was an implacable enemy, but this is a new side to him. Interesting story!
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No really so new – Rommel disliked Hitler and was quite the officer and gentleman.
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Hmm, yes I can see that side of him, but allowing a spy to live seems unlike him. I remember reading about his campaign in Africa.
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War is hell.
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Yes. For all.
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Rommel had a habit of wanting to meet the top tier of Allied forces, both flag officers and any kind of special forces. It was purely due to his fascination with military warfare, whomever was practicing it. After capturing a British General in North Africa, he actually sat down with him over a map where they both re-enacted each others strategic and tactical moves on it, with Rommel admitting to the general where and when he could have won the battle had he known how weak Rommel’s forces were in certain areas. What’s also little known about Rommel is that he was never a Nazi and absolutely detested Hitler.
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Rommel’s attitude toward Hitler I did know and aided in my respect for the man. I always felt Hitler knew it too and was only too happy to threaten his family to get the general to commit suicide. Actually the only fault I have ever found about the man is his parents gave birth to him in the wrong country.
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I would have loved to have read a complete history of this remarkable soldiers exploits.
Wonder if a book was ever written
Great post.
Ian
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I acquired the story and condensed it from “True Stories of D-Day” by Henry Brook, published 2006. But, there is plenty on the internet, I went to double-check the facts, perhaps another book is listed on one of them.
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I didn’t realize how much I missed sharing your wonderful/insightful blogs with the veterans and others that I meet. It’s amazing how someone refuses to return your greeting for over a year and then one day they practically run you over with their wheelchair and it’s because of something that was discussed from your blog:)
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I couldn’t ask for a better compliment than that, Sheri! You sure do know how to tug at my heart-strings!
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I hope one of the next expansions of the program will be to offer more of the Hospice patients as many opportunities as possible to participate in anything they possibly can. Not sure how I’m going to make this happen yet, but IT Will.
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I have all the confidence in the world in you!
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Great story, thanks.
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Glad you liked it, Hillary.
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That was quite a story! Always learning pretty fantastic stuff here. Thanks, Gp!
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Thanks, Morguie – seems you and I have a mutual admiration thing going here.
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What a most fascinating experience… I would have been shaking in my boots…or as Old Man Jack would have said, “I would have _hit in my pants.” Hard to believe he had to prove his loyalty in this manner… Incredible.
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If he wanted to be in the army, yes – at least he wasn’t put in an interment camp – right?
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You have a point there, ma’am.
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What an interesting story. To have that kind of courage–memorizing street signs, verbal tennis with Rommel–I’m impressed.
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It would take a lot of quick thinking I would presume, eh Jacqui?!
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Thank you. God bless you. Please keep up your good work.
Senior Pastor/Equipping the Saints
Philip 3:10, “That I May Know Him”
http://gravatar.com/cchurchchurchblog
http://cchurchchurchblog.wordpress.com/
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Thank you, sir.
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Reblogged this on History Stuff That Interests Me and commented:
Interesting story from my friend gpcox.
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I appreciate the honor of the re-blog, Bruce. The George Lane and Rommel story really got to me too.
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Unique, unusual and very interesting. Frankly, I could re blog all your stuff and retire 😉
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Funny!
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Thanks for sharing that wonderful story about Lane. BRAVO your effort with this blog! 🙂
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Thank you, Job, I appreciate that. Just wish I could get them all in here!
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Excellent post. My grandfather fought Rommel’s Afrika Corps in North Africa while with the British 8th.
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Thank you, Ed. You must have some great stories of your grandfather’s experiences, Rommel was quite the military leader.
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Not really, he did’nt like to talk about ” The War” I think a lot of vets are and were like him.. including myself. 🙂
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I understand, Ed.
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Another great WWII tale. Keep them coming.
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We’re close to the end of the intermission, Bev. But, there will be more eye-witness accounts during the WWII posts. I want some more humor from that error too! Thank you for being such a loyal reader for so long!
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Rommel is one of my favourite generals – all the more so because he turned against Hitler and was forced to commit suicide. This little snippet reinforced my belief that Rommel was a good man on the bad side.
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My sentiments exactly, Eric. Just as I’ve been telling the people who previously commented. I can’t help but wonder how far he would have gotten if he had been born in a free country and not had to die to save his loved ones.
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Really enjoying these intermission stories about personal bravery – thanks!
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My pleasure, Carol. It does my heart good to see so many patriotic people here – no matter what the country.
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Such an enjoyable story. I have always regarded Erwin Rommel as an enemy officer, but still held him in high regard because of his military professionalism, and his chivalry. At first, I think he was influenced by the attentions Hitler gave him, but he learned in time that der Fuhrer was a madman. Insofar as the Atlantic Wall is concerned, I do not think that it would have mattered if Rommel was present on D-Day. He could not possibly have stopped us—although I doubt if Eisenhower was as confident of this in 1944 as I am in 2014. ☺
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I can see your point, I feel Rommel went forward as a man doing his job, and he would have done the same if he had been born in the US, England or wherever. I’m glad you enjoyed Lane’s story and had the time to read it.
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I have always been fascinated by General Rommel. Interesting man. Enjoyed the post.
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Glad you enjoyed the post, Joel. Yes, Rommel was a brilliant officer and gentleman who just happened, by the twist of fate, to have an insane leader.
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Amazing story, indeed! Rather ironic if his information had, in fact, led to that strafing.
Rommel was wasted on the Nazi cause.
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Yes, agreed!! Tragic actually.
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Great story.
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Thank you very much, Mark. I appreciate you taking the time to stop in.
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Great story!
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Thanks, Elaine.
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I am looking forward to your Pacific theater posts. I am in the home stretch for my fathers Navy story, about 12 months from his discharge but still have Pacific theater events to tell.
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I am too, Maryann. It’s the first few I have trouble with – too much in the way of politics – which I really can not get into – but are necessary.
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George Lane was an amazing character , combining courage , quick thinking , bravado , etc. , and luck . What a story !
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I think a great deal of his luck was running into Rommel – he might have been killed otherwise. Thanks for coming by, Dan.
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These intermission posts are great stories. Thanks for posting.
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My pleasure, Tish. I’ve been enjoying it. Or maybe I’ve been putting off starting the WWII posts because of so much politics in first few, UGH!
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Absolutely fascinating!
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It was a story I never heard of before – I was hoping it was new to some of the readers.
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The courage of the men in your stories is astounding,
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Yes, and since they rarely talk about it, it could be the person that lives next door. Thanks for reading, Colleen.
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Reblogged this on The ObamaCrat™.
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Thank you very much, Jueseppi, I’m honored by your re-blog.
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Thank you for taking the time to give us information and history. Good post.
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My pleasure, Jueseppi.
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😎
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Reblogged this on Lest We Forget and commented:
Another great untold story of brave men.
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There is always another story out there to amaze me.
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Great story GP that I will have to reblog on Lest We Forget.
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Thank you and – I’m honored.
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Thank you for the story. I was fascinated. A Jew meeting Rommel. I sometimes wonder if Rommel bought into Hitler or just was a loyal soldier to the Fatherland. I get the drift that he had severe thoughts to the madmen.
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As far as I’ve ever read on Rommel, he was an officer and gentleman respected by his men.
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He was also a brilliant field commander.
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Yes, I agree.
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Amazing story. I have just been watching some TV coverage of our veterans at the Monte Cassino memorial. One of the stories there had me in tears.
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I had to look into it myself, learn something every day – don’t we?! 😉
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Indeed we do.
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If only all adversaries could know each other as human beings first.
I am looking forward to your posts on the Pacific Theater. My dad spent most of the war in New Guinea and the Philippines. I don’t know much about those years of service other than what I’ve read.
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What unit was he in? I hope my information is new to you, I’ve acquired quite a few new reference books since I last posted for the Pacific.
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I’m not sure I know. I’ll have to check with my brother and my mom. Like many, he didn’t talk much about the war. He was in the Army, and I think he mostly served as a mechanic.
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That’s a start. Let know what you find out from your family.
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Looking forward to the Pacific theatre stories as my dad was peripherally involved there as a Royal Navy officer.
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Fantastic, where about was he located?
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I know the names of some of the ships he served on but I think he was mostly involved in moving ships from A to B for refitting for fighting. I don’t believe he ever was involved in battle though he did serve in the dangerous conveys in the Arctic as well.
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Well, thank you for that info. It takes more than the fighting soldier to win a war and keep the military going, Susanne.
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I bet he never got to meet another person for tea
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You never know.
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