The superb and extensively document evader’s Bomber Command and Coastal Command Caterpillar Club Mention in Despatches group awarded to Pilot Officer G.L. Spencer, 405 Squadron, Royal Canadian Air Force who had flown 10 operations to Germany before his unit transferred to Coastal Command for a four and a half month period where he would support operations in the Bay of Biscay including on Anti-Shipping and Anti-Submarine patrols. His unit would return to Bomber Command in early March 1943 and it was on his first operation after this, to Cologne on the night of 11th/12th March 1943 that Spencer along with the rest of his crew would be shot down over France. What followed for Spencer would be a four month period of evasion during which time he would be helped by both the Oaktree and Burgundy escape lines, during which time he successfully stayed head of the dismantling of the lines that had been carried out by the Germans as a result of the treachery of Roger Le Neveu. After being successfully moved to the south of France via Paris, Spencer would cross into Andorra on the night of 10/11th July 1943 and thus would make his way back to the UK via Barcelona, Madrid and Gibraltar where he left on 9th August 1943. For his successful evasion, Spencer would be recommended for the Military Cross, but this would be downgraded to a Mention in Despatches which he would receive in the London Gazette of 8th June 1944. Returning to Canada after the war, Spencer would join the Film Board, but tragically died aged 30 after a long illness in 1953.
Group of 5: 1939-1945 Star; Air Crew Europe Star, bar Atlantic; Defence Medal, Canadian silver issue; Canadian Volunteer Service Medal 1939-1945 with overseas bar; War Medal, Canadian silver issue, with Mention in Despatches oak leaf. Mounted loose for wear.
Condition: mounted loose for wear, Good Very Fine
Along with:
Privately produced Caterpillar Badge of larger form in gilt metal with glass eyes, the reverse named ‘P/O G.L. SPENCER’
Caterpillar Badge in gold with glass eyes, the reverse named ‘P/O G.L. SPENCER’
Royal Canadian Air Force Observer’s and Air Gunner’s Flying Log Book
A superb and extensive photographic archive containing approximately 150 photographs, numerous newspaper articles, a quantity of original greeting cards, and a large number of sympathy cards sent to the family after Spencer’s death. Also included are numerous telegraphs relating to Spencer being listed as missing, and later found to be safe in Gibraltar, as well as a copy of a telegraph to his wife telling her he was alive and well.
Commission document for appointment as Pilot Officer on 12th May 1943
Original Mention in Despatches certificate named to ‘Pilot Officer G.L. Spencer, Royal Canadian Air Force’ dated 8th June 1944
Caterpillar Club Certificate of Membership named to ‘P/O. G.L. Spencer’
Certificate granting operational wings from the Royal Canadian Air Force to Flying Officer G.L. Spencer
Letter from his Pilot’s wife to Spencer’s wife dated 14th August 1943, stating that Spencer was on his way home.
Letter from the Irvin Parachute Company regarding the replacement of his lost Caterpillar Badge
Letter dated 14th February 1947 from the Royal Canadian Air Force thanking him for his service on his transferral to the Royal Canadian Air Force Reserve.
Royal Canadian Air Force Service and Pay Book
Identity Bracelet named ‘G.L. Spencer, J. 18834 R.C.A.F.’
Pair of Fibre ID Tags.
Cloth Observer Brevet
Bullion Cap Badge
General Service lapel badge
Royal Canadian Air Force Reserve lapel badge
Metal Observer Wing
Metal Royal Canadian Air Force Wings
A small number of other handwritten letters to and from Spencer’s wife.
Gordon Lewis Spencer began his training on 12th September 1941 and first undertook training as a Navigator at No. 7 A.O.S. at Portage La Prairie, Manitoba where he would pass his Air Observers’ Navigation Course on 8th December 1941. He would next travel to MacDonald, Manitoba where he would undertook training as a Bomb Aimer and Gunner on Fairy Battle aircraft. He would complete his AB Initio Gunnery Course and Bombing Course on 19th January 1942 before moving to No. 1 Air Navigation School, Rivers, Manitoba where he would complete his Air Observers Advanced Navigation Course on 23rd February 1942.
By 27th April 1942 he was training with No.3 (Observer) Advanced Flying Unit in the United Kingdom he would remain training with this unit, and later No. 22 Operational Training Unit until 5th August 1942.
On 1st September 1942 he would transfer to No.405 Squadron at Topcliffe, Yorkshire, spending the first half of the month training and familiarising himself with Halifax aircraft, he would then undertake his first operation on 14th September 1942 when he would fly to Wilhelmshaven. His next operation was to Essen on 16th September 1942, he would then fly to Saarbrucken on 19th September 1942 when he would fly to Saarbrucken, on this sortie the aircrafts electrical systems would fail and he would be unable to release 2 x 1000lb bombs and 540 x 4lb incendiary bombs.
Spencer’s next operation would be Flensburg on 20th September 1942, but he would be recalled once over the Danish coast and would drop his bombs in the North Sea. This would be followed by an operation to Krefeld on 2nd October, Aachen on 5th October and Osnabuck on 6th October. Subsequently he would fly to Kiel on 13th October, Cologne on 15th October and Genoa on 23rd October.
From 25th October 1942 he would be attached to R.A.F. Coastal Command, undertaking a Submarine Patrol on 28th October, a Convoy Escort on 2nd November, a Shipping Patrol on 7th November and then Submarine Patrols on 10th November, 15th November, 20th November and 25th November and on 28th November 1942.
December would only see a Submarine Patrol on 1st December 1942 otherwise a month of inactivity. 1943 would see a convoy escort on 2nd January 1943, and Submarine Patrols on 17th January and 23rd January 1943. February would then see Submarine Patrols off the Spanish Coast on 12th February, 17th February and 23rd February,
March 1943 2ould see a return to Bomber Command and on 11th March 1943 he would be shot down by a fighter on a mission to Stuttgart, landing by parachute in France. Subsequently evading, his next flight would be as a passenger in a United States Army Air Force place out of Gibraltar on 9th August 1943
Spencer’s MI9 debrief states:
‘I was bomb aimer of the crew of the Halifax aircraft of which Squadron Leader Logan, Flight Sergeant Jennings, Pilot Officer Dennison and Flight Sergeant Bulman were members.
We left Topcliffe at approximately 1930hrs on 11th March 1943 to bomb Stuttgart. On our return journey about 2345 hrs, we were attacked by a night fighter in the neighbourhood of Hirson. Our aircraft was set on fire, and the captain ordered us to bale out.
My helpers in France told me that F/Sgt. Kennett, R.C.A.F our rear gunner, had been injured in the leg either during or after his landing, and had been betrayed to the Germans by the occupants of a house at which he had sought help. My helpers assured me that the traitors concerned would be suitably dealt with.
I landed in a wood, uninjured, a few miles N.E. of Mondrepuis, N.W. of Hirson. I remembered that one of the Intelligence lectures which I had received had warned me that it was dangerous to seek shelter in the woods, because of the likelihood of encountering German dumps or headquarters. I was therefore afraid to penetrate further into that in which I found myself. I cut up my parachute and hid it and my mae west in a thicket. At the time I had no idea where I was. In a little while I noticed some dirty pieces of paper in a clearing, and examined them. They bore writing in French, which I can understand, though I am not a fluent French speaker. From this fact I surmised that I must be in France.
I now took off my badges which I carried loose in my pocket. I then crawled into the thicket near my parachute. I could see a glow in the sky from my burning aircraft and could also hear the ammunition exploding. I remained in the thicket til daybreak on 12th March 1943. I then removed my parachute and mae west, and buried them. Before leaving England I had provided myself with a money belt containing a compass, needle and thread, anti-burn ointment, ‘Band-Aids’, razor, soap and toothbrush. With the aid of this compass I started walking South, and in a little while came to the edge of the wood. Here I opened my purse and removed the maps therefrom. I could see an isolated farmhouse. While watching it a man in uniform came up behind me. He was armed with a pistol. I was just about to make a dash into the wood when he came to attention and saluted me. He said ‘Parachutists?’, I said ‘Yes’, He then said ‘Anglais?’ and I replied ‘Canadian’. He then shook me by the hand, and explained that he was a Frenchman. With the aid of my map he indicated to me roughly where I was. He told me to wait until dark, and said that then I could with safety ask for help from the people in the farmhouse which I had been watching. He then left me.
I went back into the wood, and about noon opened my escape box, and ate some Horlick’s tablets and some condensed milk from the tube, I was wearing a pair of issue boots inside my flying boots. I now took off the flying boots and buried them.
After dark I approached the farm.
The remainder of his log book details flights as a bomb aimer at various training units for the rest of the war. When the farmer heard that I was Canadian and saw my identity discs, he took me into his house and gave me a meal. He told me that it would not be safe for me to sleep in the house that night, but he allowed me to sleep in a hayloft. While here I was visited by another man who told me that two members of my crew were dead. He asked me how many there were in the crew, and their names, as he wished to look for possible survivors. At first I refused to give him their names, which disconcerted him somewhat.
I remained in the hayloft until the night of 13 March, when my helpers gave me a complete outfit of civilian clothes, and a pair of shoes. One of them said that Sgts. Lacina dn McDonald of my crew had been killed and had been given a decent funeral at Mondrepuis. Here also I hear of Kennett’s capture.
On the night of 15 March I was taken into the Farmer’s house and allowed to sleep in a bed. The next day, 16 March, another helper took me by car to a nearby village, where I met P/O Dennison. From this point my subsequent journey was arranged for me.
Spencer’s escape is further covered in the book ‘RAF Evaders – The Comprehensive Story of Thousands of Escapers and Their Escape Lines, Western Europe 1940-1945’ by Oliver Clutton-Brock.
‘On 3rd May Squadron Leader Lefevre was taken to Madame Cellarier’s house at Lein-ar-lan, ten kilometres or so north of Plouha, where yet more evaders were being hidden, including Pilot Officer B.C. Dennison, RCAF and Flight Sergeant G.L. Spencer, RCAF (same crew); Sergeant D.M.C. Cox RCAF (same crew as Sergeant D.R. Howard); Flight Sergeant E.L. Bulman, RCAF; Technical Sergeant Jack Luehrs USAAF; Sergeant Frank Greene USAAF and Sergeant C.E. McDonald, RCAF an escaped prisoner of war.
Pilot Officer B.C. Dennison RCAF was another evader sent to Brittany in the expectation of being evacuated by boat. Shot down in north-eastern France on the night of 11/12 March 1943, he and his navigator, Flight Sergeant G.L. Spencer RCAF, were taken to Paris on 7th April by Stefan Brice in a group that included Sergeant D.R. Howard, Madame Fainot, ‘and a woman friend of hers’. They were taken on arrival in Paris to Frederic De Jongh’s apartment, where they stayed for a month or so, meeting Flight Lieutenant M.A.J. Pierre, who was on his way to Spain with Comet. On 6 May Dennison, Spencer, Howard, Sergeant A.S. Kononenko (a Soviet Air Force escaper), and the American Sergeant Frank Greene, were handed over to Oaktree, and left that day by train for St. Brieuc. There guide was a countess ‘whose husband had been imprisoned by the Germans for helping evaders.’ Taken to Etaples-sur-Mer, from there ‘one of Val’s lieutenants took us to a farm near St. Quay (Portrieux), the home of Mme. Harve. On 11 May there were moved again to Mme. Cellarier’s house at Lein-ar-lan. (though Spencer was adamant that her house was at Treveneuc, a short way out of St. Quay-Portrieux.
With no immediate prospect of a sea evacuation, it was now time for Williams and his team to move the ever growing number of evaders and escapers to Paris. Spencer was asked to stay behind to help Val because he could speak French. Lefevere, Dennison, James, Grove, Hall and Smith were among those who left on 12 May. A second group followed next day, including Barker, Adams and Martin. Entrusted by Val Williams to Pilot Officer Dennison was a collection of papers that ‘dealt with various activities and projects of Val. They included some maps of airfields and full details and measurements of a lake just north west of Ploermel (Etang-Au-Duc). Dennison carried these documents with him until he reached Pau, when Squadron Leader Lefevre ordered him to hand them over ‘for transmission by some secret means to the British Embassy in Madrid.’ Having no idea what was going to happen to his previous documents. Dennison reluctantly handed them over.
After the Lefevre and Barker parties had left for Paris from St. Brieuc, Spencer, Kononenko, Riley and Jack Luehrs remained at St-Quay-Portrieux. Spencer, though was moved to Andree Charneau’s house on the Allee du Martouret on 20 May, assured by Val Williams that if he stayed in St. Quay he ‘should eventually be taken to England by boat’. Val Williams still using the Mithridate group and their wireless set, had been planning for the remaining Allied airmen evaders in Brittay to be evacuated by the Royal Navy from the beach at le Palus-Plage, three-and-a-half kilometres east of Plouha. Captain Frank Slocum was not, however, prepared to send the Royal Navy’s slow ‘C-Class’ Fairmile motor gun boats (MGB) across the wide reaches of the Atlantic end of the Channel during the short May nights, and on 29 May ‘the message ‘Denise est morte’ was heard on the BBC indicating that the operation was cancelled.’
Spencer would leave for Paris on 31st May alongside Riley, Kononenko, Luehrs and Greene, who were dispersed from Elizabeth Barbier’s flat to other safe houses. Claude and Josette, though, remained in St. Quay, ever hopeful of being taken off by boat.
Although there were to be many arrests in Brittany as a result of Roger le Neveu’s treachery, Val Williams was taken on 4 June while escorting two American and two Polish airmen by train to Orthez, near Pau. Details of their arrest on the train are sketchy. It seems from the little that was told to Raoul-Duval that Williams was not actually with the airmen when the Germans burst into their compartment, but that he had returned to it in an attempt to recover his case, which contained compromising documents and papers. It was likely, in Raoul-Duval’s opinion, that Williams and the airmen had been caught due to Val’s own carelessness. He should not have left the Poles alone in the train, and, once they had been caught he should not have gone into the compartment to try to recover his case. All were taken under guard to Pau.
A week later, Elizabeth Barbier, her mother and at least three evading airmen were arrested in Paris, this time betrayed by another traitor, Jean-Jacques Desoubrie. Raoul-Duval was again led to believe that the arrests were the result of the incriminating papers that had been found on Williams. Raymond Labrosse also came close to being arrested when he went to Elizabeth’s flat with a man known as ‘Joe’ Labrosse stayed outside while Joe (Georges Jouanjeau) went in, and was immediately arrested. Apparently Joe had immediately had a fight with Roger le Neveu, who had tried to shoot him. Oaktree’s members in Paris were shaken by the arrests ‘much perturbed’ in Spencer’s words, and had no idea where to procure the necessary funds for identity cards for him or the other airmen, or for their journeys to Spain.
In the meantime Spencer and Greene were taken to 25 rue Madrid, the home of Mesdames Couve and Brouard, and introduced to Raymond Labrosse. On 8th July, they, and two more Americans, Staff Sergeants John H. Houghton and Lester Brown, USAAF met Georges Broussine, chief of the Burgundy Line, who sent them off to the Pyrenees with two Frenchmen as escorts. They crossed into Andorra on the night of 10/11 July, and walked into Spain as far as Manresa, where they arrived very early on the morning of 21 July. Catching the train to Barcelona, they reported to the British Consulate, leaving two days later for the British Embassy in Madrid, and for Gibrlatar on 3rd August. They were back in England within the week.
He would later be recommended for a Non-Immediate Military Cross:
‘Particulars of meritorious service for which the recommendation is made: In an attack on Stuttgart on the night of 11th March 1943, the aircraft in which Pilot Officer Spencer was Bomb Aimer was shot down in flames by enemy night fighters. On the instructions of the captain the crew baled out. P/O Spencer was successful in eluding enemy patrols and returned to this country, despite numerous hardships which he encountered. In effecting his escape this Officer displayed great courage and determination and is strongly recommended for the award of the Military Cross.’
This recommendation would later be downgraded to a Mention in Despatches which he would receive in the London Gazette of 8th June 1944.
Spencer would subsequently see out the remainder of the war in the UK, and having returned to Canada would work for the Film Board before passing away in 1953 at the age of just 30 years old.
