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DERBYSHIRE AIRING CUPBOARD GIVES UP AMAZING SECOND WORLD WAR SECRET
INCREDIBLE finds are the name of the game in the world of antiques and yet another jawdropping surprise has emerged after more than 20 years in a Derbyshire airing cupboard. A swagger stick which belonged to a Great Escape hero, Second World War RAF pilot officer Marcel Zillessen, has been uncovered in the village of Ticknall – because a plumber was called to fix the boiler!
The vendor had to clear out the cupboard and there at the back was the forgotten swagger stick, a short crop usually carried by a uniformed person as a symbol of authority.
It had languished there for at least two decades. The seller admitted he was surprised it had survived at all. In the mists of time, he recalled acquiring it during a visit to his mother-in-law’s friend in the 1990s.
She gave the swagger stick to his son, then a tot, to play with and keep. It had belonged to her late husband who, it is speculated, knew Zillessen at Gresham Officer Training Corps in Norfolk and later worked with Second World War Allied codebreakers at Bletchley Park.
Whatever the circumstances it is pretty amazing that the swagger stick turned up just as the world was marking the 80th anniversary of the Great Escape in the Second World War – the most famous prisoner of war break in history.
The Nazis thought their Stalag Luft III prisoner of war camp was escape-proof, but on the night of March 24/25, 1944 some 76 Allied airmen proved them wrong, including Zillessen.
He was due to be the last man out when the airmen broke out of the camp. The major act of defiance is commemorated around the world and regarded as a sign of hope in Europe’s darkest hour.
The event is celebrated in 1963 film The Great Escape. Zillessen’s character is played by James Garner, albeit with a different name. His ability to speak fluent German gained him the respect of his guard captors.
Zillessen never actually made it out but that ultimately saved his life. Of those who did escape, most were captured within three days and 50 were executed on Hitler’s orders. Zillessen died one week short of his 82nd birthday. Zillessen (1917-1999) was born in Northampton to a German father and Irish mother. He attended Gresham School from 1930-1933 and became a member of its officer training corps from the ages of 13 to 16. It’s unknown what rank the young Zillessen held during his time in the OTC but this swagger stick is a memento of his time there.
Later, he studied in Berlin and became a fluent German speaker, a skill that paid dividends during his time spent as a PoW. In 1943, while piloting a Hurricane in North Africa, his plane was shot down. Zillessen ended up in the Luftwaffe-run Stalag Luft III, which held allied air force personnel.
His fluency in German helped him gain favours from his captors. They provided him with pens, paper and ink that were later used to forge travel documents.
Zillessen was instrumental in planning the Great Escape from the camp, using the tunnels known as “Tom, Dick, and Harry”. It is well documented he was to be the last man out from the Harry tunnel. Ultimately, the plot was foiled, and he fled back to his barracks when the tunnels were discovered.
The part he played in the Great Escape may well make his swagger stick particularly desirable among militaria collectors. The 70.3cm long object has a lacquered malacca cane body, brass ferrule and nickel pommel. The pommel bears the badge of Gresham School OTC (Officer Training Corps) and ‘Zillessen’ scratched into both the metal of the pommel and the wood. It also bears the words ‘Gresham’ and ‘Holt,’ the latter being the location of the Gresham School in Norfolk.
The phenomenal airing cupboard find – at least it’s been cosily warm enters Hansons’ May 15 Medals and Militaria Auction with a guide price of £100-£150. This estimate may appear modest but the memories it’s likely to unleash will be monumental.
According to Hansons’ militaria expert Matt Crowson, had the piece been connected to Zillessen’s Second World War service and the Great Escape it would be worth much more. However, this is a pre-war piece from his teenage years in a school officer training corps.
Anything in the airing cupboard? Entries are invited for all forthcoming Hansons sales including medals and militaria. To book a free valuation, email service@hansonsauctioneers.co.uk or call 01283 733988.