British airman's fake ID used to fool the Nazis goes under the hammer
After the war Poulton became a business consultant in Birmingham. After he died of a heart attack in 1974 his war souvenirs were passed to his family.
A fake ID a hero British airman used to fool the Nazis in World War Two is going under the hammer.
Sergeant Bill Poulton used the false document as he dodged the Gestapo after his plane was shot down behind enemy lines.
The 22-year-old was a bomb aimer on board a Halifax bomber carrying out raids over Germany when his crew came under attack.
They had completed a successful bombardment on the town of Krefeld on June 21, 1943, and were returning to base at RAF Snaith in Yorkshire when the aircraft was struck by flak.
Two of the Halifax’s four engines were knocked out but the pilot bravely flew into Belgian airspace before instructing the crew to bail out.
Poulton came down safely and evaded German search parties before being picked up by friendly locals and passed on to members of the Belgian Resistance.
Poulton then spent 14 months dodging the Nazis by moving between safe houses using the alias Joseph-Andrie Dubois.
At one point he even found himself living in the same apartment block as a group of
Gestapo officers – who he regularly bumped into on the stairs.
Poulton was finally captured after being betrayed by notorious Belgian double agent, Jacques Desoubrie who famously infiltrated the Resistance.
After interrogation Poulton was sent to various PoW camps, finally escaping and being liberated by the Russians in January 1945.
His fake ID papers, along with Poulton’s war memorabilia, are tipped to fetch between £800 to £1,000 when they go under the hammer on Friday.
Paul Potter, of Potters Auction Saleroom, said: “The Bill Poulton collection includes his inscribed Caterpillar Club lapel pin, the badge of the association of people whose lives were saved by parachutes after bailing out of disabled aircraft.
“That in itself is quite a rarity but the lot also includes a remarkable archive of material which tells Bill’s astonishing story.
“The archive includes copies of the RAF debrief that took place when he finally got home, information about the raid, interviews he gave after the war to the media both in this country and Belgium and even a copy of the false identification card that kept him at liberty in Belgium for so long.”
In a separate lot a photograph album of pictures taken by Jack Keay, a career RAF pilot who served in Iraq and India in the 1930s.
Paul said: “Jack was a keen photographer and he took his camera when he was posted abroad in 1929.
“The result was not only a remarkable record of the early RAF and its biplanes but also, thanks to his interest in people, provides a fascinating an insight into life in other countries at that time.”
Both lots will be sold at Potters Auction Saleroom in Scunthorpe, Lincs., on Friday (1/11).