Written by Todd Neikirk and Clare Fitzgerald
Christoper Lee had an extremely lengthy appearing profession that started within the late Nineteen Forties. He gained notoriety for showing as Dracula in quite a few movies and was later a Bond villain. For these of a youthful era, he’s probably most recognizable for his roles in The Lord of the Rings trilogy and Star Wars.
Previous to turning into an actor, Lee served his nation throughout the Second World Warfare. Whereas his service is noteworthy, there are some who consider he commonly exaggerated his achievements throughout the battle.
Volunteering throughout the Winter Warfare
Christopher Lee was born in 1922 and was simply 17 years previous when Europe turned embroiled within the Second World Warfare. Regardless of being a young person, he was desirous to do his half, and upon the Soviet Union invading Finland volunteered with the Finnish Army. In keeping with Lee, he wasn’t put into fight conditions throughout the 1939-40 Winter Warfare, however was given a uniform and positioned on guard obligation.
After roughly two weeks, he was despatched dwelling, together with different British volunteers. He as soon as stated of his time in Finland, “We went there with a gaggle of pals and stated we wished to assist. We may shoot fairly effectively, however couldn’t ski. We had been thanked for our assist, however didn’t, in fact, get anyplace near the border.”
The Every day Mail‘s Man Walters finds this account to be doubtful. In keeping with the journalist and historian, round 8,500 British residents volunteered to assist the Finns throughout the Winter Warfare, however solely 200 truly traveled to the nation – and almost a 12 months previous to when Lee claimed he did. Moreover, Walters finds its tough to consider the Finnish Army would have accepted schoolboys to combat.
Christopher Lee joined the Royal Air Pressure
In 1941, Christopher Lee’s father died from a bout with pneumonia, simply after his son joined the Dwelling Guard. The longer term actor realized he didn’t need to serve with the British Army just like the elder Lee and, as a substitute, enlisted within the Royal Air Pressure. He reported to RAF Uxbridge for coaching and was posted to the Preliminary Coaching Wing at Paignton.
Upon passing his exams, he entered into the British Commonwealth Air Coaching Program (BCATP). The BCATP noticed Lee despatched to Southern Rhodesia, the place he skilled on de Havilland Tiger Moths. Throughout this time, he suffered from complications and blurred imaginative and prescient, and it was later decided he had an issue together with his optic nerve. As such, he was now not allowed to serve within the air.
Whereas he couldn’t assist the RAF by flying, Lee knew he wanted to do one thing “constructive” and utilized to hitch RAF Intelligence. He impressed his superiors, and after two years had risen to the rank of flight lieutenant and was serving to plan bombing missions.
Stationed in Egypt throughout the North African Marketing campaign, Lee was nearly killed on a number of events, together with when the airfield he was stationed at was bombed. Following their service in North Africa, his squadron was moved to southern Italy as a part of the Allied invasion. In the course of the Allies’ remaining assault on Monte Cassino, Lee was nearly killed when an plane crashed upon takeoff and he tripped over considered one of its bombs.
Lee later made quite a few claims relating to his time within the RAF. He allegedly frolicked within the Particular Air Providers (SAS) and the Lengthy Vary Desert Group (LRDG), in addition to with the Particular Operations Govt (SOE) as a liason officer to Josip Broz Tito. His tales included how he destroyed German-flown plane, snuck behind enemy strains and even helped retake Sicily.
Throughout an interview to advertise The Lord of the Rings, Lee additionally claimed to have served with the No 1 Demolition Squadron – higher often called Popski’s Non-public Army (PPA) – and later captured German battle criminals, saying of the position, “We got dossiers of what they’d finished and instructed to search out them, interrogate them as a lot as we may and hand them over to the suitable authority.”
Points of Christopher Lee’s army service are questioned
Whereas Christopher Lee would usually deliver up features of the service in interviews, he was cagey about his duties when pressed. When requested in regards to the Second World Warfare, he would give imprecise solutions like, “I used to be connected to the SAS on occasion, however we’re forbidden — former, current, or future — to debate any particular operations,” and, “Let’s simply say I used to be in Special Forces and depart it at that. Individuals can learn into that what they like.”
Historian Gavin Mortimer, a author for The Spectator and researcher into the position of the SAS throughout WWII, stated that, whereas Lee wasn’t essentially mendacity about his service, he could also be responsible of exaggerating. “In actuality, he served in none [of the elite military units],” Mortimer said. “He was connected to the SAS and SOE as an RAF liaison officer at numerous instances between 1943 and 1945, however he didn’t serve in them.”
Mortimer additionally takes challenge with Lee’s declare that he wasn’t at liberty to talk about his missions, saying, “Nonsense. Wartime members of these Special Forces models should not — and by no means have been — prevented from discussing operations.”
In regard to his service with the PPA, Roy Paterson, secretary of the Buddies of the PPA, stated there isn’t any point out of the actor within the unit’s diary from the battle. He provides that, whereas Lee was a member of the Buddies of the PPA, the one “proof” of his service got here from himself, when he stated he’d visited the unit in Cervia, Italy in April 1945.
His declare he hunted German battle criminals can be disputed
One other declare Christopher Lee made that is probably not true is that he acted as a hunter of German battle criminals for the Central Registry of Warfare Crimes and Safety Suspects (CROWCASS). The group, arrange by the Supreme Allied Expeditionary Pressure in 1945 to help the United Nations Warfare Crimes Fee, aimed to find these suspected of committing battle crimes throughout WWII.
The rationale this declare is disputed surrounds the way in which he described his job, which is totally different to how others did. Lee stated he would come into contact with a German soldier, interrogate after which flip them in. Nevertheless, British personnel on this place didn’t take part in fieldwork and had been, as a substitute, stationed in places of work.
As Walters wrote for The Every day Mail, “Sadly, this can’t be true, because the members of CROWCASS (Central Registry of Warfare Crimes and Safety Suspects) had been based mostly behind desks in Paris or Berlin. Their position was to assemble proof.” He additionally provides that Lee’s identify by no means got here up when he was doing his personal analysis into CROWCASS, neither in official lists or throughout interviews with surviving personnel.
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There is no such thing as a doubt Christopher Lee served bravely and admirably within the RAF. The proof, nevertheless, exhibits he may need inflated a few of his exploits. As Walters concludes, he “‘buffed up’ his membership of completely respectable models as a way to give the looks that he was concerned in related, however way more thrilling work.”
