Great Story from an AAAC thread re KIWI war Heroes

[cookie]

Hello everyone,

This is a long post so please bear with me.

I have for some time been a big fan of Cleverley shoes and have purchased a few pairs of uncollected bespoke from their shop in the Royal Arcade. In September I am going to my cousin’s 50th birthday party in Edinburgh and our Scottish ancestry dictates that the men will all be wearing traditional highland dress.

I have for some time been looking for a pair of Ghillie Brogues to complete my dress but these are very hard to find in a top quality shoe without a special order or going bespoke. Therefore I decided to go on ebay to see if there was anything suitable and I found a seller offering a pair of Highland Ghillies made by George Cleverley (the man himself). They are very lightly worn maybe half a dozen times if that and came with the trees. Stamped on the trees are “Maj. E.C.H” in red lettering. I rang Cleverley to see if they could provide any information about the original owner and their records showed that they were made for Major Edgar Charles Stewart. Cleverley made two pairs – one in a tan calf, the other in black. Three days after buying the Tan brogues the ebay seller posted the black pair and I couldn’t resist these either!



I did some research into this gentleman and could not believe what I found. A Colditz survivor, SOE (Special Operations Executive) operative and a connection with the gentry! he must have been a true character.

The Daily Telegraph printed his obituary (7, 1, 2005), it reads:

Edgar Charles Stewart Hargreaves was born at Christchurch, New Zealand, on September 7 1917. Educated at St Andrew's College, where he was pipe major in the school band, he started to participate in air shows at the age of 15, standing on the wings of a biplane and finishing off the performance by parachuting into the crowd.

Meanwhile he had qualified for a pilot's certificate of competence - the nearest thing to a pilot's licence for a youth not yet 18.

With a contingent of young New Zealanders, Hargreaves travelled to Britain to volunteer for the RAF. But on failing the eye test for aircrew, he opted instead to join the Army, and was commissioned into the 8th King's Royal Irish Hussars. He was on leave in New Zealand at the declaration of war, and was posted to Northern Ireland with the North Irish Horse.

When he saw the film Waterloo Bridge, he particularly admired a Mauser pistol with a wooden holster that could be used as a stock. On telling his troop sergeant, he was driven into the hills where the sergeant dug up a box of German munitions, which included an identical pistol; he presented it to Hargreaves, who took it to Yugoslavia.

Finding conventional soldiering dull, Hargreaves volunteered for the Parachute regiment which was forming in Cheshire, and qualified as an instructor. Since he was shortsighted a local paper did a story with the headline "Monocled Man Leads Skytroops". Hargreaves kept a cutting of this, and would produce it when his comrades' spirits were low.

On being posted to the Middle East, Hargreaves was recruited to SOE by James Klugmann, the former Communist Party secretary at Cambridge, who is thought to have played an important part in the British switch to Tito.
...
Emerging from Colditz in 1945, Hargreaves was brought to England and assigned to another compound at Brize Norton where he met his fellow New Zealander the double VC-winner Charles Upham. The two men took one look at the barbed wire, and walked out. They went to the Ritz, where lack of ready cash was no problem.

After serving for another year with SOE in the Far East, Hargreaves became comptroller to the Duke of Bedford at Woburn Abbey, which was being opened to the public. The job enabled him to indulge his love of animals, and the 200 wild animals roaming the grounds were soon joined by his pet chimpanzee, which had proved too boisterous for a London flat.

He was a keen supporter of the new sport of hot-air ballooning but was less enthused about collecting rent from the many nudist conventions at Woburn - a duty he always performed immaculately dressed.

The brogues are absolutely stunning with a thistle motif punched into the toe cap. They are the classic chisel toe so unique to George Cleverley and fit as if they were made for me. I know some on this forum may dissaprove of wearing pre-worn shoes but I assure you that they were hardly worn at all. I am going to try and post images of these but it won’t be until after the 7th August as I am away next week.

I hope you find this as interesting and amazing as I have.

Regards, Bob

 

[Flitcraft]

Its always difficlt to find the back story of something vintage, so when you do, and its this interesting, it proves doubly rewarding.
Thanks for your post!

 

[cookie]

Obit of Major Charles Stewart continued

Obituary: Major Charles Hargreaves
Independent, The (London), Feb 16, 2005 by Max Arthur
CHARLES HARGREAVES was one of a dwindling band of Colditz survivors. He spent the last days of the Second World War there from 1944 to 1945, after gruelling experiences at the hands of the Gestapo in Belgrade.

Hargreaves, sometimes known as Mickey, was a New Zealander by birth who from his earliest days at school at St Andrew's College, Christchurch, was fascinated by flying. He looped the loop at air shows, learned to parachute and stood on the top wing of a bi-plane in a flying circus. At the young age of 15, he qualified for a pilot's certificate of competence (in effect a licence, which he could not apply for until the age of 18).

Independent, The (London)
In 1937, as war approached, Hargreaves was one of many young New Zealanders who travelled to Britain to volunteer for the RAF. But he failed the eye test and was instead commissioned into the 8th Hussars (the King's Own Royal Irish Hussars), which had converted from cavalry to armoured fighting vehicles. He was posted to Bovington in Dorset and from there to Ireland.

After the evacuation of the British army from Dunkirk, restless to get into action, he volunteered to join the newly formed No 2 Commando, which was later to become No 1 Parachute Battalion. In 1941, the parachute training at Ringway was very elementary, but he qualified as an instructor, and was then posted to the Middle East Parachute School to train the SAS at Kabrit, near the Suez Canal.

This was still early days for the SAS, but they were already launching devastating raids behind enemy lines. Keen to get into action somewhere other than the desert, in May 1942 Hargreaves joined the Special Operations Executive (SOE) and was recruited for their Yugoslav section.

Despite not speaking Serbo-Croat, he was parachuted into Yugoslavia to work as Liaison Officer with the Chetniks - the Serbian nationalist guerrilla force formed to resist the Germans and the Communist partisans under Tito. He landed almost on top of a signal bonfire, correctly attired in full service dress uniform and Sam Browne belt. Later he adorned his beret with the White Rose of Serbia badge, with its motto "Liberty or Death".

His orders were to "make himself useful", which he proceeded to do on the south bank of the Danube, largely engaged in ambush operations with Chetniks who had taken him to their hearts. He admired the Chetniks, many of whom had sworn not to cut their hair or beard until their country was liberated.

Hargreaves was at one time issued with a package containing gold, diamonds and paper money to buy the loyalty of potential Muslim informers among the occupying Germans. As few deals were made, the valuables remained in his rucksack until, sensing a change in the political climate, he buried them in a cave, gruesomely guarded by six dead German soldiers who had been killed by the Chetniks.

The British withdrew their support for the Chetniks in favour of the Communist partisans. The game was up for Hargreaves and, as he withdrew with a small band of Poles and other nationalities, he fell from his horse, the injuries from which slowed his progress. He was captured, still wearing the Chetnik cap-badge, which, for the Germans, labelled him a terrorist, and was sent to the Gestapo prison in Belgrade. He recalled:

I was kept in isolation, and for that year I think the only people I ever spoke to were the guards or the interrogation people. This sort of life drives you to all kinds of extremes, and you become rather like a squirrel - you collect anything you can that you feel you might put to some use.

Hargreaves was able to accumulate a length of thread, a button and some scraps of paper, and managed to extract a nail from the duck-boards in the cell. "My cell was closed by an iron door, but there was a gap of about a quarter of an inch under the door, and there was another cell immediately opposite mine," he recalled:

By looking through the hole in the door, I could see somebody else being put in the cell opposite. Taking one of my little bits of paper and a nail, I scratched myself, got some blood and I wrote a little note on a piece of paper. I then wrapped this round the button and tied it up with the piece of thread. I was able to flick it underneath the door across the cell and under the door opposite. Eventually we established quite a communication, and I learnt a lot about this man - but I never ever saw him, and I never spoke to him.

During this period he underwent brutal interrogation before being sentenced to death. He was transferred to another prison for this and was moved from room to room each day as the former inmates were executed. But he protested that he was a British officer and was finally believed. He was later transferred to the concentration camp at Buchenwald. With his health deteriorating, he was moved under the protection of the Red Cross to Colditz Castle - which he recalled as being "sheer bliss".

When the war ended in 1945, Hargreaves was liberated and, back in England at RAF Brize Norton, he found himself in a barbed-wire enclosure prior to debriefing, alongside another Colditz New Zealander - his friend Captain Charles Upham, the double VC winner. It was not long, however, before he was more happily installed in the Ritz in London as the guest of the hotel-owner. The absence of ready cash was no hindrance at all.

In peacetime he led a varied career. He was comptroller to the Duke of Bedford at Woburn Abbey for some years, much relishing the wildlife in the grounds, where he had the chance to house his pet chimpanzee, a vexatious creature which had proved too boisterous for his London flat - where he also kept his parrot, Fred. One of his more delicate assignments was to collect the rent from various nudist conventions that gathered in secluded areas at Woburn - a task he carried out with great aplomb, fully and immaculately dressed.

He then travelled the world as a Queen's Messenger. In 1964, he met Dawn Mackay, the young headmistress of Heathfield School, and they were married. They later moved to Hatchlands near Guildford, and for many years ran a finishing school for girls. Later again they moved to Aultmore, near Nethy Bridge on the banks of the Spey in Scotland, and finally retired to Tobreac.

At the age of 75, Hargreaves was invited to New Zealand, where his achievements were celebrated in a This is Your Life programme when he was reunited with his friend Charles Upham. While there, Hargreaves enjoyed bungee jumping at Kawarau which, despite his age, he found most exhilarating.

Edgar Charles Stewart Hargreaves, soldier: born Christchurch, New Zealand 7 September 1917; married 1964 Dawn Mackay (two sons); died Grantown- on-Spey, Morayshire 4 February 2005.

Copyright 2005 Independent Newspapers UK Limited
Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights Reserved.

 

[Smithy]

Thanks for that Cookie!

One of NZ's greatest sons.

 

[Miss Sis]

Just goes to show you, where ever you go in the world, a Kiwi has usually got there before you!

 

[Spitfire]

What a great life - what a story - thanks for sharing it with the rest of us mortals.

 

[sanquar]

Additional Shoes

Hi Bob,
I have available more Cleverley shoes and information regarding Major Hargreaves.

Please email me on sidney@sidney777.orangehome.co.uk

Regards
Sid

Hello everyone,

This is a long post so please bear with me.

I have for some time been a big fan of Cleverley shoes and have purchased a few pairs of uncollected bespoke from their shop in the Royal Arcade. In September I am going to my cousin’s 50th birthday party in Edinburgh and our Scottish ancestry dictates that the men will all be wearing traditional highland dress.

I have for some time been looking for a pair of Ghillie Brogues to complete my dress but these are very hard to find in a top quality shoe without a special order or going bespoke. Therefore I decided to go on ebay to see if there was anything suitable and I found a seller offering a pair of Highland Ghillies made by George Cleverley (the man himself). They are very lightly worn maybe half a dozen times if that and came with the trees. Stamped on the trees are “Maj. E.C.H” in red lettering. I rang Cleverley to see if they could provide any information about the original owner and their records showed that they were made for Major Edgar Charles Stewart. Cleverley made two pairs – one in a tan calf, the other in black. Three days after buying the Tan brogues the ebay seller posted the black pair and I couldn’t resist these either!



I did some research into this gentleman and could not believe what I found. A Colditz survivor, SOE (Special Operations Executive) operative and a connection with the gentry! he must have been a true character.

The Daily Telegraph printed his obituary (7, 1, 2005), it reads:

Edgar Charles Stewart Hargreaves was born at Christchurch, New Zealand, on September 7 1917. Educated at St Andrew's College, where he was pipe major in the school band, he started to participate in air shows at the age of 15, standing on the wings of a biplane and finishing off the performance by parachuting into the crowd.

Meanwhile he had qualified for a pilot's certificate of competence - the nearest thing to a pilot's licence for a youth not yet 18.

With a contingent of young New Zealanders, Hargreaves travelled to Britain to volunteer for the RAF. But on failing the eye test for aircrew, he opted instead to join the Army, and was commissioned into the 8th King's Royal Irish Hussars. He was on leave in New Zealand at the declaration of war, and was posted to Northern Ireland with the North Irish Horse.

When he saw the film Waterloo Bridge, he particularly admired a Mauser pistol with a wooden holster that could be used as a stock. On telling his troop sergeant, he was driven into the hills where the sergeant dug up a box of German munitions, which included an identical pistol; he presented it to Hargreaves, who took it to Yugoslavia.

Finding conventional soldiering dull, Hargreaves volunteered for the Parachute regiment which was forming in Cheshire, and qualified as an instructor. Since he was shortsighted a local paper did a story with the headline "Monocled Man Leads Skytroops". Hargreaves kept a cutting of this, and would produce it when his comrades' spirits were low.

On being posted to the Middle East, Hargreaves was recruited to SOE by James Klugmann, the former Communist Party secretary at Cambridge, who is thought to have played an important part in the British switch to Tito.
...
Emerging from Colditz in 1945, Hargreaves was brought to England and assigned to another compound at Brize Norton where he met his fellow New Zealander the double VC-winner Charles Upham. The two men took one look at the barbed wire, and walked out. They went to the Ritz, where lack of ready cash was no problem.

After serving for another year with SOE in the Far East, Hargreaves became comptroller to the Duke of Bedford at Woburn Abbey, which was being opened to the public. The job enabled him to indulge his love of animals, and the 200 wild animals roaming the grounds were soon joined by his pet chimpanzee, which had proved too boisterous for a London flat.

He was a keen supporter of the new sport of hot-air ballooning but was less enthused about collecting rent from the many nudist conventions at Woburn - a duty he always performed immaculately dressed.

The brogues are absolutely stunning with a thistle motif punched into the toe cap. They are the classic chisel toe so unique to George Cleverley and fit as if they were made for me. I know some on this forum may dissaprove of wearing pre-worn shoes but I assure you that they were hardly worn at all. I am going to try and post images of these but it won’t be until after the 7th August as I am away next week.

I hope you find this as interesting and amazing as I have.

Regards, Bob

 

[Dawn Hargreaves]

George Cleveley's Shoes!!!!!

Hello its Dawn Hargreaves here. How on earth did my late husband, Charles's kilt shoes get on to eBay. I live in Scotland and dying to meet the partgoer - do please make contact.

What you have written is just the tip of the iceberg!