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Donald Currie Caskie | |
|---|---|
| Personal life | |
| Born | (1902-05-22)22 May 1902 |
| Died | 27 December 1983(1983-12-27) (aged 81) |
| Nationality |  Scottish |
| Religious life | |
| Religion | Church of Scotland |
| Senior posting | |
| Post | The Scots Kirk, Paris, 1938–1940, 1945–1961 |
Donald Currie Caskie,OBE,DD (22 May 1902 – 27 December 1983) was aminister in the Church of Scotland, best known for his work in France duringWorld War II. He was a member of thePat O'Leary escape line which helped up to 500Allied sailors, soldiers and airmen to escape fromOccupied France (mainly through Spain).[1]
The 'Fasti' – the record of all Church of Scotland ministers sincethe Reformation – simply mentions that he was "engaged in church and patriotic duties in France, 1939–1945". In his autobiographyThe Tartan Pimpernel he states that 'he had been called to Paris in 1935.'
The son of acrofter, he was born inBowmore onIslay in 1902. He was educated at Bowmore School and thenDunoon Grammar School before studying arts and divinity at theUniversity of Edinburgh. His first charge was atGretna, before becoming the minister of theScots Kirk in Paris in 1938.[2] A 2001Gaelic-language documentary aired on BBC2 stated that Caskie was a homosexual, with the documentarianAngus Peter Campbell saying that Caskie lived life as a man who was "straight at home [and] gay abroad".[3]
Having denounced the evils ofNazism from the pulpit, following theGerman invasion of France in 1940 Caskie had to flee from Paris. Instead of trying to return home (as strongly advised by staff at theChurch of Scotland Offices in Edinburgh) he fled south, eventually ending up inMarseille on theFrench south coast (having refused the opportunity of a place on the last ship to Britain leavingBayonne). At theBritish Seamen's Mission in Marseille, Caskie set up a refuge for stranded Britons.[4] He would even sendtelegrams to the Church of Scotland offices in Edinburgh informing them of the number of British service personnel who had escaped. With the help of Lt-CmdrPat O'Leary RN (later awarded theGeorge Cross),British Intelligence, local clergyman PastorMarcel Heuzé, theAmerican consular authorities and others, Caskie helped as many as 500 Allied service personnel to flee France.[2][5]
Caskie came under the suspicion of theVichy France and German authorities, and a fellow Briton betrayed him. Pastor Heuzé was one of many to be executed. Lack of evidence saved Caskie's life for the first time; instead he received a suspended prison sentence and was ordered to leave Marseille. This was partly helped by Caskie's ability to speakGaelic, confounding his interrogators.[2]
Caskie headed forGrenoble, where he was employed by the university, and acted as achaplain for interned British soldiers and resident civilians. The Germans later ordered that all British-born civilians in the occupied countries be interned in Germany; Caskie managed to influence an Italian commandant to release many of them. Caskie was arrested again and spent some time in Italian custody atSanremo, held in the old fortress prison.[6] Later in 1943 he was transferred back to German custody and eventually put on trial in Fresnes, and sentenced to death. Awaiting execution byfiring squad, Caskie asked to see a pastor. This saved his life; the German army padre Hans Helmut Peters successfully appealed to Berlin to spare Caskie. He then spent the rest of the war in a Prisoner of War camp, resuming his ministry in Paris after the war.
The Scots Kirk in Paris had been unused throughout the war, and lack of maintenance led to the church having to be rebuilt during the 1950s. To help pay for the rebuilding, his autobiographical account of his extraordinary wartime activities was published asThe Tartan Pimpernel in 1957. The 1950s building proved to have serious defects and had to be again rebuilt in the late 1990s, Caskie's book being again reissued.
Caskie finally returned to Scotland as minister in Old Gourock Church. In 1967 he became a minister atWemyss Bay andSkelmorlie on theFirth of Clyde.
He was the subject ofThis Is Your Life in September 1959 when he was surprised byEamonn Andrews in the foyer of the BBC Television Theatre.[7]
He retired to Edinburgh in the early seventies and lived the final year of his life with his younger brother inGreenock. He died in 1983 and is buried at Bowmore on Islay. Various personal artefacts, including his wartime medals, can be seen atKilarrow Parish Church, Bowmore.
He was appointed anOfficer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in June 1945 for services to the Forces in France.[8]
He was honoured by theFrench government for his wartime service. The Alliance France-Ecosse society erected a memorial plaque at the rue de Forbin in Marseille, France.[9]
On 26 October 2019 a memorial plaque marking his work was unveiled at the Fort de la Revere near Nice by the Le Devoir du Memoire organisation, which honours those affected by the war, including Resistance fighters.[10]
In 2018, a play based on Caskie's book was written by Graeme Dallas and John Hughes.[11][12]
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