Orders, Decorations and Medals

Caterpillar Club Badge, gold Caterpillar with ‘Ruby’ eyes, the reverse inscribed ‘Sgt. P. W. Walker’, together with news cuttings and a Swiss Commemorative cover issued by the R.A.F. Escaping Society in 1974 which cites Sergeant Walker’s escape as an example, good very fine £400-500

During the night of December 2nd 1943, Flying Officer (then Sergeant) P. W. Walker was navigator of a Mosquito of 627 Squadron RAF attacking Berlin. En route to the target the aircraft was damaged, again over Berlin and, on the way back to base he was forced to leave the aircraft by parachute when the aircraft was finally rendered uncontrollable by yet another attack. He landed unhurt in the Calvados area of France and until February 22nd 1944 he evaded capture being helped by local resistance fighters and hidden in various safe houses in Northern France and then Paris. From there he was advised to attempt to get to Switzerland and so by stages and with the help of the Maquis he walked to Les Rousses, 2 miles from the Swiss border, from where he entered Switzerland during the night of February 22nd 1944.

He declared himself as an escaper once in Switzerland but had little option but to remain there until the Allied invasion of France. He then made arrangements with French resistance members in Zurich and Geneva to return to France with the objective of joining with the Maquis and getting to the Allied lines or by escape route to Spain. In July 1944 he was captured by Swiss guards in the act of climbing the barbed wire at the frontier and committed to Geneva prison. On release in August 1944 he planned his second attempt this time in a much more uninhabited area in the mountains and successfully crossed the frontier at 2235 metres on September 1st 1944.

Hr rejoined the Maquis at Abondance in France and with them went via Annecy and Chambercy to cross through the fighting lines just north of Grenoble where he met United States forces. Although in civilian clothes he was allowed by the Americans to travel reasonably freely and was able to make his own plans to complete his return to his squadron which was done quickly by going to St Maxime in Provence from where he obtained a passage aboard a Liberty ship to Naples, then a flight to Casablanca via Tunis and finally another trip by U.S. aircraft to St Mawgan, Cornwall. He rejoined his unit on September 19th 1944.