Major Jack Alpe RIP

Kyt · Aug 3, 2008

Major Jack Alpe - Telegraph

Major Jack Alpe , who has died aged 87, earned a Military Cross as an ammunition officer in a wartime career which took him from the North African desert to Hitler's bunker in Berlin.

In 1944 Alpe found himself at the heart of the Battle of Normandy in command of 20 lorries carrying 25lb shells to advance gun positions at the village of Demouville, outside Caen.

As his unit was being directed by field telephone and dispatch riders toward their gunners, it was spotted from a tower by the enemy, who unleashed a rain of 88mm fire at Alpe's soft-topped vehicles. Casualties mounted around him, and Alpe was wounded in the head by shell splinters as he was going to the aid of one of his sergeants.

After his men had dressed his wounds, Alpe insisted on moving his forward ammunition point to avoid further loss of life and equipment. Only then did he consent to going to a dressing station; and, after he had been taken to hospital, he quickly discharged himself in order to return to his unit.

The citation for Alpe's immediate MC declared that "his behaviour was an excellent example to his men, who were considerably shaken, and through his coolness and courage the ammuniton point continued to function".

Jack Gerald Alpe was born on July 25 1920, the son of the founder of Alpe & Saunders, a firm of Rolls-Royce coachbuilders in London; hearses were a speciality. After being educated at St Paul's, where he distinguished himself as a boxer and on the rugby field, Jack joined the Territorial Army and arrived at Suez as a captain in the Royal Army Service Corps.

In his first taste of action Alpe transported troops of the 4th Indian Division in the advance on Tobruk and then escorted a convoy of Italian prisoners to Alexandria.

When he was ordered to cordon off some unexploded Italian thermos anti-personnel bombs, he decided that it would be easier to fire on them with a .303. He was wounded by the shrapnel from the resulting explosion.

The arrival of Rommel with the Afrika Korps in late 1941 brought an end to the Allies' run of good fortune, sending the Eighth Army into retreat for 1,000 miles under constant fire from Stuka dive-bombers.

During these attacks Alpe sometimes managed to slip under his Jeep, but ever afterwards he felt uneasy when he considered that this had prohibited him from rescuing those of his drivers who had been injured and immobilised in their vehicles before the ammunition they were carrying exploded.

As the Eighth Army regained control at Alamein, Alpe started to make a photographic record. His pictures showed abandoned Italian trucks being looted, Arab horsemen racing in the desert, and Vivien Leigh performing in a Roman amphitheatre.

From his truck he also photographed the entry into Salerno under enemy fire and then the slow move up the length of Italy.

After being sent home to England, he was next to see action in the Normandy campaign.

Later, on crossing the Rhine, Alpe was again injured, when his Jeep overturned, but he was back with his men when they were stationed in a large country house, which turned out to have been serving as a brothel for senior German officers. The girls were still in residence, posing a problem under the Army Council rules against fraternisation; Alpe endeavoured to solve this by placing a visitors' book in the entrance hall.

Following the German surrender Alpe was one of the first British officers to enter the Reich Chancellery in Berlin. Although the Russians had removed Hitler's remains, Alpe could see the ashes at the site where his body was said to have been burned.

Since the Russians present showed no interest in what he did, Alpe removed a dinner party invitation from the Führer (dress code: tailcoat or uniform) and took a photograph of a vast chandelier in the ruins.

On being demobbed he married Lorraine Owen, with whom he was to have two daughters and a son. He worked for the family firm in Marylebone High Street before starting his own firm selling Rolls-Royce and Bentley cars.

Like many veterans, Jack Alpe disliked discussing his war service. But he co-operated with his son Jeremy in producing My War, a slim, handsome volume of recollections and pictures; alas, the finished product was not ready by the time of his death on July 10.
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Pathfinder · Aug 3, 2008

RIP Major Alpe.

I reckon that seeing inside Hitler's bunker would be an impressive sight.

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Major Jack Alpe RIP

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