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The Tartan Pimpernel
This is the remarkable story of Donald Caskie, minister of the Scots Kirk in Paris at the time of the German invasion of France in 1940. Although he had several opportunities to flee, Caskie stayed behind to help establish a network of safe houses and escape routes for Allied soldiers and airmen trapped in occupied territory. This was dangerous work, and despite the constant threat of capture and execution, Caskie showed enormous resourcefulness and courage as he aided thousands of servicemen to freedom. Finally arrested and interrogated, he was sentenced to death at a Nazi show-trial, and it was only through the intervention of a German pastor that he was saved.
After the war, Caskie returned to the Scots Kirk, where he served as minister until 1960. This inspiring story of selfless commitment to others in the face of extreme adversity is the legacy of a truly brave man.
After the war, Caskie returned to the Scots Kirk, where he served as minister until 1960. This inspiring story of selfless commitment to others in the face of extreme adversity is the legacy of a truly brave man.
272 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1957
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August 26, 2021
I learned about this book on Twitter when a lady I’ve met there, Pauline, from Scotland, tweeted about it. I’d never heard of this Scottish priest and her tweet piqued my curiosity. I found the book online and ordered it. I didn’t have a chance to read it right away, and now that I have, I wish I’d made time earlier as it’s truly a lovely, well-written book by an absolutely brave, caring and gentle man who did extraordinary things during WWII to aid allies, soldiers, sailors and private individuals to escape from the Nazis in France.
The Reverend Caskie was from Scotland—Islay—but was the priest of the Scottish church in Paris before and at the time of the German invasion. On the eve of the invasion in 1940, he led his flock in the last Sunday service, packed a bag and left the city on foot. He prayed along the way for the safety of his fellow evacuees as well as the people who had no choice but to stay behind as the enemy closed in.
He made his way to Marseille with some harrowing moments such as being strafed by German pilots along with thousands of other refugees. Many fell dead as they ran. He was also suspected of being a spy and surrounded by angry villagers in one town as he bought a bicycle and didn’t realize it had an iron cross on the back of it.
Once he made it to Marseille, with the aid of a friend, he found a place to stay. In that home, he prayed about what he needed to do. A Voice came to him that clearly called him to give assistance to the people who were in need. He made his way to the American consulate as it was still open and was told about the abandoned sailors’ mission building. He then went to the local police station to get permission to use the building to help stranded British civilians. He was given permission, but told if he helped one soldier or enemy combatant, he would be shut down.
What ensued was a tale of how this gentle man followed his special calling and helped anyone who needed it. How he raised funds to feed these people and how he was approached by the secret services to assist airmen and escaping soldiers into neutral Spain. He had to get civilian clothing for the escapees as well as false papers. He found places to hide them. He risked his life every day and saved quite a large number of men and women. Many of the townspeople of Marseille also aided in hiding these men and in getting supplies and clothing. It was a secret, yet community effort.
I read a book a while back about Nancy Wake, the famous Resistance fighter who was also in Marseille at the time and I was pleased to see some of the same people she worked with in this book. Ian Garrow and the Pat O’Leary group. Pat was actually a Belgian doctor, but during the war, he was an agent who posed as Irish. It was like finding old friends in the pages of this book. I like to think Donald and Nancy knew each other and supported each other’s missions.
Donald Caskie eventually ended up being betrayed and imprisoned. This part of the book was particularly moving. No matter what the Nazis put him through, he kept his faith, even carving Bible verses on the wall with his fingernail—which, he found out a few months later from a cellmate in a different prison, saved that man’s life when he was about to commit suicide.
This is a beautiful book and such bravery from one man is amazing. His faith pulled him through a difficult period of time and he is a true hero. Quiet, unassuming, and just getting on with the task. I highly, highly, recommend this one. It’s a tale of love, compassion in the face of unbearable cruelty, and how even one man (with divine guidance and some friends) can make a world of difference.
The Reverend Caskie was from Scotland—Islay—but was the priest of the Scottish church in Paris before and at the time of the German invasion. On the eve of the invasion in 1940, he led his flock in the last Sunday service, packed a bag and left the city on foot. He prayed along the way for the safety of his fellow evacuees as well as the people who had no choice but to stay behind as the enemy closed in.
He made his way to Marseille with some harrowing moments such as being strafed by German pilots along with thousands of other refugees. Many fell dead as they ran. He was also suspected of being a spy and surrounded by angry villagers in one town as he bought a bicycle and didn’t realize it had an iron cross on the back of it.
Once he made it to Marseille, with the aid of a friend, he found a place to stay. In that home, he prayed about what he needed to do. A Voice came to him that clearly called him to give assistance to the people who were in need. He made his way to the American consulate as it was still open and was told about the abandoned sailors’ mission building. He then went to the local police station to get permission to use the building to help stranded British civilians. He was given permission, but told if he helped one soldier or enemy combatant, he would be shut down.
What ensued was a tale of how this gentle man followed his special calling and helped anyone who needed it. How he raised funds to feed these people and how he was approached by the secret services to assist airmen and escaping soldiers into neutral Spain. He had to get civilian clothing for the escapees as well as false papers. He found places to hide them. He risked his life every day and saved quite a large number of men and women. Many of the townspeople of Marseille also aided in hiding these men and in getting supplies and clothing. It was a secret, yet community effort.
I read a book a while back about Nancy Wake, the famous Resistance fighter who was also in Marseille at the time and I was pleased to see some of the same people she worked with in this book. Ian Garrow and the Pat O’Leary group. Pat was actually a Belgian doctor, but during the war, he was an agent who posed as Irish. It was like finding old friends in the pages of this book. I like to think Donald and Nancy knew each other and supported each other’s missions.
Donald Caskie eventually ended up being betrayed and imprisoned. This part of the book was particularly moving. No matter what the Nazis put him through, he kept his faith, even carving Bible verses on the wall with his fingernail—which, he found out a few months later from a cellmate in a different prison, saved that man’s life when he was about to commit suicide.
This is a beautiful book and such bravery from one man is amazing. His faith pulled him through a difficult period of time and he is a true hero. Quiet, unassuming, and just getting on with the task. I highly, highly, recommend this one. It’s a tale of love, compassion in the face of unbearable cruelty, and how even one man (with divine guidance and some friends) can make a world of difference.
October 1, 2020
First off - I wouldn't be rushing to sit next to the author at dinner. He comes across as pompous, self-important, and a bit of a gimp. Having said that, the story he has to tell is a good one.
Essentially, his seaman's hostel functioned as a hiding place for Allied prisoners to escape Nazi-occupied France during WWII. There are multiple tales of close calls and clever evasion of their pursuers, fighting not only external Nazis, but betrayal within their ranks. Ultimately, the tales become a little samey.
As a side note, the use of religious buildings to shield military fugitives made me a little uncomfortable. Even in the knowledge that everyone bends the rules of engagement to their advantage, I thought this was against the spirit of protecting places of worship from attack. From a man who loves to paint himself as an honourable gentleman, this struck me as pretty poor form.
Essentially, his seaman's hostel functioned as a hiding place for Allied prisoners to escape Nazi-occupied France during WWII. There are multiple tales of close calls and clever evasion of their pursuers, fighting not only external Nazis, but betrayal within their ranks. Ultimately, the tales become a little samey.
As a side note, the use of religious buildings to shield military fugitives made me a little uncomfortable. Even in the knowledge that everyone bends the rules of engagement to their advantage, I thought this was against the spirit of protecting places of worship from attack. From a man who loves to paint himself as an honourable gentleman, this struck me as pretty poor form.
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December 5, 2009This is an autobiography, which to my mind lends it an air of authority. I find myself a little frustrated, though, in teasing out the actual details of what the guy really *did*. His style is very formal and reserved--it's a bit like listening to a news report from the 1940s. You have a little trouble listening past their clipped, mid-twentieth century BBC newsreel accents, and it doesn't quite seem real.
Still, it's a wonderful story of heroism and dedication. Donald Caskie was the minister of the Scottish Church in Paris at the onset of the Second World War, and instead of fleeing back to England as the Nazis invaded, he set himself up in Marseilles in the Seamen's Mission there, working in connection with the French Resistance to clothe, feed, and hide Allied soldiers, seamen and airmen--eventually sneaking them out of France and to safety in various other places.
Caskie was inevitably captured; he spent months in various prisons and narrowly escaped a death sentence.
There were two moments in the narrative that really tickled me. The first was when, during his escape from Paris, a bunch of Frenchmen accuse him of being a German spy. They let him off when they discover among his few personal effects a Bible and a kilt. He writes: "It was the latter, not the Bible, that did it. No German would have carried a kilt; only a Scot would pack one at a time when France was falling about his ears." I remember my Scottish neighbor (when I lived in England) saying that if his house was on fire the one thing he would rescue was his kilt!
The other thing was this "Major X," the first visitor to call on Caskie after he moves into the Mission in Marseilles. Major X, never named, is described as "A tall, fair-haired young man...[who:] did not so much make an entrance to the Mission as manifest himself in my room... Turning towards the sound, I saw a tall slim figure immaculately dressed.... 'Please forgive me, Padre,' said my young visitor, 'for disturbin' you at this unearthly hour, and for entering your room without being announced.... The work in which I am presently engaged compels me to be very cautious...'"
At which point he hands Caskie a visiting card... Caskie recognizes a "familiar signature." The slim blonde gentleman says he's an intelligence officer and gives Caskie a list of useful contacts, watches Caskie memorize them, destroys the list, and leaves with a "slightly mischievous" smile and "a wave of the hand, half-salute, half-salutation."
Undoubtedly the name on the card has to be PETER DEATH BREDON WIMSEY, don't you know?
Still, it's a wonderful story of heroism and dedication. Donald Caskie was the minister of the Scottish Church in Paris at the onset of the Second World War, and instead of fleeing back to England as the Nazis invaded, he set himself up in Marseilles in the Seamen's Mission there, working in connection with the French Resistance to clothe, feed, and hide Allied soldiers, seamen and airmen--eventually sneaking them out of France and to safety in various other places.
Caskie was inevitably captured; he spent months in various prisons and narrowly escaped a death sentence.
There were two moments in the narrative that really tickled me. The first was when, during his escape from Paris, a bunch of Frenchmen accuse him of being a German spy. They let him off when they discover among his few personal effects a Bible and a kilt. He writes: "It was the latter, not the Bible, that did it. No German would have carried a kilt; only a Scot would pack one at a time when France was falling about his ears." I remember my Scottish neighbor (when I lived in England) saying that if his house was on fire the one thing he would rescue was his kilt!
The other thing was this "Major X," the first visitor to call on Caskie after he moves into the Mission in Marseilles. Major X, never named, is described as "A tall, fair-haired young man...[who:] did not so much make an entrance to the Mission as manifest himself in my room... Turning towards the sound, I saw a tall slim figure immaculately dressed.... 'Please forgive me, Padre,' said my young visitor, 'for disturbin' you at this unearthly hour, and for entering your room without being announced.... The work in which I am presently engaged compels me to be very cautious...'"
At which point he hands Caskie a visiting card... Caskie recognizes a "familiar signature." The slim blonde gentleman says he's an intelligence officer and gives Caskie a list of useful contacts, watches Caskie memorize them, destroys the list, and leaves with a "slightly mischievous" smile and "a wave of the hand, half-salute, half-salutation."
Undoubtedly the name on the card has to be PETER DEATH BREDON WIMSEY, don't you know?
April 22, 2019
Autobiographical account (quite formally written, it's sweet) by an heroic Scottish pastor in Vichy France. When he could no longer run his church, he ran a Mission, which also served as a stop on an underground railroad to get British servicemen out to safety. He was later imprisoned, and was in St Denis when Paris was liberated. This contains amazing stories of people getting to and from the Mission, heroes and heroines of all nationalities who helped them, and some heart-rending matter of fact descriptions of some of the worst Caskie saw. I needed a few breaks, he lived through terrible things and others died in horrific ways. A good man I think, and I doubt we would know what he had done if he had not been fundraising to rebuild his Church in the 1950s.
April 14, 2020
I don’t normally read real life war memoirs but having been given this book as a birthday from my parents I decided to give it a go.
This was a fascinating book about an incredibly brave & resourceful man. It showed & demonstrated both the best and the worst of the human condition, being all the more poignant for the fact that it actually happened.
I found it difficult to put down despite its often harrowing subject matter.
Well worth it’s 5 stars.
This was a fascinating book about an incredibly brave & resourceful man. It showed & demonstrated both the best and the worst of the human condition, being all the more poignant for the fact that it actually happened.
I found it difficult to put down despite its often harrowing subject matter.
Well worth it’s 5 stars.
July 25, 2016
A beautiful and thoughtful book, written by a man who given the opportunity to leave France during WW 2 chose to stay to help others. This seems especially poignant these days in a time where there seems to be so much anger and hate to be reminded of how many truly good people there are in this world.
November 27, 2020
Caskie was born on Islay and became a pastor in the Scots Kirk in Paris in the 1940‘s. When the Germans invaded France he had to leave his parish but instead of fleeing home to Scotland he settled in Marseilles and worked in the Seaman‘s Mission and later on operated out of Grenoble. There he took in stranded allied soldiers and aided them in their escape back to England. Caskie was interrogated multiple times but miraculously managed to stay alive and survive his imprisonments.
The book is written by Caskie and is about fifty years old by now but he still remains an incredibly interesting man. He heavily relied on God to guide him through the difficult times and the book contains lots of references to the bible. Although I’m an atheist I appreciate how much comfort his religion gave him. I wanted to read this book because it was referenced in Codename Lise- about Odette Churchill- i really enjoyed reading about this brave man and hope we will never again come to live in such times as he did.
The book is written by Caskie and is about fifty years old by now but he still remains an incredibly interesting man. He heavily relied on God to guide him through the difficult times and the book contains lots of references to the bible. Although I’m an atheist I appreciate how much comfort his religion gave him. I wanted to read this book because it was referenced in Codename Lise- about Odette Churchill- i really enjoyed reading about this brave man and hope we will never again come to live in such times as he did.
February 11, 2019
One of the many rarely heard stories of the work of civilians during the war.
This would make a good movie. Loved it. I read it a second time while looking up all the names of people mentioned and the places he went to and found lots of connecting stories.
This would make a good movie. Loved it. I read it a second time while looking up all the names of people mentioned and the places he went to and found lots of connecting stories.
October 20, 2023
Absolutely uplifting real life story of Donald Caskie a minister who saved countless lives during WW2 through his bravery and ingenuity. The book is beautifully written and very difficult to put down. Highly recommended
January 27, 2022
A wonderfully detailed autobiography of an amazing man and his incredible bravery. A side of World War II that I was unaware of but am now well informed about. Highly recommended!
August 5, 2023
An amazing story. If you enjoyed The Hiding Place, you will enjoy this.
I am amazed at the sacrifice and bravery of so many Christians during this time.
I am amazed at the sacrifice and bravery of so many Christians during this time.
November 11, 2022
Donald Caskie was an extremely courageous man who tells his story of being a pastor in Paris during WWII. The first half of the book is about him part of the underground railroad to smuggle soldiers out of France. The second half was more interesting in which he tells of his experience over 2 years in various prisons after being convicted by the Germans. In one of the prisons, he is put into a standing cell which is not tall enough to stand in and not long enough to lie down in. In most of the prisons, he's given a crust of bread and water. Throughout the ordeal, Donald Caskie leans on his faith, and I found that really admirable. When he is convicted to death, a German pastor pleads on his behalf and gets him off death row in time for the Allied victory. It was interesting how he meets a man in prison who was going to kill himself and then saw Donald Caskie's carving of a verse from Isaiah into the wall from when he had been a prisoner in that cell. That man saw Donald Caskie's words and was strengthened and ultimately did not commit suicide.
"Thus saith the Lord... Fear not for I have redeemed thee.... I have called them by name. Thou art mine. When though passeth through the waters, I will be with thee, and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee. When though walketh through the fire, thou shalt not be burned, neither shall the flame kindle upon thee..."
"A war ends and the men who fought in it and survived remember its comradeship, its dangers, and its escapes, its victories and the self-sacrifice it inspired. It reveals saints and heroes. But when one examines the manifold tragedies that merge into the great tragedy of decent people organised to kill one another, forsaking all they love to butcher those they might have loved, but did not know, war is sombre. It is wrong. Alone and thinking of his service, a man will smile and maybe chuckle occasionally, but in the ending of his reverie the thought of the stricken will return, and he will pray for all men. The sad ones are justified before God and men. They are eternal witnesses to the beastliness of modern warfare."
"Evil breeds fear and through fear, which is lack of faith, more evil is born."
"Thus saith the Lord... Fear not for I have redeemed thee.... I have called them by name. Thou art mine. When though passeth through the waters, I will be with thee, and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee. When though walketh through the fire, thou shalt not be burned, neither shall the flame kindle upon thee..."
"A war ends and the men who fought in it and survived remember its comradeship, its dangers, and its escapes, its victories and the self-sacrifice it inspired. It reveals saints and heroes. But when one examines the manifold tragedies that merge into the great tragedy of decent people organised to kill one another, forsaking all they love to butcher those they might have loved, but did not know, war is sombre. It is wrong. Alone and thinking of his service, a man will smile and maybe chuckle occasionally, but in the ending of his reverie the thought of the stricken will return, and he will pray for all men. The sad ones are justified before God and men. They are eternal witnesses to the beastliness of modern warfare."
"Evil breeds fear and through fear, which is lack of faith, more evil is born."
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews