Stanley Casson
Second World War and death
Second World War and death
--------------------------

[alt\=A Commonwealth War Grave headstone, with Casson's name and the crest of the Intelligence Corps\|thumb\|Casson's headstone at Fairpark cemetery in [Newquay](/wiki/Newquay "Newquay")](/wiki/File:Lieutenant_Colonel_Stanley_Casson.jpg "Lieutenant Colonel Stanley Casson.jpg")
Before the outbreak of the Second World War in September 1939, Casson had joined the [Army Officers' Emergency Reserve](/wiki/Army_Officers%27_Emergency_Reserve "Army Officers' Emergency Reserve"); he was posted to the [Intelligence Corps](/wiki/Intelligence_Corps_%28United_Kingdom%29 "Intelligence Corps (United Kingdom)") later in 1939\. He was in the Netherlands during [the German invasion](/wiki/German_invasion_of_the_Netherlands "German invasion of the Netherlands") of May 1940, and was almost captured.

In August 1940, Casson was serving as an instructor at the Intelligence Training Centre at [Smedley's Hydro](/wiki/Smedley%27s_Hydro "Smedley's Hydro") in [Matlock, Derbyshire](/wiki/Matlock%2C_Derbyshire "Matlock, Derbyshire"), to which newly\-commissioned officers of the Intelligence Corps were posted. Following the [Italian invasion of Greece](/wiki/Greco%E2%80%93Italian_War "Greco–Italian War") in October 1940, the British Chiefs of Staff Middle East formed [No. 27 Military Mission](/wiki/No._27_Military_Mission "No. 27 Military Mission") to travel to Greece and report on its military situation. Casson was recruited by the mission's commander, [Thomas George Gordon Heywood](/wiki/Thomas_George_Gordon_Heywood "Thomas George Gordon Heywood"), as its chief intelligence officer. In 1940, he recruited the future author [Patrick Leigh Fermor](/wiki/Patrick_Leigh_Fermor "Patrick Leigh Fermor"), then serving with the Intelligence Corps and a former student of Casson's at the Intelligence Training Centre, for the mission. Another of Casson's protégés was his former Oxford archaeology student, the future diplomat [David Hunt](/wiki/David_Hunt_%28diplomat%29 "David Hunt (diplomat)"). 

Casson was the first member of No. 27 Military Mission to arrive in Greece, reaching Athens shortly after the fall of the Albanian city of [Korçë](/wiki/Kor%C3%A7%C3%AB "Korçë") to the Greek counter\-attack on 22 November. He was subsequently attached to the [Hellenic Army](/wiki/Hellenic_Army "Hellenic Army"), and served on the staff of the British Expeditionary Force to Greece (also known as W Force). His relations with [Henry Maitland Wilson](/wiki/Henry_Maitland_Wilson "Henry Maitland Wilson"), the general commanding W Force, were poor: Wilson brought across a Colonel Quilliam from GHQ Middle East to act as his own intelligence chief and so to bypass Casson. Casson was at Wilson's headquarters as a [major](/wiki/Major_%28United_Kingdom%29 "Major (United Kingdom)") on 6 April 1941, when the [German invasion of Greece](/wiki/German_invasion_of_Greece "German invasion of Greece") began. He was on the Greek island of [Crete](/wiki/Crete "Crete") during [the German airborne invasion](/wiki/Battle_of_Crete "Battle of Crete") of May 1941, and once again came close to being captured. 

Casson was back at Smedley's Hydro, as a lieutenant colonel and the school's assistant commandant, in June 1942\. In 1943, Casson wrote *Greece and Britain*, a work which expounded upon the historical connections between the two countries in order to emphasise the importance of the wartime alliance between them. After the foundation of the Allied [Monuments, Fine Arts, and Archives program](/wiki/Monuments%2C_Fine_Arts%2C_and_Archives_program "Monuments, Fine Arts, and Archives program") (MFA\&A), which began operations in August 1943, Casson was appointed to direct the MFA\&A branch of the British forces in Greece. He was appointed on the recommendation of Leonard Woolley, by now the archaeological advisor to the British [War Office](/wiki/War_Office "War Office").

Casson later became a member of the [Special Operations Executive](/wiki/Special_Operations_Executive "Special Operations Executive") (SOE), and was appointed as SOE's liaison officer for Greece. He was killed on 17 April 1944 as a passenger on the [Vickers Warwick](/wiki/Vickers_Warwick "Vickers Warwick") aircraft BV247 of [No. 525 Squadron RAF](/wiki/No._525_Squadron_RAF "No. 525 Squadron RAF"), which crashed into the sea near [Newquay](/wiki/Newquay "Newquay") in [Cornwall](/wiki/Cornwall "Cornwall") while bound for [Brindisi](/wiki/Brindisi "Brindisi"). Two other SOE agents, Stephen Maitland and Ivan Watkins Bert, as well as the [MI9](/wiki/MI9 "MI9") attaché George Lionel Dawson\-Damer, were also killed in the crash. Casson was buried at Fairpark cemetery in Newquay: the details of his death were suppressed owing to the classified nature of his work. The Greek government organised a [requiem](/wiki/Requiem "Requiem") mass in his memory at [Saint Sophia Cathedral, London](/wiki/Saint_Sophia_Cathedral%2C_London "Saint Sophia Cathedral, London"): Casson was the first British officer to receive this during the Second World War.


How did Stanley Casson die?