Veteran recalls work of cunning illusionist
BOMB disposal officer Basil Merville Atkins worked under the command of world-famous magician Jasper Maskelyne on some of the most ingenious schemes of the Second World War.
In 1930s Britain, Maskelyne was a household name, renowned as a great illusionist .
He put these skills to good during the war, using his sleight of hand tricks to fool the Germans.
The master magician was Mr Atkins's commanding officer when he served with Number 2 Camouflage Unit, in North Africa and the Middle East, helping to train special forces troops in camouflage techniques.
Mr Atkins, of Biddulph, was 17 when he joined up and rose to the rank of warrant officer in the Royal Engineers.
He said: "In May of 1941, we sailed from Liverpool in a high-speed convoy which was deemed the best way to avoid the U-Boats.
"At Mount Carmel in Palestine there was a special secret base where we made models of the Aegean Islands so that the SAS (Special Air Service) and SBS (Special Boat Service) could see what they were attacking. This was a tall building and they used to look down on the models.
"They were pretty ruthless and very often these small German garrisons were entirely wiped out by them. Therefore, if the Germans ever took SAS or SBS prisoners, they showed them no mercy, they were usually shot.
"While I was stationed at Gaza in Palestine – the major in charge of all camouflage units in the Middle East was Jasper Maskelyne, the world's greatest illusionist.
"He was marvellous and he thought of all sorts of ruses to fool the enemy. Like dummy landing crafts, which were placed throughout Cyprus and North Africa to fool the Germans about where the invasions were going to come, when all the time the target was Sicily and Italy.
"At El Alamein he made hundreds of dummy guns with flash assimilators. They were made out of wood and cardboard. But the Germans would see these flashes and it would draw their fire.
"Maskelyne played a big part in the victory over Rommel.
"We didn't see a lot of him. One time, he called me in to base from Tripoli to see him at 9am the next morning. I had to travel 813 miles each way on a motorbike."
Despite his contribution to allied success in the Middle East and North Africa, particularly over The Desert Fox – the German general Erwin Rommel – Maskelyne and the efforts of his so-called 'Magic Gang' were not officially recognised.
Maskelyne retired to obscurity, emigrating to Kenya, where he died, aged 70, in 1973.
At the end of the war, Mr Atkins was brought back to Britain, where he was put to work defusing hundreds of UXBs – unexploded bombs.
After the war, Mr Atkins joined the police, but didn't enjoy it. He left, instead working in local government and the civil service, eventually managing the taxation office in London Road, Stoke, until he retired.
Today, the 86-year-old father-of-one and grandfather-of-two, can sometimes be seen wearing his brother Gilbert's medals, alongside his own.
Mr Atkins said: "I always wear my brother's badges because he was in the Middle East with me, but he was killed by a bomb dropped by a Stuka Dive Bomber as he returned from the final battle of El Alamein."
BOMB EXPERT: Basil Merville Atkins as an 18-year-old corporal. Below right, Basil today and, left, Jasper Maskelyne.
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