Brethren:
Bro. Charles Coward of Camberwell Old Comrades Lodge No. 4077, UGLE.Or " The Count of Auschwitz" as he became known, joined the British Army in 1937 and was captured by the Germans in 1940. As a POW he escaped a total of nine times. During one escape he was awarded the Iron Cross while posing as a wounded soldier in a German army field hospital. During another, Coward spotted a V-1 rocket base and managed to convey its location to British Intelligence. Between escapes, Coward managed to continuously throw wrenches into the German war effort, organizing numerous acts of sabotage while serving on work detail. Coward continuously sent coded messages regarding military intelligence in letters to his family. In 1943, Coward was sent to the notorious Auschwitz. Here he was appointed the International Red Cross liaison for British prisoners of war in the area. In this position, he devised an scheme to trade corpses of non-Jews by bribing guards with Red Cross supplies. At night, when Jews deemed unfit to work were being marched to the gas chambers, they would quickly jump out of line and conceal themselves in a ditch. Coward would then arrange for the corpses he had bought to be spread along the road to substitute for the hidden Jews, who he then arranged to be smuggled away to freedom, using the identities of the corpses. Coward is estimated to have saved 400-800 Auschwitz inmates from death. Coward also used his Red Cross position to smuggle food and other supplies to Jewish prisoners, including dynamite, which was used partially destroy the gas chambers. A book about Coward's exploits, The Password is Courage, was published in 1954, and a movie of the same was produced in 1962. He was awarded the Israeli Peace Medal; only of only two British citizens to be honored, the other recipient being Bro. Winston Churchill.
Brethren this is an extremely interesting and courageous man. I thoroughly enjoyed reading about his life and recommend you do the same. I hope everyone had a relaxing summer, but would like to remind you all it is back to business here at the lodge We have some degrees coming up as well as some new names that will be posted in upcoming trestle boards to be voted on . So come on out to enjoy as well as show support for YOUR Lodge.
Fraternally,
Christopher Matear
Worshipful Master
