“tough, with a consuming hatred of Germans… but not a medal hunter.”
Grayburn, already wounded, was later killed defending his position to
the last to allow his men to escape.
By Wednesday, 20 September 1944, the battalion was at breaking point.
Ordered to withdraw westward, Vlasto was tasked with nding a route out –
perhaps, as historian Cornelius Ryan suggested, as a “sacricial lamb” to
divert German attention from the main breakout attempt. Vlasto reected:
“I may have been used to create some sort of a diversion, but I don’t
know that for certain.”
Taking two men, he set off through the ruins but came under immediate
re and became separated. Alone and cut off, he concealed himself in a
shed until nightfall, surrounded by Germans. Attempting to slip through
enemy lines under cover of darkness, he ran into a German patrol:
“Fighting on was useless… so I just gave myself up.”
Captured on 20 September, he was marched to a hall where other
prisoners were gathered, then moved for interrogation and eventually
interned at Oag 79 near Brunswick. He remained there until the war
ended.
Post-War Service and Civilian Life
Following liberation, Vlasto served in Palestine but relinquished his
commission in October 1946 due to disability. He married Jill Pollock
in London in 1947, raising a son and daughter. He later became a
respected merchant banker and investor.
Vlasto died on 1 October 2003, and his wife passed away the next year.
They are buried together in their local parish church near Winchester.