Clair Cline

Cline with his violin

Clair W. Cline (September 30, 1917 – September 19, 2010) was an American carpenter and cabinetmaker, who was a prisoner of war during World War II.[1][2] He had the rank of first lieutenant in the 448th Bombardment Group,[3] and was captured by German soldiers when his plane was shot down over Holland in 1944.[2] At Stalag Luft I, he built a violin out of scrap wood and other materials found in the prison camp, and played simple tunes to lift the mood of fellow prisoners.[1]

Early life

Cline was born September 30, 1917,[4] and grew up on a farm in rural Minnesota.[2] His uncle gave him a violin when he was a child.[1] As he honed his skills as a woodworker, he repaired and made parts for country fiddles.[2] During the Great Depression of the 1930s, he worked as a carpenter and as a short-order cook.[2] He later cited his father's resourcefulness in repairing farm equipment as a major influence in his life.[1]

Military service

In 1941, Cline was drafted and assigned to the United States Army Air Force as an aviation cadet.[2] Stationed at McChord Field, he trained to become a bomber pilot.[2]

In February 1944, when he was 26 years old, his B-24 was shot down over Holland.[2][1] After his capture by German soldiers, he was sent to the prisoner-of-war camp Stalag Luft I.[3]

Under the Geneva Convention on Prisoners of War, he and other officers were not put to work.[1] In order to battle boredom, Cline took up sewing and carving model airplanes.[1] He first got the idea to build a violin when he overheard a fellow prisoner whistling the old fiddle tune "Red Wing".[1]

Cline built a working violin, using wood scraps from bed slats, aid crates, and table legs.[3] His tools included shards of glass and a table knife ground into a chisel, as well as a penknife.[1][3] Other men helped scrape glue from chairs, which they boiled down for re-use.[3] He acquired catgut for the violin strings, and obtained a bow by trading cigarettes provided by the Red Cross with one of the guards.[1] The project took four months.[3] Cline played the violin to provide solace to his fellow prisoners.[1]

After Stalag Luft I was liberated in the spring of 1945, Cline took the violin home.[1]

Life after the war

Following the war a plastic chin rest was added to the violin.[3] Cline kept his camp violin at his home in Tacoma for over 50 years, until in 1995 he donated it to the Intrepid museum, a military history museum on board the USS Intrepid in New York City.[1] Violinist Glenn Dicterow, who was concertmaster of the New York Philharmonic, played the violin at a special concert commemorating the event.[1]

Cline worked as a cabinetmaker in Tacoma,[2] and made additional instruments including "a dozen more violins, three basses, a cello and two violas" as a hobby.[1] He built a bass viol for his son, Roger, who attended graduate school at University of Michigan, joined the U.S. Military Academy Band at West Point,[2] and went on to become bassist for the Cleveland Symphony Orchestra.[1]

Death and legacy

Cline died on September 19, 2010 in Tacoma, Washington, at the age of 92.[1][5] In 2015, a Belgian film crew interviewed his family for a documentary.[1] In 2017, BYUtv released a feature-length film, Instrument of War, based on the story of his life with the role of Cline played by British actor Jack Ashton.[6]

His grandchildren included a professional cellist and violist.[1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s Catlin, George (May 28, 2015). "For violist, heirloom is one of a kind". The Washington Post. Retrieved December 27, 2023.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Cardwell, Rod (January 5, 1970). "Faces and Places: He Made Music In Prison Camp". The News Tribune. Archived from the original on December 27, 2023. Retrieved December 27, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Fawcett, Kirstin (October 2021). "Trash Into Treasure". World War II. Vol. 36, no. 3. Archived from the original on December 27, 2023. Retrieved December 27, 2023 – via EBSCOHost.
  4. ^ "Clair William Cline, 19 Sep 2010". United States Social Security Death Index – via FamilySearch.
  5. ^ Washington State Archives; Washington State Department of Health. "Clair W Cline, 19 Sep 2010, Pierce, Washington, United States". Washington Death Index, 1965–2014 – via FamilySearch.
  6. ^ Propes, Richard. ""Instrument of War" a Narrative Feature Finalist at Heartland Film Fest". The Independent Critic. Archived from the original on December 27, 2023. Retrieved December 27, 2023.