Giles was immediately returned to the island and was placed directly into the solitary strip cell. The FBI investigated the escape and put together an inventory of the items that had been found in Giles’s possession.
Warden James A. Johnston
United States Penitentiary
Alcatraz Island
San Francisco, California
Re: John Knight Giles
Dear Warden Johnston:
Pursuant to your request the following to your request the following personal effects which were found in the possession of the above captioned subject at the time of his apprehension at Angel Island on July 31, 1945 are being listed below:
One set of prison underwear.
One pair of prison socks.
One pair of brown prison shoes.
One regulation Army tie.
One pair of regulation U.S. Army pants labeled Kane Manufacturing Company, 1/19/43.
One Khaki Army overseas cap, red bordered #K-9699.
One regulation Army shirt bearing laundry mark #P2587.
One U.S. Army field jacket, size 38 L, bearing no identification marks, with Technical Sergeant’s chevrons on sleeve.
One white pouch containing small comb.
One navy blue pouch containing two flashlight bulbs, one Texaco touring map of San Francisco and the Bay Area, one State Auto Association map of Marin County, one small taped ball containing odd change.
One navy blue pouch containing shoulder patch U.S. Army, Pacific Coast Frontier Defense Sector.
One navy blue pouch containing two glass cases, one case containing subject’s silver rimmed glasses, the other containing a white powder believed to be stomach powder.
One handkerchief, brown striped border.
One small memo book approximately three by five inches, contents blank.
One small piece of white cloth.
One U.S. Army official dog tag in the name GEORGE F. TODD, #38409746 T43.
One enlisted man’s temporary pass issued in the name of TODD dated 0730 July 31 to 0730 August 2, ’45 “to visit Bay Area”. The above described tag and pass were used by subject in an ineffectual attempt to elude detection at Fort McDowell.
One white cloth pouch containing U.S. Army dog tag in the name of ARTHUR L. WADE #34506347 T43, Army dog tag in the name of ERNEST D. BENNETT, #33573388, one broken tube Barbasol shaving cream containing $1.38 in change.
One Pall Mall cigarette package containing seven assorted shoulder patches, U.S. Army, two chevrons U.S. Army Staff Sergeant, one new U.S. Army Air Corps shoulder patch wrapped in tissue paper.
Four undated enlisted men’s temporary passes in the name of A.L. WADE, Staff Sergeant, #34506347, Hq. Btry. A 256 AAA, granting permission to visit Bay Area.
Six blank enlisted men’s passes.
Three blank temporary passes bearing the stamped signature of WILLIAM B. BURCH.
One fountain pen, gold colored.
One gray flashlight marked “USM” containing two Every-Ready batteries marked for use before June, 1944.
One small cardboard box containing blank furlough paper form #31, War Department,... G.O.
One metal Bayer Aspirin box containing sixty cents in assorted change and several strands of what appears to be human hair.
One small Colgate toothpaste tube painted green containing a brown substance believed to be glue.
One seed envelope containing unidentified white powder.
One Army tie.
One pair regulation Army socks.
One traced insignia of Pacific Coast Frontier Defense Sector.
One small cardboard box containing two wooden objects both carved in the shape of a “U” approximately one inch in length, covered with waxlike substance.
One small tin box containing piece of broken mirror.
One small medicine bottle containing ink.
One small cardboard box containing razor, fourteen cents in change, one pen point and three taped balls containing change.
One Dennison label box containing unidentified white powder, and five safety pins.
One small wooden cylinder (pencil lead holder) containing three wooden matches each tightly wrapped with small needle and tan thread.
One small bar green soap.
I should like, at this time, to express my appreciation to you for the assistance rendered Special Agents HARTLEY and CROW during the investigation of this matter.
Very truly yours,
N. J. L. PIEPER
Special Agent in Charge
Over the course of nearly ten years, Giles had acquired more than forty smuggled articles ranging from clothing to dog tags. Giles was punished harshly and he would remain in segregation for nearly three years. In 1948, he was integrated back into the general population and assigned the incinerator detail; considered one of the island’s toughest work assignments. He was eventually transferred to Leavenworth and paroled several years later. Upon his release, Giles moved to Los Angeles to live with his brother and never returned to prison. John Giles died in February of 1979 at age eighty-four.
ESCAPE ATTEMPT #10
Date:
May 2-6, 1946
Inmates:
Bernard Coy
Joseph Cretzer
Marvin Hubbard
Miran Thompson
Clarence Carnes
Sam Shockley
Location:
Main Cellhouse
THE BATTLE OF ALCATRAZ