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World War 2 Two II WW2 WWII 1939 1945

Stalag Luft 3 Prisoner of War Camp




    16th Oct 1939 57 Squadron Blenheim lost

    7th Nov 1939 57 Squadron Blenheim lost

    27th Mar 1940 77 Squadron Whitley lost

    10th May 1940 12 Squadron Battle lost

    11th May 1940 88 Squadron Battle lost

    12th May 1940 57 Squadron Belenheim lost

    12th May 1940 12 Squadron Battle lost

    12th May 1940 12 Squadron Battle lost

    14th May 1940 218 Squadron Battle lost

    18th May 1940 Aircraft Lost

    4th June 1940 On fire

    8th Jun 1940 103 Squadron Battles lost

    9th Jun 1940 Three 107 Squadron Blemheims lost

    27th Jun 1940 49 Squadron Hampden lost

    30th Jun 1940 61 Squadron Hampden lost

    6th Jul 1940 18 Squadron Blenheim lost

    21st Jul 1940 61 Squadron Hampden lost

    29th Jul 1940 44 Squadron Hampden lost

    29th July 1940 Aircraft Lost

    13th Aug 1940 82 Squadron Blenheim lost

    15th Aug 1940 40 Squadron Blenheim lost

    20th Aug 1940 101 Squadron Blenheim lost

    23rd August 1940 Battle failed to return from Boulogne

    11th Feb 1941 49 Squadron Hampden lost

    9th Apr 1941 207 Squadron Manchester lost

    10th Apr 1941 50 Squadron Hampden lost

    12th May 1941 144 Squadron Hampden lost

    18th Jul 1941 21 Squadron Belnheim lost

    22nd Jul 1941 Parcels

    15th Aug 1941 15 Squadron Stirling lost

    15th Aug 1941 102 Squadron Whitley lost

    25th Aug 1941 51 Squadron Whitley lost

    26th Aug 1941 7 Squadron Stirling lost

    28th Aug 1941 Blenheim lost

    3rd Sep 1941 35 Squadron Halifax lost

    7th September 1941 Aircraft Lost

    26th Oct 1941 Aircraft Lost

    8th Dec 1941 83 Squadron Hampton lost

    19th Feb 1942 420 Squadron Hampden lost

    9th Apr 1942 419 squadron Lancaster lost

    17th Apr 1942 114 Squadron Lancaster lost

    25th Apr 1942 107 Squadron Boston lost

    25th April 1942 Wellington lost

    27th Apr 1942 226 Squadron Battle lost

    27th Apr 1942 107 Squadron Boston lost

    29th April 1942 Taken PoW in Denmark

    30th Apr 1942 50 Squadron Manchester lost

    31st May 1942 109 Squadron Wellington lost

    6th May 1942 Shot down over France

    7th May 1942 Raid on Stuttgart

    8th May 1942 420 Squadron Hampden lost

    31st May 1942 26 Squadron Wellington lost

    31st May 1942 Aircraft Lost

    31st May 1942 14 OTU Hampden lost

    31st May 1942 50 Squadron Manchester lost

    1st June 1942  105 Squadron Mosquito lost

    3rd Jun 1942 49 Squadron Manchester lost

    9th Jun 1942 460 Squadron Wellington lost.

    2nd July 1942  Mosquito shot down

    14th July 1942 Crashed in the Netherlands

    19th Jul 1942 88 Squadron Boston lost

    22nd Jul 1942 Aircraft lost

    26th July 1942  Halifax abandoned over the Netherlands

    29th July 1942 Two bombers lost

    29th July 1942 Trainees shot down over Germany

    6th August 1942 Halifax shot down over the Netherlands

    10th August 1942 Two Wellingtons shot down

    19th Aug 1942 226 Squadron Boston lost

    27th August 1942 Pilot crash landed on Sicily

    29th August 1942 Four Wellingtons lost

    2nd Sep 1942 218 Squadron Stirling lost

    2nd Oct 1942 78 Squadron Halifax lost

    14th October 1942 Pathfinder shot down

    23rd Oct 1943 49 Squadron Lancaster lost

    23rd Oct 1943 434 Squadron Halifax lost

    6th Nov 1942 Ventura of 21 Squadron lost

    18th November 1942 One crash survivor

    8th Dec 1942 105 Squadron Mosquito lost

    20th Dec 1942 425 Squadron Lancaster lost

    4th Feb 1943 Halifax lost

    15th Mar 1943 Ventura of 21 Squadron lost

    17th March 1943 PoW

    3rd May 1943 Ventura lost

    3rd May 1943 Ventura of 487 Squadron lost

    13th May 1943 Bombing duties resumed

    14th May 1943 Ditched in the IJsselmeer

    14th May 1943 Pilot lost over Normandy

    26th May 1943 One airman taken PoW

    5th July 1943 Survivor swam 4 miles to captivity

    15th July 1943 Pilot taken PoW

    28th Jul 1943 408 Squadron Halifax lost

    30th July 1943 Mid-air collision over Dunkirk

    18th Aug 1943 434 Squadron Halifax lost

    18th Aug 1943 158 Squadron Halifax lost

    28th August 1943 Lancaster shot down

    2nd September 1943 Three Hurricanes lost over Zeeland

    6th September 1943 Five taken PoW

    7th September 1943 Pathfinders shot down

    11th September 1943 Squadron claims first enemy aircraft in combat

    22nd September 1943  Two escape burning aircraft

    24th Sep 1943 57 Squadron Lancaster lost

    5th October 1943 Attack on Aachen

    9th Oct 1943 Lancaster lost

    3rd Nov 1943 Bomber Command

    3rd November 1943  Lancaster shot down: 5 survive

    11th November 1943 One survivor from Halifax crash in France

    25th Nov 1943 139 Squadron Mosquito lost

    4th January 1944 Typhoon abandoned

    15th Jan 1944 166 Squadron Lancaster lost

    15th January 1944 Five 156 Squadron Lancasters lost

    21st January 1944 Ju88 and Lancaster crash over Germany

    22nd Jan 1944 433 Squadron Lancaster lost

    22nd January 1944 51 Squadron Halifax lost

    29th January 1944 Flight commander taken PoW

    30th January 1944 Two more 156 Squadron Pathfinders lost

    31st Jan 1944 550 Squadron Lancaster lost

    3rd March 1944 Shot down on SOE operation

    16th Mar 1944 427 Squadron Lancaster lost

    25th March 1944 Six 78 Squadron aircraft lost

    22nd April 1944 Lancaster shot down over Cologne

    23rd Apr 1944 77 Squadron Halifax lost

    23rd April 1944 Pathfinder shot down

    3rd May 1944 Railway Targets

    10th May 1944 Gunner baled out

    23rd May 1944 Crashed near Antwerp

    23rd May 1944 Two Lancasters lost

    24th May 1944 Two Lancasters

    18th June 1944 Two pilots lost

    8th July 1944 207 Squadron Lancaster lost.

    2nd August 1944 Typhoon shot down: Pilot taken PoW

    9th August 1944 3 Mitchell bombers lost

    29th September 1944 Flight commander taken PoW

    14th Oct 1944 115 Squadron Lancasters lost

    2nd November 1944 Two Lancasters lost

    5th Nov 1944 44 Squadron Lancaster lost

    21st February 1945 Aircraft Shot down

    22nd Nov 1944 433 Squadron Lancaster lost


    If you can provide any additional information, please add it here.



    Those known to have been held in or employed at

    Stalag Luft 3 Prisoner of War Camp

    during the Second World War 1939-1945.

    The names on this list have been submitted by relatives, friends, neighbours and others who wish to remember them, if you have any names to add or any recollections or photos of those listed, please Add a Name to this List

    Records from Stalag Luft 3 Prisoner of War Camp other sources.


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    Want to know more about Stalag Luft 3 Prisoner of War Camp?


    There are:152 items tagged Stalag Luft 3 Prisoner of War Camp available in our Library

      These include information on officers, regimental histories, letters, diary entries, personal accounts and information about actions during the Second World War.


    F/Lt. Alan Birley Bateman 15 Squadron

    Justine Hadden



    Flt.Lt. Leslie Brodrick 106 Squadron

    I'm a journalist for a community paper in South Africa and did an article on Les Brodrick. I am posting it on this website as it helped me piece together the chain of events during the long march, as Les's memory was a little vague.

    Les recalls his Stalag Luft III escape -By Shelly Lawrie

    Sixty-six years ago, in one of the most daring and bold escapes from a Prisoner of War camp, Scottburgh¹s Leslie Brodrick, (now 88), one of 15 survivors, recalls the event and consequences. A Royal Air Force, Flight Lieutenant for 106 squadron, Brodrick, 22-years-old, was shot down. He crash landed near Amiens on his Stuttgart raid return flight. He was taken to Dulag Luft for interrogation, then to Stalag Luft III in Sagan, an airforce Prisoner of War camp run by the Luftwaffe.

    South African born Squadron Leader, Roger Bushell was the master-mind behind the audacious escape plan at the camp, and Brodrick was recruited immediately. Numerous tunnels had been dug but were found by the Germans. Bushell’s plan consisted of three tunnels, ‘Tom’, ‘Dick’ and ‘Harry’ being dug simultaneously. His aim was to have 250 men escape and spread chaos in Germany. Of all three tunnels, ‘Dick’ had the most ingenious trapdoor. Situated in block 122, the washroom, the tunnel entry was concealed in the sump. Water had to be removed, and the modified concrete slab put in place and sealed with a mixture of clay, soap and cement. Broderick was appointed ’trapfuhrer’, meaning he was responsible for the entrance to ‘Dick’. He had to unseal the slab for the ‘diggers’ then seal them in again and keep watch. After ‘Tom’ was discovered and ‘Dick’ abandoned after a prison compound was constructed in its path, all efforts were concentrated on ‘Harry’. ‘Dick’ was used as storage for all contraband.

    On the evening of March 24, 1944, 200 men hoped to escape through ‘Harry’. The tunnel, 8.5m down, to hide any tunnelling sounds that buried microphones might pick up, and about 102m long, had electrical light, a ventilation system and a railway track with three haulage points and carts. Things did not go according to plan. Firstly, the exit trapdoor was frozen shut. After opening it, it was discovered the tunnel was well short of the pine-forest tree line. Due to an air-raid on Berlin, all camp electricity was turned off. With the tunnel exit only 27m from the nearest guard tower, a plan was hatched. A length of rope was strung from inside the tunnel to a person just behind the tree line. A series of tugs were used to signal “the coast is clear”.

    Experienced escapees, German speakers and those that contributed the most to the operation, were first on the list. The rest of the men drew lots, Brodrick was drawn at number 52. In complete darkness, Brodrick made his way to the tunnel exit, he hit a snag at the exit ladder as his legs could not bend to climb up. He got out by hauling himself, hand-over-hand for the last 8.5m. Once free of the camp, Brodrick and two others, Henry Birkland and Denys Street, did not progress very far. For three days, travelling at night only, soaked and freezing, Brodrick and Street decided to find shelter as Birkland was ³in a bad way². Spotting a cottage, the three, street-fluent in German, decided to try their luck by “spinning a yarn” to the occupants of the cottage. Unfortunately, the occupants were German soldiers. The three were arrested, taken to a local police station and then to Gestapo head quarters at Gorlitz for interrogation. Brodrick said he recognised the Gestapo as they “dress in leather coats just like in the movies”.

    He was then returned to Stalag Luft III. On arrival he discovered Hitler had ordered 50 of the escaped 76 to been shot, Street was one of them. The men under pretence, individually or in pairs, were told they were being moved to another location. On the “trip”, German soldiers would stop the vehicle, either for the men to relieve themselves or ‘stretch their legs’, and when their backs were turned they were shot. The excuse given for their ’execution’ was that they had been trying to escape. Of the 76 escapees, three evaded recapture.

    On January 27, 1945, Stalag Luft III was evacuated due to Russian forces approaching. Broderick and many others were marched in sub-zero temperatures, westwards to Spremberg. Once there they were loaded into cattle trains, destination Marlag Nord in Tarmstedt. The British corporal in charge of the prisoners refused to stay at the Marlag camp, condemned by the Red Cross as unfit and unsanitary.

    Eventually Brodrick and the others ended up on a tobacco plantation near Lubeck. Here they were liberated on May 2, 1945, by British troops in open trucks shouting, “you’re free!”.

    During the march they were shot at by a Royal Air Force spitfire, until the pilot realised they were not the enemy. Broderick also witnessed concentration camps with “skeletal Jews and the systematic slaughter of them”. At one location the prisoners were given a shower, and they thought they were to be gassed.

    Brodrick was flown home to Canvey Island, England in a Lancaster, one from his old squadron. After tidal wave flooded Canvey Island in 1953, Brodrick and family came to South Africa in 1956, and moved to Scottburgh in 1963.

    Shelly Lawrie



    Leonard Bayes 18 Squardron

    My Father, Leonard Bayes joined the RAF in 1935. In the early hours of the 21st of January, 1936, he was a member of the duty crew at RAF Bircham Newton in Norfolk when, following the death of King George V at nearby Sandringham, the ill-fated new King, Edward VIII, arrived to fly off to London. He was in no great hurry and chatted pleasantly to the people there, until an official suggested that they really should leave. No doubt the new King was dreading the formalities awaiting him. They then climbed into a De Havilland Rapide and it took off for the Metropolis. Dad therefore witnessed the first ever flight by a reigning Monarch.

    Dad served in 18 Squadron at Upper Heyford flying Hawker Harts and at the ourbreak of WWII, he was stationed at Seletar, Singapore with 100 Squadron, equipped with Vickers Vildebeests. Heading home to the UK for training, he stopped off at Egypt, where he helped to re-assemble the long range flight Vickers Wellesleys. He then went on to Crete, where he missed the evacuation and was captured by the Germans. He ended up in Stalag Luft III, and was part of the evacuation March in January 1945. He was eventually repatriated in May 1945.

    Jack Bayes



    Nigel George Drever 610 Sqd.

    My father, Nigel George Drever, was a prisoner of war in Stalag Luft 3, and was part of the Long March in 1945. He helped to dig the tunnel for the Great Escape, but was not among the escapees. He was also in the Battle of Britain, flying a Spitfire with 610 Squadron aged 19. He was shot down and captured in 1941, I am trying to trace fellow prisoners of war who may be willing to meet him for his 90th birthday.

    Clair Drever



    Ernest Birchley

    My father, Ernest Birchley was held in Stalag Luft 3 from March 1942 until the end of the war. Sharing his barracks were: John Lietke, Syd Wickham, Keith Thompson, Les Dixon, Justin O'Byrne, Tom Walker and others.

    Julie Hosking



    Sgt. Clifford Webb MBE. 21 Squadron

    We believe that my father Clifford Webb was captured twice. This article was found which was probably written by our father to his mother after the second capture/escape. If anybody can shed some light on Clifford Webb, it would certainly be most appreciated !

    The article Letter home from Sgt. C. Webb, RAF, from “Woodside”, Homer, aged 24 years. C. 1940. We were shot down in France, near Calais, on June 14th, by six Messerschmitts, but nobody was injured, so we tried to make our way back to England. We found a little boat three days after the crash, but had no chance to stock it with food and drink. Our oars were very weak and soon broke. The upshot of it all was that we were in the channel for three days without food or drink and not a stitch of dry clothing on us. One of my companions died on the last night and the two of us left were washed back on the French coast, still behind the German lines. We hid for two days to regain our strength, and started walking to Le Havre about 50 miles away, but abandoned the idea as the port was too closely watched. Then we tried to get work on the farms, posing as Belgians, but failed because we had no identification papers. We begged bought and stole food and civilian clothing during this time.

    Eventually we decided to go north and try to cross the Channel again, but were unlucky enough to walk into a hidden German aerodrome, just south of the Somme. We were stopped and questioned; I was the only one speaking French. They found out my companion was English so I was taken as well. This was on the evening of July 1st. I don’t know how I escaped, but all the people in this camp are the same. Some of the escapees from crashes are nothing short of miraculous.

    Report of incident near Calais. 14/06/1940: Merville, France.

    • Type: Bristol Type 142L, Blenheim Mk. IV
    • Serial number: R3742,YH-?
    • Operation: Merville
    • Lost: 14/06/1940
    • Pilot Officer William A. Saunders, RAF 40756, 21 Sqn., age 20, 14/06/1940, missing
    • Sgt W.H.Eden PoW also initialled H.W.Eden
    • Sgt C.Webb PoW
    • Airborne from Bodney. Crash-site not established. Last seen being chased by Me109s.
    • P/O Saunders has no known grave and is commemorated on the Runnymede Mmemorial.
    • Sgt W.H.Eden on his 30th operation evaded until captured July 40 near Doullens after spending 3 days in a rowing boat and interned in Camps L1/L6/357, PoW No.87.
    • Sgt C.Webb was also captured with his comrade but was interned in Camps L1/L3/L6/357, PoW No.76.

    Tony Webb



    Alexander E Elsworthy 106 Squadron

    I am researching my great-uncle John Alfred Withington who died during the Second World War. He was a gunner in a Lancaster bomber with the 106 Squadron; all but one of the crew died on the 2nd of January 1944. The remaining crew member Alexander Elsworthy is shown to have been in prisoner of war camps Stalag4B and Stalag Luft3. My father was told that his uncle, John Withington, helped an injured crew member when their plane was hit. John helped open the other crew members' parachutes but his own then failed. The surviving crew member apparently came back to tell the tale and I am assuming this must be Alexander Elsworthy. Any details on Alexander would be very gratefully received. I know that his POW number was 269841, he lived in Chelsea and was born 1921.

    Holly Middleditch



    Sargent Harry Tapper

    My father was Sgt. Harry Tapper, #13007264 US Army. He was captured in North Africa and taken to Stalag Luft 3, then he went to Stalag 13D. This is all of the information that I have been able to find to date, I would love to know more.

    Bill Tapper



    Pilot Officer Edward Barnes 78 Squadron

    I am the son of P/O Richard Barnes who, with his identical twin P/O Eddie Barnes, were prisoners in Stalag Luft III.

    The story of the Barnes brothers meeting each other for the first time in Stalag Luft III is described in Paul Brickhill's book "Escape to Danger" on page 111. Dick was shot down as a navigator in a 50 Squadron Manchester on 30th May 1942, the airplane crash happening in occupied Belgian. The event resulted in the pilot F/O Leslie Manser receiving a posthumous VC for holding the aircraft until the crew could bail out. Dick was captured by the Germans. Almost a year later on 5th May 1943, Dick's brother Eddie, a rear gunner of a 78 Squadron Halifax, was shot down and captured. He also arrived at Sagan and the story of the confusion and humour when Eddie arrived at the camp and was mistaken for Dick and is described in Paul Brickhill's book.

    Towards the end of the war the two brothers joined the other POWs in the long march westwards during the winter of 1944/1945 to meet up eventually with Allied forces.

    Julian Barnes



    Pilot Officer Richard Barnes 50 Squadron

    I am the son of P/O Richard Barnes who, with his identical twin P/O Eddie Barnes, were prisoners in Stalag Luft III.

    The story of the Barnes brothers meeting each other for the first time in Stalag Luft III is described in Paul Brickhill's book "Escape to Danger" on page 111. Dick was shot down as a navigator in a 50 Squadron Manchester on 30th May 1942, the airplane crash happening in occupied Belgian. The event resulted in the pilot F/O Leslie Manser receiving a posthumous VC for holding the aircraft until the crew could bail out. Dick was captured by the Germans. Almost a year later on 5th May 1943, Dick's brother Eddie, a rear gunner of a 78 Squadron Halifax, was shot down and captured. He also arrived at Sagan and the story of the confusion and humour when Eddie arrived at the camp and was mistaken for Dick and is described in Paul Brickhill's book.

    Towards the end of the war the two brothers joined the other POWs in the long march westwards during the winter of 1944/1945 to meet up eventually with Allied forces.

    Julian Barnes



    Alexander E Elsworthy 106 Squadron

    I am researching my great-uncle John Alfred Withington who died during the Second World War. He was a gunner in a Lancaster bomber with the 106 Squadron; all but one of the crew died on the 2nd of January 1944. The remaining crew member Alexander Elsworthy is shown to have been in prisoner of war camps Stalag4B and Stalag Luft3. My father was told that his uncle, John Withington, helped an injured crew member when their plane was hit. John helped open the other crew members' parachutes but his own then failed. The surviving crew member apparently came back to tell the tale and I am assuming this must be Alexander Elsworthy. Any details on Alexander would be very gratefully received. I know that his POW number was 269841, he lived in Chelsea and was born 1921.

    Holly Middleditch



    Sargent Harry Tapper

    My father was Sgt. Harry Tapper, #13007264 US Army. He was captured in North Africa and taken to Stalag Luft 3, then he went to Stalag 13D. This is all of the information that I have been able to find to date, I would love to know more.

    Bill Tapper



    F/Lt. Alan Birley Bateman 15 Squadron

    Justine Hadden



    Flt.Lt. Leslie Brodrick 106 Squadron

    I'm a journalist for a community paper in South Africa and did an article on Les Brodrick. I am posting it on this website as it helped me piece together the chain of events during the long march, as Les's memory was a little vague.

    Les recalls his Stalag Luft III escape -By Shelly Lawrie

    Sixty-six years ago, in one of the most daring and bold escapes from a Prisoner of War camp, Scottburgh¹s Leslie Brodrick, (now 88), one of 15 survivors, recalls the event and consequences. A Royal Air Force, Flight Lieutenant for 106 squadron, Brodrick, 22-years-old, was shot down. He crash landed near Amiens on his Stuttgart raid return flight. He was taken to Dulag Luft for interrogation, then to Stalag Luft III in Sagan, an airforce Prisoner of War camp run by the Luftwaffe.

    South African born Squadron Leader, Roger Bushell was the master-mind behind the audacious escape plan at the camp, and Brodrick was recruited immediately. Numerous tunnels had been dug but were found by the Germans. Bushell’s plan consisted of three tunnels, ‘Tom’, ‘Dick’ and ‘Harry’ being dug simultaneously. His aim was to have 250 men escape and spread chaos in Germany. Of all three tunnels, ‘Dick’ had the most ingenious trapdoor. Situated in block 122, the washroom, the tunnel entry was concealed in the sump. Water had to be removed, and the modified concrete slab put in place and sealed with a mixture of clay, soap and cement. Broderick was appointed ’trapfuhrer’, meaning he was responsible for the entrance to ‘Dick’. He had to unseal the slab for the ‘diggers’ then seal them in again and keep watch. After ‘Tom’ was discovered and ‘Dick’ abandoned after a prison compound was constructed in its path, all efforts were concentrated on ‘Harry’. ‘Dick’ was used as storage for all contraband.

    On the evening of March 24, 1944, 200 men hoped to escape through ‘Harry’. The tunnel, 8.5m down, to hide any tunnelling sounds that buried microphones might pick up, and about 102m long, had electrical light, a ventilation system and a railway track with three haulage points and carts. Things did not go according to plan. Firstly, the exit trapdoor was frozen shut. After opening it, it was discovered the tunnel was well short of the pine-forest tree line. Due to an air-raid on Berlin, all camp electricity was turned off. With the tunnel exit only 27m from the nearest guard tower, a plan was hatched. A length of rope was strung from inside the tunnel to a person just behind the tree line. A series of tugs were used to signal “the coast is clear”.

    Experienced escapees, German speakers and those that contributed the most to the operation, were first on the list. The rest of the men drew lots, Brodrick was drawn at number 52. In complete darkness, Brodrick made his way to the tunnel exit, he hit a snag at the exit ladder as his legs could not bend to climb up. He got out by hauling himself, hand-over-hand for the last 8.5m. Once free of the camp, Brodrick and two others, Henry Birkland and Denys Street, did not progress very far. For three days, travelling at night only, soaked and freezing, Brodrick and Street decided to find shelter as Birkland was ³in a bad way². Spotting a cottage, the three, street-fluent in German, decided to try their luck by “spinning a yarn” to the occupants of the cottage. Unfortunately, the occupants were German soldiers. The three were arrested, taken to a local police station and then to Gestapo head quarters at Gorlitz for interrogation. Brodrick said he recognised the Gestapo as they “dress in leather coats just like in the movies”.

    He was then returned to Stalag Luft III. On arrival he discovered Hitler had ordered 50 of the escaped 76 to been shot, Street was one of them. The men under pretence, individually or in pairs, were told they were being moved to another location. On the “trip”, German soldiers would stop the vehicle, either for the men to relieve themselves or ‘stretch their legs’, and when their backs were turned they were shot. The excuse given for their ’execution’ was that they had been trying to escape. Of the 76 escapees, three evaded recapture.

    On January 27, 1945, Stalag Luft III was evacuated due to Russian forces approaching. Broderick and many others were marched in sub-zero temperatures, westwards to Spremberg. Once there they were loaded into cattle trains, destination Marlag Nord in Tarmstedt. The British corporal in charge of the prisoners refused to stay at the Marlag camp, condemned by the Red Cross as unfit and unsanitary.

    Eventually Brodrick and the others ended up on a tobacco plantation near Lubeck. Here they were liberated on May 2, 1945, by British troops in open trucks shouting, “you’re free!”.

    During the march they were shot at by a Royal Air Force spitfire, until the pilot realised they were not the enemy. Broderick also witnessed concentration camps with “skeletal Jews and the systematic slaughter of them”. At one location the prisoners were given a shower, and they thought they were to be gassed.

    Brodrick was flown home to Canvey Island, England in a Lancaster, one from his old squadron. After tidal wave flooded Canvey Island in 1953, Brodrick and family came to South Africa in 1956, and moved to Scottburgh in 1963.

    Shelly Lawrie



    Leonard Bayes 18 Squardron

    My Father, Leonard Bayes joined the RAF in 1935. In the early hours of the 21st of January, 1936, he was a member of the duty crew at RAF Bircham Newton in Norfolk when, following the death of King George V at nearby Sandringham, the ill-fated new King, Edward VIII, arrived to fly off to London. He was in no great hurry and chatted pleasantly to the people there, until an official suggested that they really should leave. No doubt the new King was dreading the formalities awaiting him. They then climbed into a De Havilland Rapide and it took off for the Metropolis. Dad therefore witnessed the first ever flight by a reigning Monarch.

    Dad served in 18 Squadron at Upper Heyford flying Hawker Harts and at the ourbreak of WWII, he was stationed at Seletar, Singapore with 100 Squadron, equipped with Vickers Vildebeests. Heading home to the UK for training, he stopped off at Egypt, where he helped to re-assemble the long range flight Vickers Wellesleys. He then went on to Crete, where he missed the evacuation and was captured by the Germans. He ended up in Stalag Luft III, and was part of the evacuation March in January 1945. He was eventually repatriated in May 1945.

    Jack Bayes



    Nigel George Drever 610 Sqd.

    My father, Nigel George Drever, was a prisoner of war in Stalag Luft 3, and was part of the Long March in 1945. He helped to dig the tunnel for the Great Escape, but was not among the escapees. He was also in the Battle of Britain, flying a Spitfire with 610 Squadron aged 19. He was shot down and captured in 1941, I am trying to trace fellow prisoners of war who may be willing to meet him for his 90th birthday.

    Clair Drever



    Ernest Birchley

    My father, Ernest Birchley was held in Stalag Luft 3 from March 1942 until the end of the war. Sharing his barracks were: John Lietke, Syd Wickham, Keith Thompson, Les Dixon, Justin O'Byrne, Tom Walker and others.

    Julie Hosking



    Sgt. Clifford Webb MBE. 21 Squadron

    We believe that my father Clifford Webb was captured twice. This article was found which was probably written by our father to his mother after the second capture/escape. If anybody can shed some light on Clifford Webb, it would certainly be most appreciated !

    The article Letter home from Sgt. C. Webb, RAF, from “Woodside”, Homer, aged 24 years. C. 1940. We were shot down in France, near Calais, on June 14th, by six Messerschmitts, but nobody was injured, so we tried to make our way back to England. We found a little boat three days after the crash, but had no chance to stock it with food and drink. Our oars were very weak and soon broke. The upshot of it all was that we were in the channel for three days without food or drink and not a stitch of dry clothing on us. One of my companions died on the last night and the two of us left were washed back on the French coast, still behind the German lines. We hid for two days to regain our strength, and started walking to Le Havre about 50 miles away, but abandoned the idea as the port was too closely watched. Then we tried to get work on the farms, posing as Belgians, but failed because we had no identification papers. We begged bought and stole food and civilian clothing during this time.

    Eventually we decided to go north and try to cross the Channel again, but were unlucky enough to walk into a hidden German aerodrome, just south of the Somme. We were stopped and questioned; I was the only one speaking French. They found out my companion was English so I was taken as well. This was on the evening of July 1st. I don’t know how I escaped, but all the people in this camp are the same. Some of the escapees from crashes are nothing short of miraculous.

    Report of incident near Calais. 14/06/1940: Merville, France.

    • Type: Bristol Type 142L, Blenheim Mk. IV
    • Serial number: R3742,YH-?
    • Operation: Merville
    • Lost: 14/06/1940
    • Pilot Officer William A. Saunders, RAF 40756, 21 Sqn., age 20, 14/06/1940, missing
    • Sgt W.H.Eden PoW also initialled H.W.Eden
    • Sgt C.Webb PoW
    • Airborne from Bodney. Crash-site not established. Last seen being chased by Me109s.
    • P/O Saunders has no known grave and is commemorated on the Runnymede Mmemorial.
    • Sgt W.H.Eden on his 30th operation evaded until captured July 40 near Doullens after spending 3 days in a rowing boat and interned in Camps L1/L6/357, PoW No.87.
    • Sgt C.Webb was also captured with his comrade but was interned in Camps L1/L3/L6/357, PoW No.76.

    Tony Webb



    Alexander E Elsworthy 106 Squadron

    I am researching my great-uncle John Alfred Withington who died during the Second World War. He was a gunner in a Lancaster bomber with the 106 Squadron; all but one of the crew died on the 2nd of January 1944. The remaining crew member Alexander Elsworthy is shown to have been in prisoner of war camps Stalag4B and Stalag Luft3. My father was told that his uncle, John Withington, helped an injured crew member when their plane was hit. John helped open the other crew members' parachutes but his own then failed. The surviving crew member apparently came back to tell the tale and I am assuming this must be Alexander Elsworthy. Any details on Alexander would be very gratefully received. I know that his POW number was 269841, he lived in Chelsea and was born 1921.

    Holly Middleditch



    Sargent Harry Tapper

    My father was Sgt. Harry Tapper, #13007264 US Army. He was captured in North Africa and taken to Stalag Luft 3, then he went to Stalag 13D. This is all of the information that I have been able to find to date, I would love to know more.

    Bill Tapper



    Pilot Officer Edward Barnes 78 Squadron

    I am the son of P/O Richard Barnes who, with his identical twin P/O Eddie Barnes, were prisoners in Stalag Luft III.

    The story of the Barnes brothers meeting each other for the first time in Stalag Luft III is described in Paul Brickhill's book "Escape to Danger" on page 111. Dick was shot down as a navigator in a 50 Squadron Manchester on 30th May 1942, the airplane crash happening in occupied Belgian. The event resulted in the pilot F/O Leslie Manser receiving a posthumous VC for holding the aircraft until the crew could bail out. Dick was captured by the Germans. Almost a year later on 5th May 1943, Dick's brother Eddie, a rear gunner of a 78 Squadron Halifax, was shot down and captured. He also arrived at Sagan and the story of the confusion and humour when Eddie arrived at the camp and was mistaken for Dick and is described in Paul Brickhill's book.

    Towards the end of the war the two brothers joined the other POWs in the long march westwards during the winter of 1944/1945 to meet up eventually with Allied forces.

    Julian Barnes



    Pilot Officer Richard Barnes 50 Squadron

    I am the son of P/O Richard Barnes who, with his identical twin P/O Eddie Barnes, were prisoners in Stalag Luft III.

    The story of the Barnes brothers meeting each other for the first time in Stalag Luft III is described in Paul Brickhill's book "Escape to Danger" on page 111. Dick was shot down as a navigator in a 50 Squadron Manchester on 30th May 1942, the airplane crash happening in occupied Belgian. The event resulted in the pilot F/O Leslie Manser receiving a posthumous VC for holding the aircraft until the crew could bail out. Dick was captured by the Germans. Almost a year later on 5th May 1943, Dick's brother Eddie, a rear gunner of a 78 Squadron Halifax, was shot down and captured. He also arrived at Sagan and the story of the confusion and humour when Eddie arrived at the camp and was mistaken for Dick and is described in Paul Brickhill's book.

    Towards the end of the war the two brothers joined the other POWs in the long march westwards during the winter of 1944/1945 to meet up eventually with Allied forces.

    Julian Barnes



    Alexander E Elsworthy 106 Squadron

    I am researching my great-uncle John Alfred Withington who died during the Second World War. He was a gunner in a Lancaster bomber with the 106 Squadron; all but one of the crew died on the 2nd of January 1944. The remaining crew member Alexander Elsworthy is shown to have been in prisoner of war camps Stalag4B and Stalag Luft3. My father was told that his uncle, John Withington, helped an injured crew member when their plane was hit. John helped open the other crew members' parachutes but his own then failed. The surviving crew member apparently came back to tell the tale and I am assuming this must be Alexander Elsworthy. Any details on Alexander would be very gratefully received. I know that his POW number was 269841, he lived in Chelsea and was born 1921.

    Holly Middleditch



    Sargent Harry Tapper

    My father was Sgt. Harry Tapper, #13007264 US Army. He was captured in North Africa and taken to Stalag Luft 3, then he went to Stalag 13D. This is all of the information that I have been able to find to date, I would love to know more.

    Bill Tapper







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    Lie in the Dark and Listen

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    Life is pretty dull for Ken Rees these days. At seventeen he carved danger and excitement; fast planes and cars; rugby, speed and women. Then war came and by the age of twenty-one he had already trained to be a pilot officer; flown fifty-six hair-raising bomber missions by night over Germany; taken part in the siege of Malta; got married; been shot down into a remote Norwegian lake; been captured, questioned by the Gestapo, then sent to Stalag Luft III, where he participated in and survived the Great Escape and terrible forced march to Bremen. Now he lives relatively peacefully in Anglesey and in finding time to research and write his memoirs with Karen Arrandale, has vividly recreated what it was like to be in charge of an air crew at such a tender age with responsibility for a large and expensive aircraft going 300 miles behind enemy lines, at the same time avoiding flak and enemy fighters and witnessing other comrades being shot down out of the sky. Moreover, he writes movingly abou
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    Footprints on the Sands of Time: RAF Bomber Command Prisoners of War in Germany 1939-45

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    To Fight For My Country, Sir

    Don Casey


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    Under The Wire

    William Ash & Brendan Foley


    The remarkable wartime adventures of a Spitfire pilot, escape artist and 'Cooler King'. Product Description Determined to take on the Nazis, Texan Bill Ash joined the Royal Canadian Air Force in 1939 and in so doing sacrificed his citizenship. Before long, he was sent to England wherehe flew Spitfires. Shot down over France in March 1942, he survived the crash-landing and, thanks to local civilians, evaded capture for months only to be betrayed to the Gestapo in Paris. Tortured and sentenced to death as a spy, he was saved from the firing squad by the Luftwaffe who sent him to the infamous 'Great Escape' POW camp, Stalag Luft III. It was from there that Bill began his 'tour' of Occupied Europe. Breaking out of a succession of camps, he became one of only a handful of serial escape artists to attempt more than a dozen break-outs - over the wire, under it in tunnels, through it with cutters or simply strolling out of the camp gates in disguise! They were years of extraordinary hardship
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    Tunnelling to Freedom: The Story of the World's Most Persistent Escaper

    John Fancy


    John Fancy, who died in September 2008, aged 95, was the most prolific escaper of the Second World War. Nicknamed ‘the Mole’ he dug eight tunnels at the various camps in which he was held, in East Prussia, Poland and Germany. Some were 40 feet below the surface and only 2 feet square. He escaped three times, only to be recaptured. His escape activities landed him in solitary confinement for a total of 34 weeks – one eighth of his time in detention. Whilst imprisoned at Stalag Luft III in Poland, in 1942, he helped to plot the breakout of 76 men that later became known as the Great Escape, and the inspiration for the Hollywood film. After the war John Fancy wrote a book about his adventures. Tunnelling to Freedom: The Story of the World’s Most Persistent Escaper, was published in 1957, by Panther Books, and became an instant bestseller. Aurum Press have acquired the rights to publish this classic work in a new edition, which will reveal John Fancy’s amazing exploits to a new generation


    Mud Wings and Wire

    Harry Ford


    Hary Ford flew with 329 Bomb Group, was shot down and spent time in Stalag Luft 3 before being forced to participate in the Death March to Stalag Luft 5.
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    Escape, Evasion and Revenge

    Marc Stevens


    This book tells a truly remarkable story. To his family in post-war Canada Peter Stevens was a war hero, a member of RAF bomber command, and a prisoner of war who had been familiar with most of the key figures in the Great Escape. He had been born in Germany to Christian parents and sent to England in the 1930's to avoid the Nazis, although this was a closely guarded secret- to everbody else he was British born. Only after his father;s death did Marc Stevens begin to learn the truth. His father had indeed been born in Germany, as Georg Franz Hein, to Jewish parents. His mother had managed to send all three of her children to safety in Britain before the war, eventually committing suicide in Germany. Georg had spent several years in British schools and one year at the LSE before getting a job, but after that his life went downhill, he was arrested and sentenced to nine months in prison for a series of thefts.

    Stevens went through a most remarkable transformation. On 1 September 1

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    Of Stirlings and Stalags: an air-gunner's tale

    W. E. Goodman


    When William 'Bill' Goodman died in 2002 little did his daughters know the extent of the memoirs he had been writing in the few years before his death. Bill's life, from joining the Raf in 1941 at the age of 18 to his demob in 1948, was fraught with adventure. He describes his service with 7 Squadron at Oakington; he then highlights the terrifying events of the night their Stirling was shot down over Holland, his subsequent incarceration at Stalag Luft 3, periods in other camps and, finally, the long debilitating march back home. All this with fascinating commentary, vivid description and the intimacy of his experience. The reader will meet his fellow airmen and Pows, the man who shot down their Stirling on that eventful night, the heroes of the Dutch resistance and, surprisingly, a kindly and caring guard in Stalag Luft 3! A fascinating first-hand account of a young man's wartime experience.






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