Against the Odds Escapes and Evasions by Allied Airmen, World War II. Edited by Murray Adams © Copyright Commonwealth of Australia 2005 This work is copyright. Apart from any use as permitted under the Copyright Act 1968, no part may be reproduced by any process without permission from the publisher. Disclaimer The views expressed in this work are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the Department of Defence, the Royal Australian Air Force or the Government of Australia. This document is approved for public release; distribution unlimited. Portions of this document may be quoted or reproduced without permission, provided a standard source credit is included. National Library of Australia Cataloguing-in-Publication entry Against the odds : escapes and evasions by allied airmen, World War II. ISBN 0 642 26597 6. 1. World War, 1939-1945 - Prisoners and prisons. 2. Escapes. I. Adams, Murray. II. Royal Air Forces Escaping Society. III. Australia. Royal Australian Air Force. Air Power Development Centre. 365.64 First published by the Executive Committee of the Royal Air Forces Escaping Society, Australia Branch, 1995 Published and distributed by: Air Power Development Centre Level 3 205 Anketell Street Tuggeranong ACT 2900 Australia Tel: (02) 6266 1433 Fax: (02) 6266 1041 E-mail: [email protected] THE ROYAL AIR FORCES ESCAPING SOCIETY The Society was formed by Marshal of the Royal Air Force, Lord Portal, in 1945 to provide an organisation which would enable the 700 airmen who escaped from captivity, or evaded capture in enemy territory, to band together to show appreciation to the courageous men and women in Occupied Countries who risked their lives to help them, and to assist the relatives of those helpers who did not survive. The aims of the Society are: ‘To give financial assistance to the widows and orphans of men who lost their lives as a result of assisting members of the Royal Air Force and Allied Air Forces. To make donations to charitable institutions in the countries concerned, as an expression of appreciation. To encourage reciprocal visits between members and their helpers. To, above all, remember those who helped members in their hour of need.’ Full members of the Society are former airmen of the Royal Air Force, and of Allied Air Forces, who came down behind enemy lines and either evaded capture or, if taken prisoner, escaped and returned to Allied territory. Honorary members are patriots who aided airmen to escape, and are referred to as helpers. Friends of the Society are widows of former members, and men and women who have given outstanding service to the Society. Active branches of the Society exist in Britain, Canada and Australia. iii iv EDITOR’S NOTES The stories contained in this collection are mostly first person accounts of the writers’ evasions or escapes. Some are simple tales of unaided walking through the enemy’s lines during the confusion of battle, while others are narratives of well-planned and clever deceptions which led to freedom. Without exception the participants showed strong obedience to ‘the duty to escape’ obligation and, in many cases, admirable fortitude, endurance and courage and, often, considerable ingenuity. Most of the escapes were made possible by the unselfish efforts of helpers; from the skilled men in POW camps who made civilian clothes and forged travel documents to those patriots, both men and women, in the occupied countries of Europe who gave shelter and guidance to hundreds of airmen ‘on the loose’. They gave this help unselfishly and in the knowledge that if betrayed, or caught in the act, they would face either a firing squad or torture and a one way ticket to a concentration camp. Every escaper or evader was conscious of a tremendous debt to these modest civilians, whose courage was no less than that displayed by highly decorated servicemen trained in the profession of arms. This book contains only a few of the escape stories of mainly Australian airmen during World War II—the ones that were readily available. Thanks are offered to the authors of these first hand accounts of their experiences in the exciting days of war, half a century ago, which comprise this modest volume. Some editorial licence has been exercised in preparing manuscripts for publication, but in all essential respects they are the narratives of the respective escapers and evaders. Murray Adams Brisbane, October 1995 v vi FOREWORD Air Commodore The Honourable Sir Walter Campbell AC QC I am delighted to write a foreword to this book, which is a collection of some 31 individual stories of airmen who escaped from captivity after being taken prisoners of war or evaded capture while in enemy territory during World War II. The decision to have these tales published was made by the Australian Branch of the Royal Air Forces Escaping Society, an organisation which was formed in 1945. The Editor of the work is Flight Lieutenant Murray Adams of Brisbane. It would be idle of me, and there would be little point in my doing so in this foreword, to single out for comment any one of these episodes, other than to mention that the Editor himself evaded capture after he was forced to belly-land his Tomahawk aircraft in the North African desert after it had been damaged in an attack by a Messerschmitt 109. The volume contains information about the Royal Air Forces Escaping Society, and there is also a short introductory note by the Editor. There were 700 Allied airmen who escaped from captivity, or evaded capture in enemy territory during World War II, and this book, as the Editor tells us, contains only a few of those stories. The Royal Air Forces Escaping Society was formed to show appreciation to the courageous men and women in occupied countries who risked their lives to help these air crew men who were endeavouring to avoid being caught, and also to give financial assistance to the widows and orphans of those who lost their lives as a result of assisting members of the Allied air forces. I commend the Society for causing this volume to be published and in obtaining the capable services of Flight Lieutenant Murray Adams as Editor. I congratulate Murray Adams for his research and for his perseverance; he has obtained written material from the several airmen involved and has personally interviewed a number of them. In his brief introduction he points out that some editorial licence has been used in preparing material for publication, but ‘in all essential respects they are the narratives of the respective escapers or evaders’. To say that the reader will find these stories thrilling is an understatement. They are tales of courageous men determined to perform their ‘duty to escape’, and they cover many different countries—the Middle East, with its vast expanses of sand, its heat and cold and its continental climate, the dank and seemingly impenetrable jungles and the mountainous terrain of the islands to the north of Australia, the snows and ravines of Italy, the enemy occupied populous countries of Germany, France, Belgium and Holland. vii The reader is swept up into the lonely world of air crew keenly watched by the foe, often coned by searchlights, hunted by ground defences as well as by enemy aircraft, while the reader also appreciates the need for often split-second decisions in order to survive, and will be greatly impressed by the ways in which so many air crew were helped and sheltered by ordinary civilians, members of the resistance groups and by partisans, all of whom took incalculable risks in so giving such assistance. Over 50 years have elapsed since these experiences occurred and now is certainly time to have them recorded. With this publication there comes a permanent record of these events, it is a valuable addition to the histories of the Royal Air Force and the Royal Australian Air Force, and it will be of considerable interest to all members of air crew— especially Australians—and to their relatives and families. In short, this work makes it clear how these men, among Australia’s finest, displayed such bravery and competence in those uncertain and dangerous times, and did so much for their Country. viii CONTENTS THE ROYAL AIR FORCES ESCAPING SOCIETY iii EDITOR’S NOTES v FOREWORD vii MAPS x 1. ESCAPE FROM BATTLE, J.F. Hobler 1 2. ONE THAT GOT AWAY, A.C. Roberts 3 3. PERSISTENCE REWARDED, A.F. McSweyn 11 4. THE MAJOR TO THE RESCUE, M. Adams 19 5. YOU’VE GOT TO BE LUCKY, F. F. H. Eggleston 23 6. A NIGHT WALK IN THE LIBYAN DESERT, R.J.C. Whittle 37 7. TWO EVASIONS AND AN ESCAPE, A.W. Barr 39 8. MAXIMUM EFFORT, R.M. Horsley 43 9. MARCH TO FREEDOM, T.S. Scales 61 10. BRICKED IN TO BREAK OUT, G.T. Chinchen 65 11. ITALIAN ADVENTURE, R. Gemmell-Smith 69 12. SOLO TO SPAIN, E.A. Coates 73 13. MALTA TO THE ADRIATIC, J.M. Kirkman 81 14. TUNISIAN TRAVAIL, N.T.E. Hewitt 85 15. PALMALMAL SPLASHDOWN, D.M. McClymont 87 16. FIRST TIME LUCKY, D.A. Boyd 91 17. NIGHT FLIGHT TO FREEDOM, C.A. Campbell 93 18. VIA ALGIERS, J.E.G. Buchanan 95 19. BELGIANS TO THE RESCUE, G. Johnson 101 20. MON EPISODE FRANCAIS, S.D. Jolly 105 21. THROUGH FIRE TO FREEDOM, R.I. Hunter 111 22. EVASION IN NORMANDY, N. Roggenkamp 115 23. ROMMEL’S BARBER, N.K. Baker 119 24. BELGIAN INTERLUDE, R.C. Chester-Master 123 25. GUEST OF THE FRENCH, A.J.