Victims of The Great Escape

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Victims

The day after the mass escape from Stalag Luft III, Hitler gave personal orders that every recaptured officer was to be shot. Reichsmarschall Hermann Göring, head of the Luftwaffe, Reichsführer Heinrich Himmler, chief of state security, and Field Marshal Wilhelm Keitel head of the German High Command, who had ultimate control over prisoners of war, argued about the responsibility for the escape.

Göring pointed out to Hitler that a massacre might bring about reprisals to German pilots in Allied hands. Hitler agreed, but insisted “more than half” were to be shot. Himmler fixed the total at 50. Keitel gave orders that the murdered officers were to be cremated and returned to the POW camp as a deterrent to further escapes.[3]

Himmler set up the logistics for actually killing the men, and passed it down through his subordinates in the Gestapo.[4] The general orders were that recaptured officers would be turned over to the Criminal Police, and fifty would be handed to the Gestapo to be killed.[5]

As the prisoners were captured, they were interrogated for any useful information, and taken out by motor car, usually in small parties of two at a time, on the pretext of returning them to their prison camp. Their Gestapo escorts would stop them in the country and invite the officers to relieve themselves. The prisoners were then shot at close range from behind by pistol or machine pistol fire. The bodies were then left for retrieval, after which they were cremated and returned to Stalag Luft III.

British Military Intelligence was made aware of the extraordinary events even during conditions of wartime, via letters home and as a result of communications via the Protecting Power, i.e. Switzerland, who as a neutral party regularly reported on conditions in prisoner camps to both sides. Notices posted in Allied POW camps on 23 July 1944 that “THE ESCAPE FROM PRISON CAMPS IS NO LONGER A SPORT” in the wake of the Stalag Luft III escape, as well as the suspicious deaths of fifty officers during their recapture, led the British government to suspect a war crime had occurred. The Judge Advocate General originally placed the blame on Field Marshal Keitel, feeling publication of the notices linked him to the notice to shoot the prisoners.

The British government learned of the deaths from a routine visit to the camp by the Swiss authorities as the Protecting power in May; the Foreign Secretary Anthony Eden announced the news to the House of Commons on 19 May 1944.[6]

Shortly after the announcement the Senior British Officer of the camp, Group Captain Herbert Massey, was repatriated to England due to ill health. Upon his return, he informed the Government about the circumstances of the escape and the reality of the murder of the recaptured escapees. Eden updated Parliament on 23 June, promising that, at the end of the war, those responsible would be brought to exemplary justice.[7]

Victims

Name Rank Force Date of Death/Last Seen Alive Cremated
Birkland, Henry J. Flying Officer CanadaRCAF 31 March 1944 Leignitz
Brettell, E. Gordon Flight Lieutenant United KingdomRAF 29 March 1944 Danzig
Bull, Lester J. Squadron Leader United KingdomRAF 29 March 1944 Brüx
Bushell, Roger J. Squadron Leader United KingdomRAF 29 March 1944 Poznan
Casey, Michael J. Flight Lieutenant United KingdomRAF 31 March 1944 Görlitz
Catanach, James Squadron Leader AustraliaRAAF 29 March 1944 Kiel
Christensen, Arnold G. Pilot Officer New ZealandRNZAF 29 March 1944 Kiel
Cochran, Dennis H. Flying Officer United KingdomRAF 31 March 1944 Natzweiler
Cross, Ian E.K.P. Squadron Leader United KingdomRAF 31 March 1944 Görlitz
Espelid, Haldor Lieutenant NorwayRoyal Norwegian Air Force 29 March 1944 Kiel
Evans, Brian H. Flight Lieutenant United KingdomRAF 31 March 1944 Liegnitz
Fuglesang, Nils Lieutenant NorwayRoyal Norwegian Air Force 29 March 1944 Kiel
Gouws, Johannes S. Lieutenant South AfricaSouth African Air Force 29 March 1944 München
Grisman, William J. Flight Lieutenant United KingdomRAF 6 April 1944 Breslau
Gunn, Alastair D.M. Flight Lieutenant United KingdomRAF 6 April 1944 Breslau
Hake, Albert H. Flight Lieutenant AustraliaRAAF 31 March 1944 Görlitz
Hall, Charles P. Flight Lieutenant United KingdomRAF 30 March 1944 Liegnitz
Hayter, Anthony R.H. Flight Lieutenant United KingdomRAF 6 April 1944 Natzweiler
Humphreys, Edgar S. Flight Lieutenant United KingdomRAF 31 March 1944 Liegnitz
Kidder, Gordon A. Flying Officer CanadaRCAF 29 March 1944 Mährisch Ostrau
Kierath, Reginald V. Flight Lieutenant AustraliaRAAF 29 March 1944 Brüx
Kiewnarski, Antoni Flight Lieutenant United KingdomRAF 31 March 1944 unknown
Kirby-Green, Thomas G. Squadron Leader United KingdomRAF 29 March 1944 Mährisch Ostrau
Kolanowski, Wlodzimierz A. Flying Officer United KingdomRAF 31 March 1944 Liegnitz
Krol, Stanislaw Z. Flying Officer United KingdomRAF 12 April 1944 Breslau
Langford, Patrick W. Flight Lieutenant CanadaRCAF 31 March 1944 Liegnitz
Leigh, Thomas B. Flight Lieutenant United KingdomRAF 31 March 1944 Görlitz
Long, James L.R. Flight Lieutenant United KingdomRAF 12 April 1944 Breslau
Marcinkus, Romas Flight Lieutenant United KingdomRAF 29 March 1944 Danzig
McGarr, Clement A.N. Lieutenant South AfricaSouth African Air Force 6 April 1944 Breslau
McGill, George E. Flight Lieutenant CanadaRCAF 31 March 1944 Liegnitz
Millford, Harold J. Flight Lieutenant United KingdomRAF 6 April 1944 Breslau
Mondschein, Jerzy T. Flying Officer United KingdomRAF 29 March 1944 Brüx
Pawluk, Kazimierz Flying Officer United KingdomRAF 31 March 1944 unknown
Picard, Henri A. Flight Lieutenant United KingdomRAF 29 March 1944 Danzig
Pohe, John Flying Officer New ZealandRNZAF 31 March 1944 Görlitz
Scheidhauer, Bernard W.M. Lieutenant FranceFree French Air Force 29 March 1944 Saarbrücken
Skanzikas, Sotiris Pilot Officer GreeceRoyal Hellenic Air Force 30 March 1944 unknown
Stevens, Rupert J. Lieutenant South AfricaSouth African Air Force 29 March 1944 München
Stewart, Robert C. Flying Officer United KingdomRAF 31 March 1944 Liegnitz
Stower, John G. Flying Officer United KingdomRAF 31 March 1944 Liegnitz
Street, Denys O. Flying Officer United KingdomRAF 6 April 1944 Breslau
Swain, Cyril D. Flight Lieutenant United KingdomRAF 31 March 1944 Liegnitz
Tobolski, Pawel Flying Officer United KingdomRAF 2 April 1944 Breslau
Valenta, Ernst Flight Lieutenant United KingdomRAF 31 March 1944 Liegnitz
Walenn, Gilbert W. Flight Lieutenant United KingdomRAF 29 March 1944 Danzig
Wernham, James C. Flight Lieutenant CanadaRCAF 30 March 1944 unknown
Wiley, George W. Flight Lieutenant CanadaRCAF 31 March 1944 Görlitz
(Williams, John E.A.) Squadron Leader AustraliaRAAF 29 March 1944 Brüx
Williams, John F. Flight Lieutenant United KingdomRAF 6 April 1944 Breslau

Sources: Wikipedia, B24.net

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