|
Franz von Werra (1914-1941) was a German WWII fighter ace who escaped from a British POW camp in Canada. Mushroom cloud from the nuclear explosion over Nagasaki rising 18 km into the air. ...
Fighter Ace is an online multiplayer computer game in which one flies World War II fighter and bomber planes in combat against other players and virtual pilots. ...
Geneva Convention definition A prisoner of war (POW) is a soldier, sailor, airman, or marine who is imprisoned by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict. ...
Franz von Werra was born on July 13, 1914, to impoverished Swiss parents in Leuk, a town in the Berner Oberland, which is a part of the Canton of Bern, one the Cantons of Switzerland. Later he and his sister were given to the care of an aristocratic German family. The Swiss canton of Bern (German: Kanton Bern; French Canton de Berne) has a population of about 947,000. ...
The twenty-six cantons of Switzerland are the states of the federal state of Switzerland. ...
Before World War II, von Werra joined the Luftwaffe. In the beginning of the war he served in the French campaign. He distinguished himself by boisterous behavior, a pet lion he kept at the aerodrome, and boasts of imaginary kills. He also used the title Baron, although he was not really entitled to it. Mushroom cloud from the nuclear explosion over Nagasaki rising 18 km into the air. ...
The Luftwaffe (literally, air weapon, pronounced looft-vaaf-feh) is the air force of Germany. ...
Various rulers or governments of Europe, of Japan bestow or recognise the title of baron. ...
On September 5, 1940, during the Battle of Britain, von Werra's Me109 was shot down over Kent, possibly by friendly fire. He successfully crash-landed on a field, was captured and eventually sent to London District Prisoner of War Cage. He was interrogated for two weeks and four days and eventually taken to a POW Camp No.1, at Grizedale Hall in the Lake District, Cumbria. September 5 is the 248th day of the year (249th in leap years). ...
1940 was a leap year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ...
Battle of Britain - Wikipedia /**/ @import /skins/monobook/IE50Fixes. ...
(Bf 109 was the official Reichsluftfahrtministerium designation, though some late-war aircraft actually carried the Me 109 designation stamped onto their aircraft type plates. ...
Kent is a county in England, south-east of London. ...
Crinkle Crags as seen from the adjoining fell of Cold Pike. ...
Cumbria is a administrative county located in the northwest area of England. ...
Next October 7 von Werra tried to escape for the first time during a daytime walk outside the camp. He had arranged the cooperation of other prisoners in the group. At a usual stop, and while a fruit cart provided diversion and other German prisoners covered for him, von Werra slipped over a brick wall to a meadow. October 7 is the 280th day of the year (281st in leap years). ...
When von Werra's escape was discovered, the army alerted the local farmers and the Home Guard. On October 10 two Home Guard troopers captured him from a hoggarth but he escaped again. On October 12 a search party captured him when he was trying to hide underwater. Von Werra was sentenced to 21 days of solitary confinement for trying to escape but on November 3 was transferred to Camp 10 in Swanwick, Derbyshire. The Home Guard, originally named the Local Defence Volunteers (LDV), was instituted by the British government during World War II to defend the UK in the event of an invasion by Germany. ...
Solitary confinement is a punishment in which a prisoner is denied contact with any other persons, excluding guards. ...
This article is about the town in Hampshire, for the village in Derbyshire see Swanwick, Derbyshire. ...
Derbyshire is a county in the East Midlands of England, which boasts some of Englands most attractive hill and mountain scenery. ...
In Camp 13, also known as the Hayes camp, von Werra joined a group of would-be-escapees calling themselves Swanwick Tiefbau A. G. (Swanwick Excavations, Inc.), who were planning to dig an escape tunnel. They worked in the tunnel for a month until it was completed December 17 1940. Camp forgers equipped them with money and forged identity papers. On December 20 von Werra and four others slipped out of the tunnel under the cover of antiaircraft fire and singing of the camp choir. Others were recaptured only a few days later.
Von Werra decided to go alone. He had taken along his flying suit and decided to masquerade as Captain Van Lott, Dutch RAF pilot. He claimed to a friendly locomotive driver that he was a downed bomber pilot trying to reach his unit, and asked him to take him to the nearest RAF base. The Royal Air Force (often abbreviated to RAF) is the air force of the United Kingdom. ...
In Codnor Park Station, a local clerk treated him with suspicion but eventually agreed to arrange his transportation to the RAF at Hucknall. Police also questioned him but von Werra convinced them he was harmless. At Hucknall, squadron leader Boniface asked for his credentials and he claimed to be based on Dyce near Aberdeen. When Boniface was confirming this, von Werra excused himself and ran to the nearest hangar, trying to tell a mechanic that he was cleared for a test flight when Boniface arrived to arrest him at gunpoint. He was sent back to Hayes and put under armed guard. Hucknall is a town in Nottinghamshire, England, in the district of Ashfield. ...
Dyce is a suburb of Aberdeen, Scotland, situated northwest of the city. ...
Location within the British Isles. ...
In January 1941 von Werra was sent to Canada alongside most other German prisoners of war. His group was to be taken to a camp on the north shore of Lake Superior, Ontario so von Werra begun to plan escape to the United States, which was still neutral at the time. On January 21 he jumped out of the prison train through a window, again with the help of other prisoners, when the train had left Montreal and ended up near Smith Falls, 30 miles from the St Lawrence River. Seven other prisoners tried to escape from the same train as well but they were recaptured. Von Werra's absence was noticed the next afternoon. The Great Lakes from space; Lake Superior is on the upper left Lake Superior is the largest of North Americas Great Lakes. ...
Motto: Ut Incepit Fidelis Sic Permanet (Loyal she began, loyal she remains) Other Canadian provinces and territories Capital Toronto Largest city Toronto Lieutenant Governor James K. Bartleman Premier Dalton McGuinty (Liberal) Area 1,076,395 km² (4th) - Land 917,741 km² - Water 158,654 km² (14. ...
January 21 is the 21st day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ...
{{Canadian City/Disable Field={{{Disable Motto Link}}}}} Motto: Concordia Salus (Salvation through harmony) Ville de Montréal, Québec, Canada Location. ...
The Saint Lawrence River (French fleuve Saint-Laurent) is a large west-to-east flowing river in the middle latitudes of North America, connecting the Great Lakes with the Atlantic Ocean. ...
Von Werra made his way over the border to Ogdensburg and turned himself over to the police. Immigration authorities charged him with entering the country illegally, so von Werra contacted the local German consul. Thus, he came into attention of the press and told them a very embellished version of his story. When US and Canadian authorities were negotiating his extradition, the German vice-consul helped him over the border to Mexico. Von Werra proceeded to Rio de Janeiro where he traveled to Barcelona, to Rome and eventually to Germany in April 18, 1941. Ogdensburg is the name of several places in the United States of America: Ogdensburg, New Jersey Ogdensburg, New York This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ...
April 18 is the 108th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (109th in leap years). ...
1941 was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ...
Von Werra became a hero. Hitler granted him the Iron Cross, and he married. He also commented to condition of the German prison camps, comparing them to British ones that may have led to better conditions to British POWs. Von Werra returned to the Luftwaffe and was initially deployed to the Russian front but later flew fighter patrols over the North Sea. 1813 Iron Cross 1870 Iron Cross The Iron Cross (Eisernes Kreuz) was established in 1813 as a military honor by King Friedrich Wilhelm III of Prussia. ...
On October 25, 1941, von Werra's plane disappeared in a routine patrol from Holland north of Vlissingen, probably due to engine failure. October 25 is the 298th day of the year (299th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 67 days remaining. ...
1941 was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ...
His story was the subject of a book called The One That Got Away by Kendall Burt and James Leasor published in 1956. This was later made into a film of the same name starring Hardy Krüger as von Werra. The One That Got Away is a 1957 World War II film starring Hardy Krüger. ...
References
- The One That Got Away by Kendall Burt and James Leasor (London, 1956)
External link |
Feeds |
Contact