80 years ago this March, one of the pilots of our Spitfire BS410, found himself in Stalag Luft III as a prisoner of war, a guest of the German Luftwaffe. He was to witness one of the greatest breakouts from a prisoner of war camp in history which unfortunately had a sad end for a number of allied aircrews.
Two other local pilots who were to take part in the escape attempt and made it through the tunnel, had connections to Goodwood and RAF Merston, just to the south of Chichester
Our Goodwood pilot was a Free Frenchman of 131 Squadron, the other chap a Dutch pilot of 41 Squadron.
Bernard Scheidhauer of 242 Squadron
22-year-old Bernard Scheidhauer had started training to be a pilot with the RAF in 1941 and completed his training in June 1942. He was then assigned to 242 Squadron and had taken part in the Dieppe Operation in August 1942. He was later transferred to No.131 based at RAF Westhampnett.
On 18 November 1942 Lieutenant Bernard Scheidhauer and Lieutenant Henri de Bordas took off from Goodwood in their Spitfire Mk.Vb’s at 14:10 hours. Their mission was a Rhubarb over Normandy. “Rhubarb” was a name given to flight missions that used low cloud and poor visibility to search for opportunity targets such as railway locomotives, aircraft on the ground and enemy troops.
The Journey Across Normandy
They flew just above sea level and crossed the French coast looking for targets, sadly Scheidhauer’s Spitfire had been hit by flak which had damaged his fuel line, his radio and his compass. He became disoriented and headed west instead of north. After crossing a stretch of water, he sighted land that he mistook for the Isle of Wight. Picking out a suitable field he placed his aircraft down in a wheels-up landing, coming to rest in a field of turnips.
He had arrived in Jersey which was of course occupied. He was in the bag! His Spitfire was transported back to France and subsequently flew with a Daimler Benz 601 engine in Luftwaffe markings. A model of his aircraft was created by the Tangmere sector modellers and is displayed at the museum.
Lieutenant Scheidhauer was soon after transported to France and then onward to Germany eventually being imprisoned in Stalag Luft III, a Luftwaffe-run prisoner-of-war camp. Dutchman, Flight Lieutenant Bram van der Stok was posted to 41 Squadron as a Flying Officer in December 1941 from 57 OTU with two other fellow countrymen who were the first Dutch pilots to fly with 41, but not the last. The squadron at this stage was stationed at RAF Merston but in December re-located to nearby RAF Westhampnett due to waterlogging of the airfield.
He was promoted to acting Flight Lieutenant and appointed Officer Commanding A Flight in March 1942, he quickly claimed two victories. The squadron moved back to Merston on the 1 April 1942, and it was whilst flying from here that he was shot down over France.
On the 12th of the month, he was airborne in Spitfire Vb BL595 on Circus 122, providing target support for 12 Bostons, briefed to attack Hazebrouk Marshalling Yards. The operation appeared straightforward forward but the Luftwaffe rose up in strength and 41 Squadron was to suffer its greatest casualties that day since the Battle of Britain. Of 11 pilots who took off only 6 were to return to Merston. The squadron operations book records “a very bad day for 41 Sqdn”.
Flight Lieutenant Bram Van Der Stok was shot down and taken into immediate captivity, he was sent to Stalag Luft III, Sagan, where he remained until March 1944 when he took part in the mass escape of airmen that we know today as The Great Escape.
It was on the night of 24 and 25 of March 1944 that the audacious attempt to escape took place with 76 Allied prisoners of war made their way out of the tunnel to freedom! The prisoners were paired up and Bernard was paired with Squadron Leader Roger Bushell who had organised and led the escape. Bushel was also no stranger to RAF Tangmere and he had operated with 92 Squadron flying Bristol Blenheim’s from the airfield during 1939.
All but three of the escapees were recaptured, having been hampered by incorrect papers, bad weather and bad luck. The escape so infuriated Hitler that he ordered 50 of them to be shot.
Returning to the UK: The Great Escape
Bram Van Der Stok was to be one of the three that successfully made their escapes. Acting as a Dutch labourer on forged papers, he made it back to the United Kingdom in early July 1944, travelling on a route, which took him through the Netherlands, Belgium, France, Spain and Gibraltar.
In 1963, United Artists released the film, ‘The Great Escape’, based upon a book of the same name, written by Australian author Paul Brickhill in 1950. In the movie, a character broadly based on van der Stok was played by James Coburn.
Sadly, 22-year-old Bernard Scheidhauer was not so lucky. In 2002 a Jersey newspaper ran an article on the crash of Bernard which highlighted that his flying helmet was still on the Island and had been used by a farmer whilst driving his tractor! They also unveiled a memorial stone to commemorate the life of a brave man, who was so brutally murdered along with his fellow flyers in a foreign land.
Our Spitfire T9, BS410, also has a connection to Stalag Luft 3 and the Great Escape. Her pilot was Pilot Officer Piotr Kurylowicz of 315 (Deblin) Squadron. On 13 May 1943, during ‘Ramrod 71’. He had to abandon the aircraft after its cooling system was damaged in combat. Piotr was captured by the Germans and sent to Stalag Luft III. He did not take part in the great escape but was one of the officers who moved dirt, dug from the tunnels and helped spread it around the prison courtyards to help disguise the tunnelling works going on beneath their feet!
Piotr survived the war, becoming a dentist and moving to Canada where he saw out his last few days, only passing away in 2024 at the ripe old age of 104. You can fly in this fantastic combat veteran aircraft at some of the locations we are flying this year.
Spare a thought this year to those 50 and remember our pilot’s contribution to The Great Escape.
Bram Van Der Stok seated far left, 41 Squadron RAF Westhampnett December 1941 (photo from Wing Commander Bob Midlemiss DFC)
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