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Concept
Sydney Dowse
Summary
Flight Lieutenant Sydney Hastings Dowse MC (21 November 1918 – 10 April 2008) was a Royal Air Force pilot who became a prisoner of war and survived The Great Escape during the Second World War.
Born in Hammersmith, Sydney was educated at Hurstpierpoint College. In July 1937, he joined the recently formed Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve and learnt to fly at weekends.
At the outbreak of war in September 1939, he was called up for regular service and completed his pilot training. He was commissioned as a pilot officer on 21 October 1940, with seniority from 9 August 1940.
He joined No 608 Squadron attached to Coastal Command flying Avro Ansons on anti-submarine and convoy escort operations. At the end of 1940, he volunteered to join No 1 Photographic Reconnaissance Unit (PRU) flying Spitfires.
He was mentioned in despatches on 11 June 1942 and promoted to flight lieutenant on 21 October 1942, with seniority from 9 August 1942.
Dowse was shot down on 15 August 1941 while on a reconnaissance mission to photograph the German battleships and at Brest. He was wounded in the leg and quickly captured by the Germans, becoming a prisoner of war.
His first escape attempt came on 1 December 1941, when he was recovering from the leg wound sustained when he was shot down. He escaped from a hospital at Stadtroda in Thuringia. However, Dowse was recaptured three days later attempting to cross the Dutch-German border.
His next attempt was from Stalag IX-C at Bad Sulza on 21 January 1942. He exchanged identities with a Canadian POW and joined a work party. He managed to slip away unnoticed when outside the camp. After travelling some distance by train to Werwitz, he continued on foot, through deep snow, towards the German-Belgian frontier where he was re-captured five days later, suffering from extreme exhaustion and exposure.
Following a brief period in hospital, he was transferred to Oflag VI-B at Warburg.
At Warburg, he participated in the excavation of an escape tunnel, which was completed on 18 April 1942.
Official source
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