This page is dedicated to the men from Wickenby who were shot down over enemy territory and were taken Prisoner of War or who managed to evade capture and returned to Britain.
There were around 200 POW camps in Germany and the occupied countries in WWII in 16 Military Districts. They consisted of the following:
Dulag – transit camps where prisoners were processed
Stalag – for non-commissioned personnel
Offlag – for ground force Officers
Stalag Luft – for air crew
Marlag – for Naval/Marine personnel
The Stalag Luft camps were run by the Luftwaffe who generally maintained a degree of professional respect for fellow flyers. The notable exception to this was when 50 men who escaped from Stalag Luft 3 at Sagan were handed over to the Gestapo and shot on the specific orders of Hitler.
Life in a POW camp
Camp layouts varied but they were all enclosed with barbed wire with guard towers manned by armed German soldiers ready to shoot anyone trying to escape. The prisoners lived in one-storey wooden buildings containing two or three tiered bunk beds and had a charcoal burning stove in the middle of the room.
Prisoners were normally given two meals a day, usually a thin soup with bread, therefore hunger was the norm. They would look forward to deliveries from the Red Cross which contained things like butter, biscuits, chocolate, condensed milk, dried fruits and vegetables which they would cook in empty milk tins.
Prisoners would parade at least once every day for roll-call and some men would work either around the camp or in the local area. To relieve the boredom sports would be played when the weather allowed and in the evenings there were sometimes concerts, but mostly it was just boredom, hunger and the hope of better things to come when the war ended.
Escape Lines
As the war progressed several “escape lines” were set up in occuped Europe, the notable ones being the Comete Line in Belgium and France and the Shelburn Line in Brittany. A Total of 2,803 RAF air crew either escaped or evaded capture during the Second World War.
RAF air crew were issued with an escape kit which included money, maps, a compass and emergency rations. It is not generally known that some of the buttons on the air crew’s battle dress could be used as a compass as could some of the fly buttons on their trousers. The contents of some of the parcels sent from home also contained escape aids such as magnetised razor blades and board games that had money and maps secreted in them. These items all helped them to escape or evade capture and return to Allied lines or to Spain or Switzerland when using one of the Escape lines.
Operation Exodus
At the end of the war, Bomber Command Lancasters taking part in Operation Exodus flew to Brussels and other airfields to collect British prisoners of war who had been liberated from the camps. Four hundred & sixty nine flights were made and approximately 75,000 men were brought back to England.
Wickenby Prisoners Of War and Evaders
Listed below are the names of the men from Wickenby who were taken Prisoner of War or who evaded capture and returned safely to the UK. Although we have tried to be accurate we are aware that some names may be missing or wrongly spelt, if you know of any errors or omissions please let us know so that we can put them right.
Wickenby Prisoners of War
Adderley TH Sgt
Allen R Sgt
Ball H Sgt
Bartlett PJ Sgt
Bates CJ F/Sgt
Beer RGW F/Sgt
Bemrose PJ Sgt
Bennett RS F/O RCAF
Bowen J F/O RAAF
Boyes LC F/O
Brown S F/O
Burke EJ Sgt
Chambers KJ P/O
Clarke JH F/O RCAF DFC
Clarke NA Sgt
Cordner J F/O
Clifford AV F/O
Clunas IC Sgt
Cox J F/L
Cross RH F/Sgt
Devine JC Sgt
Dews A Sgt
Dickey DOR F/O
Doak WE Sgt
Ede DN F/Sgt
Edgley HE F/Sgt
Edwards JB Sgt
Farran GC Sgt
Farrell JT F/O RCAF
Fisher CEF Sgt
Fountain GL Sgt
Fourse RG Sgt RCAF
Gard RW P/O
Getty F F/Sgt
Gordon KW F/O RCAF
Gorton J Sgt
Guilfoyle MA P/O
Hamilton T Sgt
Harris AJ Sgt
Harris RL F/O RCAF
Hawksley-Hill JH Sgt
Hayes TE F/Sgt RCAF
Hearn SF FO
Henry A F/Sgt
Hodgkinson FA F/O
Holford JE Sgt
Holland D Sgt
Hovis AR F/O RCAF
Hymers AF Sgt RCAF
Imperious TK F/Sgt RCAF
Inglis JD P/O
Irons RG Sgt
Jaques J F/Sgt
Johnson S Sgt
Jones F/Sgt
Jordin DF Sgt
Jowett WB Sgt
Keating LW Sgt
Keil J Sgt
Kelly JH Sgt
Kent KC Sgt
Kenworthy J F/Sgt
Kirkbride JW Sgt
Lee AJP F/Sgt
Lees WA Sgt
Lewis D Sgt
Lloyd H Sgt
Loveridge A Sgt
MacDonald K F/Sgt RCAF
Madelaine A Sgt
Maginnis R Sgt
Maltby WT P/O
Marshall JF Sgt
Marshall W Sgt
McKay Sgt RCAF
McNab J Sgt
McPherson HF Sgt
Moller WRW Sgt RAAF DFM
Mortimer AA Sgt
Morton JG Sgt
Murray JB F/O RCAF
Murphy DR P/O
Nelson DW F/L RCAF DFC
Nixon HF Sgt
Noesson RI Sgt
O’Brien DW Sgt
O’Donnell DC Sgt
Oldmixon LK F/O USAAF
Owen E Sgt
Owen H Sgt
Palmer JE Sgt
Paradise LE F/Sgt
Parry HW F/O
Pearce GH Sgt
Peart J Sgt
Pingle WT Sgt RCAF
Pollard J Sgt
Prestage RT Sgt
Purnell WA F/Sgt
Quinn SS F/O RCAF
Randell RW F/O RCAF
Richards JV Sgt
Richardson PLA F/O RAAF
Robertson GB Sgt
Rudyk C P/O RCAF
Sanderman LJ F/Sgt
Sansom DH F/O RCAF
Saunders RDN F/O
Seddon F Sgt
Simpson JCW P/O
Sindall RAJ Sgt
Singleton R Sgt
Sishton HJ Sgt
Slattery JP F/Sgt
Smith G Sgt
Smith RJ Sgt
Smith SR Sgt
Smithson R F/Sgt
Solberg BAJ W/O RCAF
Sonshine J W/O RCAF
Sparling CW Sgt RCAF
Spiece GT Sgt
Spurrs JH F/O
Stevenson WN Sgt
Stewart JW Sgt
Summers AC Sgt
Temple TS Sgt RCAF
Templeman Sgt
Thorpe DRB F/O
Toulson C F/Sgt
Truelove K P/O
Turner HH F/Sgt
Turtle RJ Sgt
Veals JD Sgt
Wagner JF Sgt RCAF
Walker KJG Sgt
Wareham RGW Sgt
Whitby T Sgt
White MH Sgt
Williams H Sgt
Williams NHS Sgt
Willis J F/O
Wilson KJ Sgt
Wright JS Sgt
Young CW Sgt
Wickenby Evaders
Beattie CM F/Sgt
Burrows G Sgt
Clarke RC F/Sgt
Crighton J Sgt
Davies HD Sgt
Faircloth LJ Sgt
Ferguson KD F/Sgt RAAF
Fyfe JSM Sgt
Garlick SM F/O
Grannum C P/O DFC
Grisdale E F/Sgt
Hammond WG F/Sgt
Hoare RG P/O
Hutton TH Sgt
Hyland PJ F/Sgt
Keveren AJ Sgt
Maxwell PG F/O
McCoy KC Sgt RCAF
O’Hara HF F/Sgt
Pinkerton FW Sgt
Punter RH F/Sgt RCAF
Quinn J F/Sgt
Rudkin L Sgt
Stephen JSJ F/Sgt
Taylor RH P/O DFC
Townsend EJ Sgt
Western WCL Sgt
Yates RE W/O RAAF