Dedicated to “The Fifty”
Squadron Leader B. A. “Jimmy” James, MC, survivor of the Great Escape from Stalag Luft III, was born on April 17, 1915. He died on January 18, 2008, aged 92.
Now there’s a war record to be proud of. RIP, Sqn Ldr James.
His accounts almost reads like a Monty Python skit: “I dug a tunnel...but it collapsed and fell in. So I dug another tunnel...it sunk into the swamp and all were captured, so we dug another tunnel...”
He wasn’t just a brave man but had the determination worthy of all respect. He could be regarded as an original “Tunnel Rat”.
I hate tunnels. Lots of these guys did too but they went anyway. My profound admiration.
RIP.
[cue Werner Klemperer]
“Jaaaaaaames!!!”
As the son of another POW escaper who was also awarded the Military Cross on the same date as Sqn Ldr James (May 18, 1946), I can say that his story is truly inspiring. James was a true hero in the sense that one rarely sees anymore. During the 18 or so years of research for a book I’ve recently completed about my Dad (who died in ‘79), it became very clear that James and ‘Wings’ Day were probably the two greatest escapers of the War. Most POW’s were content to sit out the action in the camps and cheer on the escapers without putting themselves at risk. James didn’t know any way other than to try escaping 24 hours a day until the end of the War. A true and genuine hero. Where are role models like this from my own and newer generations?