Cooper - Free to fight again: RAF escapes and evasions, 1940-1945

First published in

Great Britain in 2009

By Pen and Sword Aviation

An imprint of

Pen and Sword Books Ltd

47 Church Street,

Barnsley,

South Yorkshire

S70 2AS

Copyright Alan W. Cooper 2009

ISBN 978-1-84415-877-5

eISBN 9781844688067

The right of Alan W. Cooper to be identified as the Author of this Work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

A CIP record for this book is available from the British Library

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission from the Publisher in writing.

First Edition published by William Kimber & Co Ltd in 1988.

Typeset in 10/12pt Palatino

by Mac Style, Beverley, E. Yorkshire

Printed and bound in Great Britain

by CPI UK

Pen and Sword Books incorporates the imprints of Pen and Sword Aviation, Pen and Sword Maritime, Pen and Sword Military, Wharncliffe Local History, Pen and Sword Select, Pen and Sword Military Classics and Leo Cooper.

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CONTENTS

Air Chief Marshal Sir Basil Embry. ( RAFES )

Robert Lonsdale. ( R.W. Lonsdale )

Denis Crowley-Milling with Nobert Fillerin shortly after the war ended.

Pilot Officer Lewis Hodges at Upper Hayford in 1940. ( Sir Lewis Hodges )

Wing Commander Frank Griffiths. ( Group Captain Frank Griffiths )

Bob Merlin with Jo Becker and Mrs Merlin after the war. ( Bob Merlin )

Schnapps, Merlins Alsatian. ( Chris Thomas )

The Rev. George Wood. ( Evening Argus, Brighton )

Sergeant Woods Aircraft. ( Rev. G. Wood )

Sergeant Wood and a souvenir. ( Rev. G. Wood )

John Broughs crashed Halifax. ( J. Brough )

Reg Lewis. ( R. Lewis )

Len Barnes. ( Len Barnes )

Twenty-eight years later, Reg Lewis knocks on the first front door to which he went for help. ( R. Lewis )

From right to left: Bill Alliston, crew member Maurice Steel and helper Henri de Brossard. ( Michel Tabarant )

Virginia and Philippe dAlbert-Lake in 1984. ( Len Barnes )

Bill Alliston (centre) with Madame Dupr. ( Mrs Alliston )

The camp de Richeray in the Fret de Frteval. ( Gordon Hand )

Camp de Richeray. ( Gordon Hand )

Charles Weir (left) at the Frteval memorial with the gendarme, Omer Jubault and his wife and daughter. ( Gordon Hand )

Bryan Morgan. ( Bryan Morgan )

Bryan Morgan with Elizabeth Harrison, secretary of the RAFES, taken in 1985. ( Alan Cooper )

Gordon Thring and Gerry McMahon. ( Gerry McMahon )

Henri Maigret. ( Russell Gradwell )

The crew of Russell Gradwells M-Mike JA690 in hiding. ( Russell Gradwell )

Flight Lieutenant Ernest Harrop, third from right, and crew. ( E. Harrop )