Raf base honours 'Greatest Escaper'

Kyt · Sep 13, 2008

http://new.edp24.co.uk/content/news...gory=News&itemid=NOED12 Sep 2008 20:17:25:943

He was the “Greatest Escaper” of the second world war who defiantly refused to be incarcerated by the Nazis.

But a Suffolk military base ensured that a valiant British airman and prisoner of war would never be forgotten yesterday after renaming an aircraft hangar after him.

A Battle of Britain DC-3 Dakota plane and a modern day Tornado fighter jet flew over RAF Honington, near Thetford, to salute the memory of legendry veteran Jimmy James, who died earlier this year.

The pilot and squadron leader, who served at the Suffolk base from the start of the second world war, became a real-life hero of the Great Escape after being captured by the Germans when his plane was shot down in 1940.

The airman, who spent five years in prisoner-of-war camps, made an incredible 13 escape attempts and was a member of the infamous breakout that was later immortalised in the 1963 film The Great Escape.

Tributes were paid to the veteran yesterday by former prisoners of war and officers from his former squadron and airbase as a renaming and dedication service took place and plaque was unveiled at E Hangar, RAF Honington.

Group Capt Russ La Forte, station commander of RAF Honington, said Mr James was a “quite remarkable” man and his unwavering dedication was a real example to the young gunners who will have their graduation parades at the Jimmy James Hangar in the future.

“The RAF Regiment's motto is 'per ardua', which means 'through adversity' and I cannot think of a man whose qualities better personify that motto than Jimmy James.

“People of Jimmy James' era embodied those qualities and sense of duty and loyalty and were prepared to pay that supreme sacrifice for their country. I can think of no better role model,” he said.

Sqn Ldr James flew a 9 Squadron Wellington bomber from RAF Honington on the night of June 5, 1940, when he was shot down south of Rotterdam and was subsequently captured.

He was involved in several escape attempts before eventually ending up at Stalag Luft III, in Poland, where he became one of the “Great Escapers” on March 24, 1944. Of the 76 escapees that day, only three made their way to freedom and 50 of the recaptured men were executed by the Nazis.

Mr James was sent to Sachsenhausen concentration camp, near Berlin, where he was kept in solitary confinement, but made another escape attempt. He arrived back in England on May 13, 1945, and in 1953 he transferred to the RAF Regiment - now based at RAF Honington - before retiring from the military in 1958.

Mr James was awarded the Military Cross and mentioned in dispatches as a result of his heroism and fight for freedom. He died in Ludlow, in Shropshire, on January 18, aged 92.

Wing Cdr Dave Waddington, commanding officer of 9 Squadron at RAF Marham, said the exploits of Mr James were well known within the unit.

“The squadron history is very important to the current era in terms of how we learn from that period of time, and Jimmy James personifies the selflessness, courage, the sheer endeavour and sheer bloody-mindedness that is required as we fly over Iraq today,” he said.

Eric Foinette, 93, from Kent, who was in the Stalag Luft III camp with Mr James, said he thought yesterday's event was “marvellous” and his friend would have been a “bit embarrassed” that he had a hangar named after him.
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Raf base honours 'Greatest Escaper'

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