S/L Eric "Digger" Dowling RIP

Kyt · Aug 6, 2008

Eric Dowling, inspiration for The Geat Escape, dies - Telegraph

The airman was shot down during night-time operations in April 1942 and imprisoned in Stalag Luft III, becoming a legend thanks to his role in the breakout.

But the Second World War veteran survived his ordeal and died in his nursing home just one day short of his 93rd birthday last month.

Mr Dowling, from Bristol, carved out tunnels, forged documents and prepared maps for the real-life escape which inspired the 1963 film.

But his son revealed today that the father-of-two "wasn't a fan" of the Steve McQueen epic, and thought the famous motorbike scene - which never happened - was "well over the top".

Mr Dowling had three roles in the March 1944 escape plan, led by PoW Roger Bushell - document-forger, map-maker and, of course, tunnel-digger.

The scheme involved hollowing out three tunnels, codenamed Tom, Dick and Harry, with each entrance carefully selected to ensure it was not spotted by guards.

Tunnelling was dangerous and the roofs could cave in without warning.

Despite this, Digger was not one of the men selected for the final breakout.

In January 1945 the camp was evacuated because of the Russian advance and the men were marched to a second camp where they were liberated later that year.

His son, Peter, 60, said: "My father was happy to talk about his wartime experiences at some length, when he was asked, and wrote down his memories in great detail. But he had two memories which caused him great sorrow and pain.

"The first was when he had to go on a bombing training mission in Ireland. He was supposed to be in the Wellington but missed the flight. The entire crew died and he felt a sense of guilt that he had survived it.

"He also felt angry, more than angry, that Hitler had 50 of the 76 escapees shot, and my father was friends with seven of them."

Three men made it home to the UK, while 23 were recaptured.

Mr Dowling's diaries reveal that among his executed friends were Thomas Kirby-Green, John Stower and Gordon Kidder.

Mr Dowling, born in Glastonbury, Somerset, trained with the RAF in South Africa as a navigator and completed 29 missions with Bomber Command 57 squadron, based in Norfolk.

He married Agnes Marie in 1946, having met her while investigating the cause of an aircraft crash in Norway. The couple also had a daughter, Susan, who is 18 months younger than Peter.

Mr Dowling went on to work on Concorde for British Aerospace at Filton in Bristol. He also petitioned Margaret Thatcher to recognise the wrong done to the PoWs when their pay was stopped during their time in captivity.

After his retirement he played cricket for Southmead Hospital CC and tennis for Ashton Court Country Club. He and his wife, who died in 1997, also played bridge to county standard.

The residential home in Nailsea, where he moved in 2003, was renamed Dowling House in his honour.

He moved to a nursing home in Stoke Bishop this year, where he died on July 21.
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BBC NEWS | England | Bristol | Great Escape hero 'disliked film'

Kyt · Aug 6, 2008

Bristol hero of the Great Escape

THE late Eric Dowling played a key part in what was to become one of the most famous stories of heroism and daring of World War II.

More than 60 years ago the young RAF Flight Lieutenant was a central figure in the Great Escape from the German prisoner-of-war camp, Stalag Luft III.

Mr Dowling was one of a group of Allies who dug tunnels out of the camp in 1943 and 1944, earning him the nickname “Digger”.

He also forged documents and drew up maps as part of the plot, and on the moonless night of March 24, 1944, his secret work helped many of his fellow prisoners escape the camp, before they were spotted by guards.

He remained in the camp, and of the 76 men who fled, only three evaded capture. The others were arrested across Germany, and 50 of them were shot.
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Mr Dowling died recently at a nursing home in Stoke Bishop, a day before his 93rd birthday.

A resident of Clifton for more than 30 years, his story had such an impact on his landlord, Peter White, that he renamed the house after him and created a mosaic on the front wall in his honour.

Mr Dowling's son, Peter, a retired NHS accountant, recalls his father's tales of a wartime episode that would be immortalised in the Hollywood film, The Great Escape, starring Steve McQueen and Richard Attenborough.

At his home in Easton-in-Gordano he has countless photos of his father's time in the camp and with his bomber crew, old German uniform badges, his father's notes from the prison and even a decommissioned officer's pistol.

Mr Dowling, who is 60, said: “The more I think about it the more I realise how traumatic it must have been for him.

“He did speak about his times during the war, but not without prompting.

“On April 18, 1942 he was flying a Wellington bomber on a raid over Hamburg when he was shot down at 2am – the birth date of one of his sisters.”

A Flight Lieutenant for Bomber Command in 57 Squadron at the time, he logged the events in a diary.

He wrote: “April 17, 1942 – Departure! Hamburg, at midnight, alone in the sky and covered in a myriad of searchlights – a perfect prey for the waiting Focke-Wulfs, and the ensuing 15 minutes until the crash seemed like an eternity, and the escape from the crashed Wellington an unbelievable remission.”

Captured by the Hitler Youth, he was taken away for interrogation and later sent to Stalag Luft III – a camp 100 miles south-east of Berlin specifically for airmen.

Peter said: “I think they were treated pretty decently, and it was a humane camp – a military camp run by military people.

“To pass they time they had cricket teams made up where they came from, so my father captained Stalag Luft's Somerset team.

“He was a meticulous record keeper, and noted down all of the scores and the averages of the batsmen and the bowlers.”

Mr Dowling also spent his time writing a book on wines and cocktails, managed to learn five languages from the other prisoners and got to know famous fighter ace Douglas Bader.

But in early 1943 he joined a group of men, led by Roger Bushell, to plot an escape.

Peter said: “My father was mainly involved with forging documents, digging tunnels and preparing maps to help the men get away.

“He stayed in the camp while the men escaped, but found that most were later caught.

“Of the 50 who were executed, he knew seven very well, and later created a commemorative booklet showing where each of them had been shot around Germany.

“After the camp was evacuated in 1945 because of the advancing Russian army, dad had to march hundreds of miles in Arctic conditions, and many of his friends and fellow prisoners were lost on that trip.”

After the war, Mr Dowling was commissioned by the RAF to investigate crashed aircraft in Norway, eventually attaining the rank of squadron leader.

It was there that he met and married Marie.

The couple returned to Britain in 1946, had two children, Peter and Susan, and eventually settled in a flat in Miles Road in Clifton.

Mr White erected the mosaic of Mr Dowling in front of two Wellington bombers in Miles Road, renaming the building “Dowling House”.

Mr White, who is 72, said: “He wasn't a close friend but I just wanted to honour him because of what he did for his country.”

Peter said: “My father was a wonderful person – a loving father, a great sportsman and a true gentleman – the sort of person who would hold a door open for a lady.”
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S/L Eric "Digger" Dowling RIP

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