04-05-2007, 07:53 PM
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#1 (permalink)
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Earl
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: Potchefstroom, South Africa
Posts: 1,559
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Great escape member dies
I did not even know there where South Africans involved in this!
Quote:
SA 'Great Escape' veteran dies
05/04/2007 22:15 - (SA)
Cape Town - One of the last survivors of the Great Escape team of World War 2, Ian Tapson, has died in Port Alfred at the age of 84.
An essentially modest man, he rarely divulged he was one of five South Africans who were part of the team that planned and executed the escape from a German prisoner-of-war camp.
The escape was immortalised in Paul Brickhill's book, The Great Escape and a Hollywood film with the same title, starring Steve McQueen.
According to Norman Abbott, a fellow-member of the SA Air Force Association, Tapson died on March 30 in the frail-care unit of Settler's Park, a retirement complex.
A memorial service was held for him on Wednesday.
Abbott said Tapson, who is survived by his wife, June, and a son who farms in the area, worked as a municipal engineer in East London until his retirement.
"He was a quiet person, most approachable and most knowledgeable," Abbott said.
Tapson's link with the escape might have remained within his family had he not mentioned it years later to a woman who had attended commemoration services in Italy for airmen killed helping Italian partisans.
He was then prevailed on to tell his story, publicly, for the first time.
Tapson was a lieutenant in the South African Air Force, flying Kittyhawk fighter-bombers, when his plane was crippled by anti-aircraft fire over Tunisia and he was forced to crash-land.
He was captured and sent to Stalag 3 prisoner-of-war camp at Sagan, Silesia, near the Polish border.
Roger Bushell, a squadron leader, decided to organise a mass escape by tunnelling to a point outside the perimeter fence.
The team members were all volunteers. Tapson, aged 20, was one of them. His task was to scrounge for wood to shore up the tunnels.
Seventy-six men managed to escape before an alarm was given by a guard.
Only three managed to reach safety. Fifty were recaptured, and murdered by the Gestapo.
According to Wally Vandermeulen, chairperson of the Port Alfred branch of the SA Air Force Association, Tapson was not one of those who escaped.
"When they drew the lots for those who were involved in digging and construction of the tunnels, he missed out," said Vandermeulen.
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