Gordon Brettell

For other people with the same name, see Brettell.

Edward Gordon Brettell DFC (19 March 1915 – 29 March 1944), known as Gordon Brettell, was a British Spitfire fighter pilot who was taken prisoner during the Second World War. He took part in the 'Great Escape' from Stalag Luft III in March 1944, but was one of the men re-captured and subsequently shot by the Gestapo.

Gordon Brettell
Birth name	Edward Gordon Brettell
Born	(1915-03-19)19 March 1915 Chertsey, Surrey
Died	29 March 1944(1944-03-29) (aged 29) Danzig
Buried	Poznan Old Garrison Cemetery, Poland
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Service / branch	Royal Air Force
Years of service	1939–1944
Rank	Flight lieutenant
Service number	61053
Unit	No. 92 Squadron RAF No. 133 (Eagle) Squadron RAF
Battles / wars	World War II Channel Front (POW)
Awards	Distinguished Flying Cross Mention in despatches

Pre-war

Gordon Brettell was born in Chertsey Surrey, the son of Eileen and stockbroker Vivian Brettell and after attending Cheltenham College gained a bachelor of arts degree from Clare College, Cambridge University^[1] and then lived in the family home at St Ann’s Hill^[2] before embarking on a career in his Austin 7 as a motor racing driver.^[3][4][5]

War service

He enlisted in the Royal Air Force at the start of 1940 as an aircraftman pilot candidate with the service number 61053.^[6] On completion of flight training he was commissioned as pilot officer on 17 February 1941.^[7] From final stage training at No. 58 Operational Training Unit^[8] Brettell Joined No. 92 Squadron RAF flying the Spitfire on 3 March 1941^[9] and on 4 September 1941 probably shot down a Messerschmitt Bf 109 in combat.^[10]

Spitfire fighter

He was promoted to flying officer on 17 February 1942^[11] and in the summer of 1942 he was posted to No. 133 (Eagle) Squadron RAF at Lympne as a flight commander, the only British officer within the volunteer US unit.^[12] He was temporarily in command of the squadron.^[13] During his service with 133 Squadron, led by Don Blakeslee, he flew over the Dieppe beaches as top cover while the amphibious commando raid took place on 19 August 1942 and shot down a Focke-Wulf Fw 190 fighter during the mission.^[12][14][15] On 29 September 1942 he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for his service with 133 (Eagle) Squadron, his citation stating,

This officer has participated in 111 sorties over enemy occupied territory. He has always displayed the greatest keenness to engage the enemy. On one occasion he was wounded in combat and, on recovery, he resumed operational flying with renewed zest. He is an excellent flight commander.^[16][17]

Prisoner of war

Leading 133 Squadron on a bomber escort mission he took off in a Supermarine Spitfire Mark IX fighter (serial number BS313) on 26 September 1942^[18] to escort a group of B-17 bombers to Morlaix. The entire formation was blown far off course by adverse winds and only one of the twelve aircraft of 133 Squadron made it back to England after attacks by fighters, anti-aircraft fire and fuel shortage. Brettell was captured and badly injured, becoming a prisoner of war.^[19][20] He was sent to Stalag Luft III in the province of Lower Silesia near the town of Sagan (now Żagań in Poland). Here he became an enthusiastic member of the escape committee specializing in forged documents and hand producing rubber stamps from linoleum and rubber boot heels to authenticate the documents and fashioning embossing tools from toothbrushes.^[3] He was promoted to flight lieutenant in captivity on 17 February 1943^[21] and by 1943 had participated in at least one previous escape attempt.^[22] He spent time "outside the wire" after breaking out from Stalag Luft III with Kingsley Brown on 27 March 1943. They travelled some distance on the railways and at one stage shared a compartment with a number of German soldiers.^[23]

'Great Escape'

Working with "Tim" Walenn the camp’s head of forgery and Henri Picard they produced forged passports, movement orders, railway documentation and all manner of identity papers to move about Germany.^[24] Brettell was one of the 76 men who escaped the prison camp on the night of 24–25 March 1944, in the escape now famous as "the Great Escape". Travelling in a group of four escapees with Tim Walenn, Romualdas Marcinkus and Henri Picard, all posing as Lithuanian workers they managed to reach a train heading towards Danzig (now Gdańsk, Poland). Most likely, they intended to travel to East Prussia and cross the Lithuanian border hoping to cross the Baltic Sea to neutral Sweden. When the Germans discovered the escape they began manhunts. Brettell and his group travelled further than most of the escapees but were captured by the Gestapo near Schneidemühl on 26 March. The party of four were brought to Stalag XXB and spent the night there. On the following day they were handed over to the Danzig Gestapo.^[25] Its officials took the men to a forest near Gross Trampken (Trąbki Wielkie) and executed them.^[26] On 29 March, his body was cremated in Danzig's crematorium.^[27] He was one of the 50 escapers executed and murdered by the Gestapo.^[28][29] Originally cremated and buried at Sagan, he is now buried in part of the Poznan Old Garrison Cemetery.^[1] Brettell’s headstone has the inscription chosen by his parents: "Those who are nearer to God, Are not farther from us".^[30] Brettell's name was amongst those in the list of the murdered prisoners which was published when news broke on or about 20 May 1944.^[31]

Memorial to "The Fifty" down the road toward Żagań (Brettell is near top left)

Awards

Brettell was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross on 29 September 1942 for his service with 133 (Eagle) Squadron RAF.^[32] He was posthumously mentioned in despatches in June 1944, recognizing his conspicuous bravery as a prisoner because none of the other relevant decorations then available could be awarded posthumously.^[33]

Other victims

See Stalag Luft III murders

The Gestapo executed a group of 50 of the recaptured prisoners representing almost all of the nationalities involved in the escape. Post-war investigations saw a number of those guilty of the murders tracked down, arrested and tried for their crimes.^{[34][35][36][37]}

Nationalities of the 50 executed

21 British

6 Canadian

6 Polish

5 Australian

3 South African

2 New Zealanders

2 Norwegian

1 Belgian

1 Czechoslovak

1 Frenchman

1 Greek

1 Lithuanian

References

Notes

1. Commonwealth War Graves Commission – Edward Gordon Brettell
2. Electoral Register 1939 for Surrey, England, St. Anns Hill, p.55
3. Andrews (1976), p.37
4. Motorsport Magazine, "Gordon Brettell's pre-war Austin Seven Racing", retrieved 19 August 2015
5. Vance (2000), p.108
6. Vance, Jonathan F (2000). A Gallant Company: The Men of the Great Escape. Pacifica Military History (Mar 2001). p. 54. ISBN 978-0-935-55347-5.
7. "No. 35106". The London Gazette. 14 March 1941. pp. 1526–1527.
8. Vance (2000), p.105
9. A Cobra in the Sky: 92 Squadron RAF, retrieved 19 August 2015
10. National Archives, London. Air Combat report. Document Air 50/40/89
11. "No. 35667". The London Gazette. 11 August 1942. pp. 3559–3560.
12. Shores (2004) p.69
13. Haugland (1979) p.161
14. Franks (1992) p.105
15. National Archives, London. Air Combat report. Document Air 50/55/5
16. "No. 35721". The London Gazette (Supplement). 25 September 1942. pp. 4216–4217.
17. Edward Gordon Brettell D.F.C. at American Air Museum in Britain website, retrieved 19 August 2015
18. Franks (1998), p.67
19. Haugland (1979) pp.178–180
20. Cutting from the Cheltenham Chronicle dated 28 November 1942 "Missing O.C. Now Listed As Prisoner", at Morlaix Disaster website, retrieved 19 August 2015
21. "No. 36022". The London Gazette (Supplement). 18 May 1943. pp. 2250–2251.
22. Andrews (1976) p.204
23. Vance (2000), p.102-103
24. Andrews (1976) p.36
25. Burgess (1971) p.255
26. Read (2012), p.218
27. Read (2012) p.306
28. Andrews (1976), p.209
29. Pegasus Archive - 50 murdered escapers
30. Commonwealth War Graves Commission, Headstone Schedule form H/2, Poznan Old Garrison Cemetery
31. Western Morning News, Dundee Courier, Yorkshire Post, etc. 20/05/1944
32. "No. 35721". The London Gazette (Supplement). 25 September 1942. pp. 4216–4217.
33. "No. 36544". The London Gazette (Supplement). 2 June 1944. pp. 2619–2620.
34. Read (2012), p.295
35. Vance (2000), p.310
36. Andrews (1976), p.188 and 199
37. Yale Avalon Project-War Crimes Trial Part 8 – victim Brettell

Bibliography

• Ted Barris (2014). The Great Escape. Dundurn Publishing. ISBN 978-1459728448.
• Simon Read (2012). Human Game. Constable. ISBN 978-1-4721-1262-0.
• Sean Feast (2015). The Last of the 39-ers. Grub Street. ISBN 978-1909166158.
• Jonathan F Vance (2000). A Gallant Company. Pacifica Military. ISBN 978-0-935-55347-5.
• William Ash; Brendan Foley (2005). Under the Wire: The Wartime Memoir of a Spitfire Pilot, Legendary Escape Artist and 'cooler King'. Bantam. ISBN 978-0-593-05408-6.
• Paul Brickhill (2004). The Great Escape. W.W. Norton & Company. ISBN 978-0-393-32579-9.
• Norman L R Franks (1992). The Greatest Air Battle, Dieppe 19th August 1942. Grub Street. ISBN 978-0948817588.
• Alan Burgess (1990). The Longest Tunnel: The True Story of World War II's Great Escape. Naval Institute Press. ISBN 978-1-59114-097-9.
• Albert P. Clark (2005). 33 Months as a POW in Stalag Luft III: A World War II Airman Tells His Story. Fulcrum Pub. ISBN 978-1-55591-536-0.
• Arthur A. Durand (1 January 1989). Stalag Luft III: The Secret Story. Patrick Stephens Limited. ISBN 978-1-85260-248-2.
• Norman L R Franks (1997). RAF Fighter Command Losses, Volume 2. Midland Counties. ISBN 1-85780-075-3.
• Allen Andrews (1976). Exemplary Justice. Harrap. ISBN 0-245-52775-3.
• Christopher Shores (2004). Those Other Eagles. Grub Street. ISBN 1-904010-88-1.
• Vern Haugland. The Eagle Squadrons. David and Charles. ISBN 0-7153-7940-2.

External links

• Project Lessons from the Great Escape (Stalag Luft III), by Mark Kozak-Holland. The prisoners formally structured their work as a project. This book analyses their efforts using modern project management methods.
• Brettell's awards, other pertinent information and photographs