Paweł Tobolski: Difference between revisions
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'''Paweł "Peter" W<ref>Birth Certificate : Nr.52, Bromberg</ref>. Tobolski''' (21 March 1906{{snd}}not before 2 April 1944) was a Polish airman who fought in [[World War II]], murdered after [[Stalag Luft III#The "Great Escape"|the "Great Escape"]] from the Stalag Luft III prisoner of war camp.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.pegasusarchive.org/pow/cSL_3_Fifty.htm |title=Stalag Luft III |accessdate=20 April 2016}}</ref> |
'''Paweł "Peter" W<ref>Birth Certificate : Wilhelm Paul, Nr.52, Bromberg</ref>. Tobolski''' (21 March 1906{{snd}}not before 2 April 1944) was a Polish airman who fought in [[World War II]], murdered after [[Stalag Luft III#The "Great Escape"|the "Great Escape"]] from the Stalag Luft III prisoner of war camp.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.pegasusarchive.org/pow/cSL_3_Fifty.htm |title=Stalag Luft III |accessdate=20 April 2016}}</ref> |
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He was a navigator with the rank of [[flying officer]] in [[No. 301 Polish Bomber Squadron]], an [[expatriate]] unit that fought as part of the [[Royal Air Force]] against [[Nazi Germany]].<ref name=h129>{{cite book |last= Hodyra|first=Piotr |title=301 Dywizjon Bombowy 1940-1943 |year= 2016|publisher=Oficyna Wydawnicza Alma-Press|location=Warsaw |isbn=978-83-7020-664-2 |pages=71, 129|language=pl}}</ref> He took part in two combat missions. In his second mission, a [[Thousand-bomber raids|thousand-bomber raid]] [[Bombing of Bremen in World War II|against Bremen]] at night of 25/26 June 1942, his bomber [[Vickers Wellington]] no. Z1479 GR-A (the squadron commander's) was shot down by anti-aircraft artillery near [[Dornumergrode]]; and he was captured and imprisoned in [[Stalag Luft III]].<ref name=h129/> He was one of 76 men who took part in [[Stalag Luft III#The "Great Escape"|the "Great Escape"]] on 25 March 1944; an event memorialised in the 1950 book ''[[The Great Escape (book)|The Great Escape]]'' and in the [[The Great Escape (film)|1963 film of the same name]]. On the night of the escape he was dressed as a German soldier and his escape plan was to escort Harry “wings” Day to Berlin for interrogation. Being dressed as a German soldier required him to get his travel documents stamped by the local German barracks and thus spent a night in the barracks to get the required stamp. If he did not get the stamp he would have been treated as a German deserted soldier. He was eventually caught when his escape partner Harry “Wings” Day was betrayed by some French workers the two were in contact with. |
He was a navigator with the rank of [[flying officer]] in [[No. 301 Polish Bomber Squadron]], an [[expatriate]] unit that fought as part of the [[Royal Air Force]] against [[Nazi Germany]].<ref name=h129>{{cite book |last= Hodyra|first=Piotr |title=301 Dywizjon Bombowy 1940-1943 |year= 2016|publisher=Oficyna Wydawnicza Alma-Press|location=Warsaw |isbn=978-83-7020-664-2 |pages=71, 129|language=pl}}</ref> He took part in two combat missions. In his second mission, a [[Thousand-bomber raids|thousand-bomber raid]] [[Bombing of Bremen in World War II|against Bremen]] at night of 25/26 June 1942, his bomber [[Vickers Wellington]] no. Z1479 GR-A (the squadron commander's) was shot down by anti-aircraft artillery near [[Dornumergrode]]; and he was captured and imprisoned in [[Stalag Luft III]].<ref name=h129/> He was one of 76 men who took part in [[Stalag Luft III#The "Great Escape"|the "Great Escape"]] on 25 March 1944; an event memorialised in the 1950 book ''[[The Great Escape (book)|The Great Escape]]'' and in the [[The Great Escape (film)|1963 film of the same name]]. On the night of the escape he was dressed as a German soldier and his escape plan was to escort Harry “wings” Day to Berlin for interrogation. Being dressed as a German soldier required him to get his travel documents stamped by the local German barracks and thus spent a night in the barracks to get the required stamp. If he did not get the stamp he would have been treated as a German deserted soldier. He was eventually caught when his escape partner Harry “Wings” Day was betrayed by some French workers the two were in contact with. |
Revision as of 05:52, 9 June 2022
Paweł "Peter" W[1]. Tobolski (21 March 1906 – not before 2 April 1944) was a Polish airman who fought in World War II, murdered after the "Great Escape" from the Stalag Luft III prisoner of war camp.[2]
He was a navigator with the rank of flying officer in No. 301 Polish Bomber Squadron, an expatriate unit that fought as part of the Royal Air Force against Nazi Germany.[3] He took part in two combat missions. In his second mission, a thousand-bomber raid against Bremen at night of 25/26 June 1942, his bomber Vickers Wellington no. Z1479 GR-A (the squadron commander's) was shot down by anti-aircraft artillery near Dornumergrode; and he was captured and imprisoned in Stalag Luft III.[3] He was one of 76 men who took part in the "Great Escape" on 25 March 1944; an event memorialised in the 1950 book The Great Escape and in the 1963 film of the same name. On the night of the escape he was dressed as a German soldier and his escape plan was to escort Harry “wings” Day to Berlin for interrogation. Being dressed as a German soldier required him to get his travel documents stamped by the local German barracks and thus spent a night in the barracks to get the required stamp. If he did not get the stamp he would have been treated as a German deserted soldier. He was eventually caught when his escape partner Harry “Wings” Day was betrayed by some French workers the two were in contact with.
He was soon recaptured, in Stettin. He was one of the 50 escapees murdered by the Gestapo on the orders of Adolf Hitler. He is buried in Poznan Old Garrison Cemetery in Poland, in a British Commonwealth War Grave, next to others who had escaped with him and who had shared his fate.[4] His name is inscribed on the memorial to "The Fifty" near Żagań, Poland.
References
- ^ Birth Certificate : Wilhelm Paul, Nr.52, Bromberg
- ^ "Stalag Luft III". Retrieved 20 April 2016.
- ^ a b Hodyra, Piotr (2016). 301 Dywizjon Bombowy 1940-1943 (in Polish). Warsaw: Oficyna Wydawnicza Alma-Press. pp. 71, 129. ISBN 978-83-7020-664-2.
- ^ "Stower, John Gifford". Commonwealth War Graves Commission. Retrieved 19 April 2016.
- 1906 births
- 1944 deaths
- Polish prisoners of war in World War II
- World War II prisoners of war held by Germany
- Participants in the Great Escape from Stalag Luft III
- Polish military personnel killed in World War II
- Extrajudicial killings
- Non-British Royal Air Force personnel of World War II
- Polish Air Force officers
- Polish military personnel stubs
- World War II biography stubs