John Fancy | |
|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | The Mole |
| Born | (1913-03-09)9 March 1913 Lund, East Riding of Yorkshire |
| Died | 16 September 2008(2008-09-16) (aged 95) Slapton, Devon |
| Allegiance |  United Kingdom |
| Service | Royal Air Force |
| Years of service | 1935–1945 |
| Rank | Warrant Officer |
| Awards | Mentioned in Despatches |
| Other work | Inspiration forthe book andfilmThe Great Escape Tunnelling to Freedom (Panther, 1957, ASIN B0007JJ9IS) Flights of Fancy (Navigator, 1986,ISBN 0-902830-65-1) market gardener |
John Fancy (9 March 1913 – 16 September 2008) was a British former airman whose tunnelling escapes from various German prisoner of war camps during World War II earned him the nicknameThe Mole, and inspiredthe book andfilmThe Great Escape.[1][2]
Fancy was born in 1913 in the vicarage atLund nearDriffield inYorkshire. He was educated atHymers College and looked set to follow his father into a career in estate management but joined theRAF in 1935 instead. Although slightly colour blind he was passed fit for aircrew as anair observer and achieved the rank ofWarrant Officer. His service record included deliveringBlenheim bombers toFinland and operations over theNorth Sea including a raid onStavanger. His squadron was then moved to operations over Northern Europe in support of theBritish Expeditionary Force rearguard actions which culminated inOperation Dynamo.
He was first captured on 14 May 1940, when the Blenheim in which he was serving asair observer/navigator was shot down by Germananti-aircraft fire while returning from a raid onSedan, France. He was taken toStalag Luft I (the Germans maintained separate POW camps for aircrew), as prisoner 89 he was one of the first allied airmen to be captured.[2][3]
In all Fancy escaped from custody some sixteen times, and constructed eight separate tunnels from various camps, using a German-issued steeltable knife as his principal tool. The knife became his prized possession after the war. As an escapee he had many adventures, including being captured by an extermination squad and being subjected to three mock executions.
Though he was Britain's most prolific tunnel-digger[4] and once got as far as a boat off theBaltic coast, he was recaptured every time and was finally repatriated in April 1945 when his camp was liberated by the advancing Allied forces. He later observed: "After four years, 10 months and four days I landed back in England after taking off on what should have been a four-hour flight." He wasMentioned in Despatches for his conduct.[1][5]
After the war Fancy established a market garden near Driffield and ran threegreengrocery shops inScarborough. Following the death of his wife in 1983 he retired toSlapton, Devon to be near his daughter.
Fancy published two books about his experiences in the war:Tunnelling to Freedom (Panther, 1957, ASIN B0007JJ9IS) andFlights of Fancy (Navigator, 1986,ISBN 0-902830-65-1).
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