John Gifford Stower
John Gifford Stower (15 September 1916, San Salvador de Jujuy, Argentina – 31 March 1944, Żagań, Poland (then, Germany)) was a Flight Lieutenant in the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve during World War II. He was called up as Pilot Officer on 13 September 1941.[1] He flew with RAF 142 Squadron. His Short Stirling bomber was shot down, and he was captured by the German authorities. He was imprisoned in Stalag Luft III. He was one of the 76 men who took part in the "Great Escape" on 25 March 1944; an event memorialised in the 1950 book The Great Escape by Paul Brickhill and in the 1963 film The Great Escape starring Steve McQueen.
He was soon recaptured. He was one of the 50 escapees murdered by the Gestapo on the orders of Adolf Hitler.[2] His body is, or his ashes are, interred in Poznan Old Garrison Cemetery, Poland.[3][4]
His name is inscribed on the memorial to "The Fifty" near Żagań.
References
- ↑ The London Gazette: no. 35343. p. 6507. 11 November 1941.
- ↑ "Give Names of R.A.F. Flyers Shot by Nazis". Ottawa Journal. 20 May 1944. Retrieved 6 May 2016.
- ↑ "Stower, John Gifford". Commonwealth War Graves Commission. Retrieved 19 April 2016.
- ↑ "Stalag Luft III". Retrieved 20 April 2016.
- Meunier, Claudio; García, Carlos A.; Rimondi, Oscar (2004). Alas de trueno – Wings of Thunder. Autoedición Buenos Aires.
- Meunier, Claudio Gustavo (2008). Nacidos con honor. Buenos Aires: Grupo Abierto Comunicaciones. ISBN 978-9871121298. Retrieved 19 April 2016.