Cedric Waters Hill (3 April 1891 – 5 March 1975) was an Australian officer in the
Royal Flying Corps and later the
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) an ...
who, together with
E. H. Jones, escaped from the
Yozgat
Yozgat is a city and the capital district of Yozgat Province in the Central Anatolia Region of Turkey. According to 2019 census, population of the district is 421,200 of which 106,280 live in the city of Yozgat.
History
The first surveys were ...
prisoner of war camp in Turkey during the
First World War
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
.
Their epic story was told in Jones' book ''The Road to En-dor'' and in his own book ''The Spook and the Commandant''.
Between February 1917 and October 1918, Jones and Hill convinced their Turkish captors that they were
mediums
Mediumship is the practice of purportedly mediating communication between familiar spirits or spirits of the dead and living human beings. Practitioners are known as "mediums" or "spirit mediums". There are different types of mediumship or spir ...
adept at the
Ouija
The ouija ( , ), also known as a spirit board or talking board, is a flat board marked with the letters of the Latin alphabet, the numbers 0–9, the words "yes", "no", occasionally "hello" and "goodbye", along with various symbols and grap ...
board. Taking advantage of the greed of the Turkish camp Commandant, with promises of buried treasure via the Ouija board, the two men managed to engineer the circumstances of their imprisonment to favour their escape. Eventually they convinced their gaolers to repatriate them by feigning insanity, arriving home only a few months before the Armistice.
Hill continued his career in the RAF after the war. Granted a short service commission as a
flying officer on 6 December 1920, he was promoted
flight lieutenant in January 1923 and appointed to a permanent commission six months later. He was advanced to
squadron leader
Squadron leader (Sqn Ldr in the RAF ; SQNLDR in the RAAF and RNZAF; formerly sometimes S/L in all services) is a commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and the air forces of many countries which have historical British influence. It is als ...
in 1931. Hill commanded
No. 1 Squadron from October 1934 to January 1936 and again from December that year until April 1937. That same month, he was promoted to
wing commander
Wing commander (Wg Cdr in the RAF, the IAF, and the PAF, WGCDR in the RNZAF and RAAF, formerly sometimes W/C in all services) is a senior commissioned rank in the British Royal Air Force and air forces of many countries which have historical ...
and appointed to command
RAF Tangmere
RAF Tangmere was a Royal Air Force station located in Tangmere, England, famous for its role in the Battle of Britain, and one of several stations near Chichester, West Sussex. The famous Second World War aces Wing Commander Douglas Bader, a ...
. He was made an acting
group captain from 1 June 1940,
during the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...
, and retired from the RAF in 1944. Hill then worked as a ferry pilot for the
Air Transport Auxiliary
The Air Transport Auxiliary (ATA) was a British civilian organisation set up at the start of the Second World War with headquarters at White Waltham Airfield in Berkshire. The ATA ferried new, repaired and damaged military aircraft between factori ...
.
On 5 March 1975, Hill died at his home in
Windsor, Berkshire
Windsor is a historic market town and unparished area in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead in Berkshire, England. It is the site of Windsor Castle, one of the official residences of the British monarch. The town is situated west ...
. He was survived by his wife and daughter.
References
Further reading
*''The Road to En-dor'', E. H. Jones, 1921, John Lane the Bodley Head ltd., London
*''The Spook and the Commandant'', C,W Hill, 1975, William Kimber,
External links
*
''The road to En-dor''at the
Internet Archive
The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...
1891 births
1975 deaths
World War I prisoners of war held by the Ottoman Empire
British Army personnel of World War I
Royal Flying Corps officers
British World War I prisoners of war
British escapees
Escapees from Turkish detention
British World War I pilots
Royal Air Force officers
Air Transport Auxiliary pilots
{{RAF-bio-stub