Henry Birkland (16 August 1917 – 31 March 1944), was a Canadian
Spitfire
The Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter aircraft used by the Royal Air Force and other Allied countries before, during, and after World War II. Many variants of the Spitfire were built, from the Mk 1 to the Rolls-Royce Griff ...
pilot who was taken prisoner 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 opposin ...
. He took part in the 'Great Escape' from
Stalag Luft III
, partof = ''Luftwaffe''
, location = Sagan, Lower Silesia, Nazi Germany (now Żagań, Poland)
, image =
, caption = Model of the set used to film the movie ''The Great Escape.'' It depicts a smaller version of a single compound in ''Stalag ...
in March 1944, but was one of the men re-captured and murdered by the ''
Gestapo
The (), abbreviated Gestapo (; ), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe.
The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of Prussia into one organi ...
''.
Early life
Birkland was born in Caldwell, Manitoba, Canada and educated in Calgary. He worked as a packer for the Burns Co. in 1937–38, as a truck driver for a gas company in the middle of 1938, briefly as a dishwasher and then a gold miner at Gold Belt mining company in British Columbia for the year until May 1940.
War service
Birkland enlisted in the
Royal Canadian Air Force
The Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF; french: Aviation royale canadienne, ARC) is the air and space force of Canada. Its role is to "provide the Canadian Forces with relevant, responsive and effective airpower". The RCAF is one of three environm ...
in July 1940 as an aircrew candidate. Following basic training Birkland was promoted to
leading aircraftman
Leading aircraftman (LAC) or leading aircraftwoman (LACW) is a junior rank in some air forces. It sits between aircraftman and senior aircraftman, and has a NATO rank code of OR-2. The rank badge is a horizontal two-bladed propeller. The ra ...
and posted for flying training to No.11 Elementary Flying Training School RCAF. Graduating in January 1941 he transferred to No.9 Service Flying Training School. As a fully qualified pilot he was promoted sergeant on 26 April 1941. Birkland was commissioned as a
pilot officer
Pilot officer (Plt Off officially in the RAF; in the RAAF and RNZAF; formerly P/O in all services, and still often used in the RAF) is the lowest commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and the air forces of many other Commonwealth countri ...
with effect from 27 April 1941 and sailed to Great Britain to fly operationally with RAF
Fighter Command
RAF Fighter Command was one of the commands of the Royal Air Force. It was formed in 1936 to allow more specialised control of fighter aircraft. It served throughout the Second World War. It earned near-immortal fame during the Battle of Britai ...
. After six weeks with No.57 Operational Training Unit Birkland joined
No. 122 Squadron RAF
No. 122 (Bombay) Squadron was a Royal Air Force fighter squadron during the First and Second World Wars.
History
The squadron was formed on 1 January 1918 at Sedgeford as a day bomber unit with the Airco DH.4, the intention was to train the squ ...
Fighter Command
RAF Fighter Command was one of the commands of the Royal Air Force. It was formed in 1936 to allow more specialised control of fighter aircraft. It served throughout the Second World War. It earned near-immortal fame during the Battle of Britai ...
on 11 August 1941 flying
Spitfire
The Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter aircraft used by the Royal Air Force and other Allied countries before, during, and after World War II. Many variants of the Spitfire were built, from the Mk 1 to the Rolls-Royce Griff ...
aircraft before transferring to
No. 72 Squadron RAF
Number 72 (Fighter) Squadron of the Royal Air Force is a training squadron that is currently based at RAF Valley using the Beechcraft T-6 Texan II, Beechcraft Texan T.1 to deliver Basic Fast Jet Training (BFJT).
It was previously based at RAF ...
on 19 September 1941 where he also flew Spitfires.
Prisoner of war
Flying operationally with No.72 Squadron, Birkland was pilot of
Spitfire
The Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter aircraft used by the Royal Air Force and other Allied countries before, during, and after World War II. Many variants of the Spitfire were built, from the Mk 1 to the Rolls-Royce Griff ...
Mark Vb serial ''W3367'' on the afternoon of 7 November 1941 on a Rodeo mission over the coast of occupied Europe. Birkland was shot down by Uffz. Heinz Richter from Stab/JG 26, who later claimed a Spitfire 2 kilometers north of
Étaples
Étaples or Étaples-sur-Mer (; vls, Stapel, lang; pcd, Étape) is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in northern France. It is a fishing and leisure port on the Canche river.
History
Étaples takes its name from having been a medieval ...
at 15:10 hours. Birkland was captured, becoming a prisoner of war. Following interrogation, he was sent to
Stalag Luft I
Stalag Luft I was a German World War II prisoner-of-war (POW) camp near Barth, Western Pomerania, Germany, for captured Allied airmen. The presence of the prison camp is said to have shielded the town of Barth from Allied bombing. About 9,000 ...
as Prisoner of War Number 689 and later to
Stalag Luft III
, partof = ''Luftwaffe''
, location = Sagan, Lower Silesia, Nazi Germany (now Żagań, Poland)
, image =
, caption = Model of the set used to film the movie ''The Great Escape.'' It depicts a smaller version of a single compound in ''Stalag ...
in the province of Lower Silesia near the town of
Sagan (now
Żagań
Żagań ( French and german: Sagan, hsb, Zahań, la, Saganum) is a town in western Poland, on the Bóbr river, with 25,731 inhabitants (2019). The town is the capital of Żagań County in the historic region of Silesia. Previously in the Zielon ...
in
Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...
). He had been a member of an earlier unsuccessful attempt to mass escape from the camp in June 1943.
[Andrews (1976) p.204]
The 'Great Escape'
For the Great Escape operation Birkland, an experienced former miner, became one of the leading and most energetic of the six hundred officers involved in tunnelling. He was regarded as "the toughest tunneller of them all".
[Andrews (1976) p.49] In the escape plan his group of escapers were known as "the hard arsers"
for their plan to avoid public transport and travel on foot a considerable distance across country.
He 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". His group did not make a great distance before the alert was raised and the German authorities began a major man-hunt. Birkland was amongst the officers recaptured relatively locally who were taken to
Görlitz
Görlitz (; pl, Zgorzelec, hsb, Zhorjelc, cz, Zhořelec, :de:Ostlausitzer Mundart, East Lusatian dialect: ''Gerlz'', ''Gerltz'', ''Gerltsch'') is a town in the Germany, German state of Saxony. It is located on the Lusatian Neisse River, and ...
prison 36 miles south from Sagan.
George McGill (RCAF officer)
George Edward McGill (14 April 1918 – 31 March 1944), was a Royal Canadian Air Force officer, the observer (navigator) of a Vickers Wellington bomber, who was taken prisoner during the Second World War. He took part in the 'Great Escape' from ...
, Henry Birkland,
Pat Langford,
Mike Casey, George Wiley,
Tom Leigh,
John Pohe
Porokoru Patapu Pohe (10 December 1914 – 31 March 1944), commonly known as John Pohe, was a New Zealand Māori Royal New Zealand Air Force officer and bomber pilot who was taken prisoner during the Second World War. Notable for his part in the ...
, Cyril Swain,
Charles Hall,
Brian Evans,
Wlodzimierz Kolanowski and Bob Stewart were taken away in black cars by plain clothes ''Gestapo'' officials on 30 and 31 March 1944 and were never seen alive again. Another account states that on 31 March 1944 a group of 10 officers including Birkland were taken away. The plates on their cremation urns showed that they had been cremated at Liegnitz (now
Legnica
Legnica (Polish: ; german: Liegnitz, szl, Lignica, cz, Lehnice, la, Lignitium) is a city in southwestern Poland, in the central part of Lower Silesia, on the Kaczawa River (left tributary of the Oder) and the Czarna Woda (Kaczawa), Czarna Woda ...
), 55 miles to the east of Sagan, but no dates were given.
So he became one of the 50
executed and murdered by the ''
Gestapo
The (), abbreviated Gestapo (; ), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe.
The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of Prussia into one organi ...
''. His remains, which were originally buried at Sagan, were moved in November 1948 to the Poznan Old Garrison Cemetery to lie beside those of his fellow escapers. Birkland's headstone has the inscription chosen by his parents "Beloved, by family and friends alike, he gave his life, knowing this right".
Birkland's name was amongst those in the list of the murdered prisoners which was published when news broke on or about 20 May 1944.
Awards
His conspicuous bravery was recognized by a
mention in despatches
To be mentioned in dispatches (or despatches, MiD) describes a member of the armed forces whose name appears in an official report written by a superior officer and sent to the high command, in which their gallant or meritorious action in the face ...
as none of the other relevant decorations then available could be awarded posthumously. It was published in a supplement to the ''London Gazette'' on 8 June 1944.
Other victims
:''See
Stalag Luft III murders
The Stalag Luft III murders were war crimes perpetrated by members of the Gestapo following the " Great Escape" of Allied prisoners of war from the German Air Force prison camp known as Stalag Luft III on March 25, 1944. Of the 76 successful escap ...
''
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.
Yale Avalon Project-War Crimes Trial Part 8 – victim Birkland
/ref>
References
;Notes
;Bibliography
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by Mark Kozak-Holland. The prisoners formally structured their work as a project. Thi
''book''
analyses their efforts using modern project management methods.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Birkland, Henry
Royal Canadian Air Force officers
Royal Canadian Air Force personnel of World War II
Canadian World War II pilots
World War II prisoners of war held by Germany
1917 births
Canadian military personnel from Manitoba
1944 deaths
Canadian military personnel killed in World War II
Participants in the Great Escape from Stalag Luft III
Canadian escapees
Extrajudicial killings in World War II
Canadian prisoners and detainees
Shot-down aviators