Air Commodore Herbert Martin Massey, (19 January 189829 February 1976) was a senior officer in 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) and ...

. He was the Senior British Officer at

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 ...

who authorised the "Great Escape".

Flying career

Massey entered the

Royal Military College, Sandhurst The Royal Military College (RMC), founded in 1801 and established in 1802 at Great Marlow and High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire, England, but moved in October 1812 to Sandhurst, Berkshire, was a British Army military academy for training infantry a ...

in 1915, and was commissioned as a

second lieutenant Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces, comparable to NATO OF-1 rank. Australia The rank of second lieutenant existed in the military forces of the Australian colonies and Australian Army until ...

into the Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire Regiment in April 1916. He soon after underwent flying training, and was posted as a pilot to No. 16 Squadron of the

Royal Flying Corps "Through Adversity to the Stars" , colors = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = , decorations ...

from July. He was promoted temporary

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

and made a flight commander in December 1916. On 4 February 1917, Massey was wounded and his observer killed when their aircraft was shot down by German

ace An ace is a playing card, die or domino with a single pip. In the standard French deck, an ace has a single suit symbol (a heart, diamond, spade, or club) located in the middle of the card, sometimes large and decorated, especially in the c ...

Werner Voss Werner Voss (; 13 April 1897 – 23 September 1917) was a World War I German flying ace credited with 48 aerial victories. A dyer's son from Krefeld, he was a patriotic young man while still in school. He began his military career in Novem ...

. Transferring to the newly created

in 1918, Massey continued his military career through the interwar period. He commanded No. 6 Squadron in operations during the Arab Revolt in Palestine, for which he was awarded the

Distinguished Service Order The Distinguished Service Order (DSO) is a military decoration of the United Kingdom, as well as formerly of other parts of the Commonwealth, awarded for meritorious or distinguished service by officers of the armed forces during wartime, typ ...

, and was a station commander during the early years of 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 was officer commanding of No. 10

Operational Training Unit Royal Air Force Operational Training Units (OTUs) were training units that prepared aircrew for operations on a particular type or types of aircraft or roles. OTUs ; No. 1 (Coastal) Operational Training Unit RAF (1 OTU): The Unit was formed in ...

with temporary rank of group captain made permanent in 1942. He was on a

Short Stirling The Short Stirling was a British four-engined heavy bomber of the Second World War. It has the distinction of being the first four-engined bomber to be introduced into service with the Royal Air Force (RAF). The Stirling was designed during t ...

No. 7 Squadron RAF No. 7 Squadron of the Royal Air Force operates the Boeing Chinook (UK variants), Boeing Chinook HC6 from RAF Odiham, Hampshire. History Formation and early years No. 7 Squadron was formed at Farnborough Airfield on 1 May 1914 as the last squa ...

during the second Thousand-bomber raid when it was shot down near the Dutch coast during a raid in night of 1/2 June 1942, and was captured by the Germans. Massey then became the Senior British Officer at

, and authorised the "Great Escape". Massey walked with a limp and had suffered severe wounds to the same leg in both wars. There would be no escape for him but as Senior British Officer, he had to know what was going on. Massey had been a veteran escaper himself and had been in trouble with 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 experience allowed him to offer sound advice to the X-Organisation. Due to ill-health he was repatriated to the UK in 1944.

Legacy

After Massey's death in 1976, a memorial service in his honour was held on 22 May 1976 at

St Clement Danes St Clement Danes is an Anglican church in the City of Westminster, London. It is situated outside the Royal Courts of Justice on the Strand. Although the first church on the site was reputedly founded in the 9th century by the Danes, the current ...

Church."Memorial Services", ''The Times'', 12 May 1976, p. 32. Massey was the basis for the character "Group Captain Ramsey" in the film '' The Great Escape'' (1963), played by actor

James Donald James Donald (18 May 1917 – 3 August 1993) was a Scottish actor. Tall and thin, he specialised in playing authority figures, particularly military doctors. Early life Donald was born in Aberdeen, the fourth son of a Scottish Presbyterian m ...

. Massey has been portrayed by

Peter Dennis Peter John Dennis (25 October 1933 – 18 April 2009) was a Screen Actors Guild Award and Drama-Logue Award winning English film, television, theatre and voice actor. His extensive career spanned both sides of the Atlantic with projects ...

in the made-for-TV film '' The Great Escape II: The Untold Story'' (1988). In 2016, a

Blue plaque A blue plaque is a permanent sign installed in a public place in the United Kingdom and elsewhere to commemorate a link between that location and a famous person, event, or former building on the site, serving as a historical marker. The term i ...

was unveiled at the Hilton House Hotel where Massey was born, the first Blue Plaque in the village of Hilton.

References

External links

Air of Authority – A History of RAF Organisation – Air Commodore H M Massey
{{DEFAULTSORT:Massey, Herbert 1898 births 1976 deaths British military personnel of the 1936–1939 Arab revolt in Palestine Military personnel from Derbyshire Graduates of the Royal Military College, Sandhurst British amputees British Army personnel of World War I Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Companions of the Distinguished Service Order Recipients of the Military Cross Royal Air Force officers Royal Air Force personnel of World War I Royal Air Force personnel of World War II Royal Flying Corps officers Sherwood Foresters officers World War II prisoners of war held by Germany