Thomas Ion Victor Ferguson known as Ion Ferguson

Royal Army Medical Corps The Royal Army Medical Corps (RAMC) is a specialist corps in the British Army which provides medical services to all Army personnel and their families, in war and in peace. The RAMC, the Royal Army Veterinary Corps, the Royal Army Dental Corps a ...

(1913 – 1990) was an Irish volunteer for the

British army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

who escaped from Oflag IV-C,

Colditz Castle Castle Colditz (or ''Schloss Colditz'' in German) is a Renaissance castle in the town of Colditz near Leipzig, Dresden and Chemnitz in the state of Saxony in Germany. The castle is between the towns of Hartha and Grimma on a hill spur over the r ...

, 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 ...

Early life and family

He was born on 21 April 1913 in

Knockcloghrim Knockloughrim or Knockcloghrim () is a small village near Maghera in County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. In the 2001 Census it had a population of 186 people. Knockloughrim lies within the civil parish of Termoneeny and is part of the former ...

County Londonderry County Londonderry ( Ulster-Scots: ''Coontie Lunnonderrie''), also known as County Derry ( ga, Contae Dhoire), is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, one of the thirty two counties of Ireland and one of the nine counties of Ulster. B ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

to parents Ion Ferguson (1882–1962) and Annie Victoria Makin Ferguson, née Fisher (1887–1969). His parents married in August, 1912 the year before Ion's birth. His father died aged 79 in 1962 and mother aged 81 in 1969. His father also had a brother named Sidney Clement Ferguson born in

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdo ...

(1918–1973). In 1939, at the outbreak of World War II, the family moved to Croft House in Church Street,

Whitworth, Lancashire Whitworth is a town and civil parish in Rossendale, Lancashire, England, amongst the foothills of the Pennines between Bacup, to the north, and Rochdale, to the south. It had a population of 7,500 at the 2011 Census. Whitworth spans the Whit ...

a small town north of

Rochdale Rochdale ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, at the foothills of the South Pennines in the dale on the River Roch, northwest of Oldham and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough ...

. Sidney died on 24 March 1973, in

Rainhill Rainhill is a village and civil parish within the Metropolitan Borough of St Helens, in Merseyside, England. The population of the civil parish taken at the 2011 census was 10,853. Historically part of Lancashire, Rainhill was formerly a townsh ...

, Lancashire at the age of 55. Ion was married to Eileen May O'Brien.

RAF 30 Squadron and German capture

Ferguson, was in RAF 30 Squadron based in

Eleusis Elefsina ( el, Ελευσίνα ''Elefsina''), or Eleusis (; Ancient Greek: ''Eleusis'') is a suburban city and Communities and Municipalities of Greece, municipality in the West Attica regional unit of Greece. It is situated about northwest ...

, Greece from November, 1940. He contributed towards the Greek defence against the Italians. After the German invasion the squadron was forced to evacuate to Crete until 15 May 1941 and then back to Egypt with the three remaining airworthy Blenheim aircraft. However, he was captured by the Germans in 1941 and held as a POW until 1945. He was moved to

after protesting to the German authorities about the treatment of prisoners. According to ''

Punch Punch commonly refers to: * Punch (combat), a strike made using the hand closed into a fist * Punch (drink), a wide assortment of drinks, non-alcoholic or alcoholic, generally containing fruit or fruit juice Punch may also refer to: Places * Pun ...

'' magazine, "Dr. Ferguson is a typical Irish rebel who kicked against the authority of senior officers until becoming a P.O.W., when he would not allow the Germans to ill-treat anyone without voluble protest. His intransigence landed him in Colditz..." Whilst incarcerated in Colditz in a ploy to attract the attention of the German authorities, Ferguson wrote a letter to an Irish friend, the son of Éamon de Valera, the Irish

Taoiseach The Taoiseach is the head of government, or prime minister, of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The office is appointed by the president of Ireland upon the nomination of Dáil Éireann (the lower house of the Oireachtas, Ireland's national legisl ...

, in which he called for Ireland to join the war on the Allies' side. As intended, the letter was stopped by the German censors but his wish to be moved to another prison camp was granted and he was moved to

Stalag IV-D Stalag IV-D was a German World War II prisoner-of-war camp located in the town of Torgau, Saxony, about north-east of Leipzig. Camp history The camp comprised two buildings located in the town. The main camp was located on Naundorfer Strasse, ab ...

. In Stalag IV-D, he coached two RAF prisoners to convincingly simulate schizophrenia, who were consequently repatriated, while waiting for his own repatriation to Britain in the same way.

Own biography and death

Ferguson wrote a biography of his wartime experiences in ''Doctor at War'' (1957). Ferguson died in 1990 aged 77. His funeral was held in Rochdale, Lancashire.

Bibliography

* ''Doctor at War'', Panther Books, (1957)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ferguson, Ion 1913 births 1990 deaths British Army personnel of World War II Prisoners of war held at Colditz Castle Royal Army Medical Corps officers World War II prisoners of war held by Germany 20th-century Irish medical doctors Place of birth missing Irish officers in the British Army