John Robert Edward Hamilton-Baillie MC (1 March 1919 – 16 April 2003), was a British

Royal Engineers The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the ''Sappers'', is a corps of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces and is heade ...

officer famed for numerous escapes from German prisoner of war camps during World War II. During his later life he was a founder of the Fortress Study Group, a prominent member of the Concrete Society, and a dedicated fund raiser for the Red Cross.

Early life

John Robert Edward Hamilton-Baillie was born at

Carlisle Carlisle ( , ; from xcb, Caer Luel) is a city that lies within the Northern England, Northern English county of Cumbria, south of the Anglo-Scottish border, Scottish border at the confluence of the rivers River Eden, Cumbria, Eden, River C ...

Cumberland Cumberland ( ) is a historic county in the far North West England. It covers part of the Lake District as well as the north Pennines and Solway Firth coast. Cumberland had an administrative function from the 12th century until 1974. From 19 ...

, on 1 March 1919. A scion of the noble Hamilton family, he was descended from the sixth Earl of Haddington. He was educated at Clifton College and the

Royal Military Academy, Woolwich The Royal Military Academy (RMA) at Woolwich, in south-east London, was a British Army military academy for the training of commissioned officers of the Royal Artillery and Royal Engineers. It later also trained officers of the Royal Corps of Sig ...

, following which he was commissioned into the Royal Engineers and posted to the 26th Field Company.

Second World War

Hamilton-Baillie's company was mobilised with the 1st Division and sent to France at the start of the war. Shortly afterwards the company was transferred to the

51st (Highland) Infantry Division The 51st (Highland) Division was an infantry division of the British Army that fought on the Western Front in France during the First World War from 1915 to 1918. The division was raised in 1908, upon the creation of the Territorial Force, as ...

and stationed in the Saar region to gain experience on the

Maginot Line The Maginot Line (french: Ligne Maginot, ), named after the French Minister of War André Maginot, is a line of concrete fortifications, obstacles and weapon installations built by France in the 1930s to deter invasion by Germany and force the ...

. With the advance of the German forces, Hamilton-Baillie was wounded and captured at Saint-Valery-en-Caux. After recovering from his wounds he was moved to a prison camp at Peronne from which he and another officer escaped but were recaptured after three days. Hamilton-Baillie was moved again to Oflag VII-C at Laufen from which he attempted to escape via a tunnel, but the exit was discovered before the escape could be made. As a result of his efforts, Hamilton-Baillie was moved to Oflag VII-D at

Tittmoning Tittmoning () is a town in the district of Traunstein, in Bavaria, Germany. Geography It is situated in the historic Rupertiwinkel region, on the left bank of the river Salzach, which forms the border with the municipality of Ostermiething in th ...

, a medieval castle on an isolated plateau in Bavaria, Germany. Making his next escape alone in spring 1941 he let himself through the wire and walked on foot a distance of almost 200 miles in ten days towards the Swiss border. Unfortunately his map was inaccurate and he was recaptured a matter of yards from freedom. Shortly after his return to Tittmoning, Hamilton-Baillie was moved to Oflag VI-B at Warburg. In conjunction with the men there a mass escape was planned involving hinged ladders to cross the wire and a tunnel, the escape being covered by fusing of the camp lights and a diversion. Forty one prisoners escaped, three of whom managed to get back to Britain; one escapee died when the tunnel collapsed. Hamilton-Baillie was next held in Oflag VII-B at Eichstätt in Bavaria. Here he joined a group of tunnellers in a well-organised escape group, helping to build a long well-supported tunnel with forced air ventilation and electric lighting. In June 1943 Hamilton-Baillie and 64 others staged a mass breakout but all were recaptured within two weeks. Finally, Hamilton-Baillie was moved to Oflag IV-C ( Colditz Castle) from which he made a number of attempts to escape but remained incarcerated until liberation by the 69th Infantry Division (United States) in April 1945. In December 1945 he was awarded the Military Cross for his many escape attempts and assistance to other prisoners.

Post war service

After the war Hamilton-Baillie attended Cambridge University, graduating from Sidney Sussex College with a First in Mechanical Sciences. In 1950 he attended Staff College in

Camberley Camberley is a town in the Borough of Surrey Heath in Surrey, England, approximately south-west of Central London. The town is in the far west of the county, close to the borders of Hampshire and Berkshire. Once part of Windsor Forest, Cambe ...

and was then posted to the 44th Parachute Brigade as brigade major. This was followed by a series of BAOR postings starting with the command of 5 Field Squadron RE in 1953. In 1959 he became chief instructor of the Army Apprentices School in Chepstow. After a series of senior administrative roles in the Middle East and Germany, his final appointment was as Brigadier Engineer Plans in the

Ministry of Defence {{unsourced, date=February 2021 A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a government responsible for matters of defence, found in states ...

during which he was aide-de-camp (ADC) to the Queen between 1972 and 1974.

Later life

Hamilton-Baillie retired from the army in 1974 and spent the following 10 years as lecturer in soil mechanics and geology at the Royal Military College of Science, Shrivenham. He was one of the founding members of the Fortress Study Group in 1975 and served as chairman for a number of years. He was also a firm supporter of the Red Cross and a prominent member of the Concrete Society.

Honours and awards

*20 December 1945 - Lieutenant John Robert Edward Hamilton-Baillie (85553), Corps of Royal Engineers, is awarded the Military Cross in recognition of gallant and distinguished services in the field.

Notes

References

Telegraph Obituary
NOTE Tittmoning is in Bavaria, not Czech Republic as stated in the Telegraph obituary

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hamilton-Baille, John Recipients of the Military Cross People educated at Clifton College 1919 births 2003 deaths Royal Engineers officers British Army personnel of World War II Prisoners of war held at Colditz Castle British escapees Alumni of Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge Escapees from German detention People from Carlisle, Cumbria