Leslie Broderick
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Leslie Charles James Broderick (19 May 1921 8 April 2013) was a British
World War II 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 ...
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 ...
Avro Lancaster The Avro Lancaster is a British Second World War heavy bomber. It was designed and manufactured by Avro as a contemporary of the Handley Page Halifax, both bombers having been developed to the same specification, as well as the Short Stirlin ...
bomber pilot and teacher who was a
prisoner of war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of wa ...
in
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 ...
and one of the last three survivors of the " Great Escape".


Early life

Les was born in
Wandsworth Wandsworth Town () is a district of south London, within the London Borough of Wandsworth southwest of Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan The London Plan is the statutory spatial development strategy for the Gre ...
,
London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
and educated at
Bancroft's School Bancroft's School is a co-educational independent day school located in Woodford Green, London Borough of Redbridge. The school currently has around 1,000 pupils aged between 7 and 18, around 200 of whom are pupils of the Preparatory School a ...
. After joining the territorial army in 1939 he was posted to a
searchlight A searchlight (or spotlight) is an apparatus that combines an extremely bright source (traditionally a carbon arc lamp) with a mirrored parabolic reflector to project a powerful beam of light of approximately parallel rays in a particular direc ...
unit on
Canvey Island Canvey Island is a town, civil parishes in England, civil parish and reclaimed island in the Thames estuary, near Southend-on-Sea, in the Castle Point district, in the county of Essex, England. It has an area of and a population of 38,170.Office ...
.


Royal Air Force Service and the "Great Escape"

In 1940 he transferred to 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 ...
, trained as a pilot in
Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...
and was commissioned as an officer. He then served in No. 106 Squadron RAF and completed 18 bombing missions before being forced to crash land in
France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
when returning from a raid on
Stuttgart Stuttgart (; Swabian: ; ) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the Neckar river in a fertile valley known as the ''Stuttgarter Kessel'' (Stuttgart Cauldron) and lies an hour from the ...
and four of his crew were killed. He was then imprisoned in Stalag Luft III where he became a member of an escape tunnelling team. There were three tunnels being dug named Tom, Dick and Harry and Broderick worked for two months in claustrophobic conditions on Dick, but Harry was completed first and after drawing lots he was 52 in the queue to go through that tunnel on the night of 24 March 1944. He and two companions named
Henry Birkland Henry Birkland (16 August 1917 – 31 March 1944), was a Canadian Spitfire pilot who was taken prisoner during the Second World War. He took part in the 'Great Escape' from Stalag Luft III in March 1944, but was one of the men re-captured and murd ...
and Denys Street managed to get clear of the area through nearby forests but they surrendered three days later having made little progress in cold and wet conditions. His companions were then among the 50 escapees who were executed on the orders of
Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...
but Broderick was among the 23 who were spared and he was returned to the camp. In 1945 he survived the 'Long March' westwards away from the
Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and, after ...
.


Later life

He was demobilised in 1945 and after working as a primary school teacher on Canvey Island he moved to
South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...
in 1955 where he continued to work as a teacher until his retirement. He was married with two sons.Leslie Broderick Obituary ''The Times''
Retrieved 18 April 2013

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Broderick, Leslie Royal Air Force officers Royal Air Force pilots of World War II British World War II bomber pilots People from Wandsworth English aviators Shot-down aviators British World War II prisoners of war Participants in the Great Escape from Stalag Luft III World War II prisoners of war held by Germany 1921 births 2013 deaths British Army personnel of World War II