page_title: James Catanach
section_title: The Great Escape
hierarchical_section_title: James Catanach / The Great Escape
caption_attribution_description: Català: Recordatori pels oficials afusellats. Deutsch: Mahnmal für die erschossenen Offiziere. English: Memorial to "The Fifty" down the road toward Żagań. Memorial to "The Fifty" Allied airmen executed after the "Great Escape". Español: Memorial «a Los 50». Lietuvių: Sušaudytų karo lakūnų belaisvių kapas Poznanėje. Nederlands: Herdenkingsmonument voor "De vijftig", langs de weg richting Zagan[19]. Polski: Pomnik upamiętniającą rozstrzelanych lotników. Na trzeciej tablicy w lewej kolumnie widnieje nazwisko Włodzimierza Kolanowskiego.
context_page_description: James Catanach, known as "Jim" or Jimmy, was an Australian Handley Page Hampden bomber pilot who was taken prisoner during the Second World War. Reportedly the youngest squadron leader bomber pilot in the Royal Australian Air Force at the age of twenty he is notable for the part he took in the 'Great Escape' from Stalag Luft III in March 1944 and as one of the men re-captured and subsequently shot by the Gestapo.
context_section_description: Catanach 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". Catanach was fluent in German and took trouble to learn conversational Norwegian from Scandinavian prisoners in the prison camp. He teamed up with two Norwegians, Halldor Espelid and Nils Jørgen Fuglesang, and the New Zealander Arnold George Christensen who was of Scandinavian descent, in a group heading for Denmark and possibly ultimately neutral Sweden. Catanach and Christensen reached Berlin as they were seen there by other escapers before changing trains to  Hamburg which they also reached successfully only to be caught on the next leg of their rail journey from Hamburg to the naval town of Flensburg on the Danish border. Nearing the border  suspicious policemen insisted on carefully examining their papers, checking their briefcases which contained newspapers and escape rations. Close inspection of their clothing revealed they were wearing altered greatcoats. Although the four escapers has split up to pretend to be travelling individually they were all in the same railway carriage, more policemen arrived and closely examined every passenger, soon arresting all four suspects. The escapers were taken to Flensburg prison.
  The four airmen were handed over to the Kiel Gestapo and after interrogation were told that they would be taken by road back to prison camp. On 29 March 1944, two or three black sedan cars arrived, Catanach was taken in the first car with three Gestapo agents including SS-Sturmbannfuhrer Johannes Post a senior officer based there. Post had his driver stop the car in the countryside outside Kiel about 1630 hours and called Catanach out into a field where he promptly shot him. The second (and possibly a third) car drew up in the same place shortly afterwards and Post told his agents to get Christensen, Espelid and Fuglesang out, stating that they should take a  break before their long drive.  As the airmen walked into the field they almost stumbled over Catanach's body as they were also shot. Catanach was one of the 50 escapers who had been listed by SS-Gruppenfuhrer Arthur Nebe to be killed so was amongst those executed and murdered by the Gestapo. His remains were buried at Sagan but he now lies in part of the Poznan Old Garrison Cemetery. The Australian press maintained a chase for information and justice for their murdered airmen. Strangely his name was not on the list of murdered officers which was published by newspapers on 20 May 1944.
caption: Memorial to "The Fifty" down the road toward Żagań (Catanach at left)
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