Harry Day Group Captain Harry Melville Arbuthnot Day GC , DSO , OBE ( 3 August 1898 – 11 March 1977 ) was a Royal Marine and later an RAF pilot during the Second World War . As a prisoner of war he was Senior British Officer in a number of different camps and a noted escapee . Early life . Day was born in Sarawak on Borneo and grew up there . His grandfather had been a major in the 66th Foot before forming a private army for Charles Brooke the second White Rajahs of Sarawak , which became known as the Sarawak Rangers . Day ' s father had joined the Rajah ' s service and became a Sarawak resident . Day ' s great - uncle was George Fiott Day who had won the Victoria Cross during the Crimean War . He is also a descendant of George Miller Bligh who was an officer on during the Battle of Trafalgar . Day was sent to England and was educated at Haileybury College , where he joined the Officers Cadet Corp and whilst on manoeuvres he was wounded when shot in the back with a blank cartridge . He joined the Royal Marines in 1916 and was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant . World War I . Day served with a Royal Marine detachment on the battleship HMS " Britannia " . On 9 November 1918 , two days before the armistice , the ship was torpedoed and sunk . Day distinguished himself by twice returning below deck , through smoke and flames , to rescue two injured men trapped inside which included the ward - room steward . For this act of bravery , Day was awarded Albert Medal ( sea , second class ) . The citation appeared in the " London Gazette " on 7 January 1919 . In 1971 all Albert Medal holders became eligible to exchange their award for a George Cross , which Day did . Inter war years . Day was promoted to lieutenant in 1919 and his first command was with a marine detachment on HMS " Isis " , an " Eclipse " - class cruiser , before joining HMS " Malaya " . Later he commanded the Marine detachment from HMS " Caledon " at the burning of Smyrna , helping to evactuate Greek survivors of the Turkish massacres . He also saw service with the Fleet during the League of Nations involvement at Memel . He stayed with the marines until 1924 when he moved to the Fleet Air Arm as a flying officer serving with the Royal Air Force during the late 1920s before receiving a permanent commission in 1930 as a flight lieutenant . He joined No . 23 Squadron RAF flying Gloster Gamecock s , with which he led the RAF Synchronised Aerobatics Display Team , which included Douglas Bader at the 1931 Hendon Air Show , and other displays . He held posts at RAF Abu Sueir and Khartoum , was promoted to squadron leader in 1936 , then commands at Aboukir , Netheravon before commanding an Advanced Flying Training School at RAF Little Rissington . When war was imminent , he was promised a staff job at RAF Bomber Command headquarters , however he requested to join an operational squadron . This was approved , and in July 1939 he was promoted to wing commander and placed in command of 57 Squadron stationed at RAF Upper Heyford . World War II . He was over 40 when World War II began , and with No . 57 Squadron RAF , he moved to Metz as part of the Air Component of the British Expeditionary Force , equipped with the Bristol Blenheim light bomber . He volunteered to carry out the squadron ' s first operational mission , a flight from Metz to reconnoitre Hamm - Hannover - Soest on 13 October 1939 . His Blenheim L1138 was however shot down by a Me109 flown by " Uffz . " Stephan Lutjens , of 11 . / JG 53 near Birkenfeld . Day managed to bail out , suffering burns to his face and hands , but otherwise landed safely by parachute . He was immediately captured by the Germans and placed in the custody of Luftwaffe doctor Hermann Gauch . His two crew - mates , Sgt E . B . Hillier and AC1 F . G . Moller were both killed . Prisoner of War . Upon his capture , Day became a prisoner of war . He spent a few days at a German Army hospital having his burns treated , before spending two weeks at a small camp at Oberursel ( which later became known as Dulag Luft ) . He was then sent to Oflag IX - A / H at Spangenberg , arriving there at the end of October . He took over the role of Senior British Officer at this camp , and became responsible for the well - being of the handful of British RAF prisoners who had entered captivity so early in the war . Day , with six RAF and five French POWs , left Oflag IX - A / H in December 1939 to be sent to Dulag Luft near Oberursel to become a ' permanent ' staff at this new transit camp . Dulag Luft . Day , again due to his seniority in rank , held the post of Senior British Officer , and also headed the permanent staff whose job was to help newly captured aircrew adapt to life as prisoners of war . Until the Norwegian Campaign began in April 1940 , very few prisoners entered the camp , and life was fairly relaxed . Day got on well with the German commandant , Major Rumpel . The permanent staff were also allowed out on parole walks , enjoyed ample Red Cross food , and a good relationship with the German guards . This ' privileged friendliness ' caused suspicion with newly captured RAF aircrew who passed through the camp and many accusations of collaboration were made against Day and his other colleagues . However , collaboration with the Germans could not have been further from the truth , and in fact , Day had already been sending intelligence back home in coded letters , and together with other members of the permanent staff , including Roger Bushell , Jimmy Buckley and Johnnie Dodge , he had been active in construction of a tunnel , starting from under his bed , which was completed in the spring of 1941 . Dulag Luft escape . In June 1941 , Day and 17 others tunnelled out of the camp . This was the first mass escape of the war . Day travelled on foot alone , aiming to walk down the Moselle Valley and into France but was recaptured five days later looking like a tramp . All the escapers were recaptured and after spending a few days in jail at Frankfurt am Main all were transferred to Stalag Luft I . Major Rumpel congratulated Day on his attempt . Stalag Luft I . Day arrived at Stalag Luft I in July 1941 , and immediately took over the role of Senior British Officer . Any suspicions felt about Day from his time a Dulag Luft were quickly dissolved when the other inmates of the camp learnt of his exploits . At this camp , Day set up an escape organisation , headed by Jimmy Buckley , by which all escape attempts , intelligence gathering and escape preparations were controlled . This organisation became the model used at all other allied POW camps for the remainder of the war . Day partly oversaw a mass escape attempt in August 1941 when 12 officers tried to escape using a tunnel , however the escape was discovered as the third person left the exit , and all three escapers were recaptured . When this camp was closed in March 1942 , Day with all RAF inmates were transferred to the east compound at the newly built Stalag Luft III at Sagan . Stalag Luft III - East Compound . Here he made a second escape attempt using a forged interpreter ' s pass . While in solitary confinement after that escape he tried a third escape but was again recaptured . Oflag XXI - B . In October 1942 he was sent to Oflag XXI - B at Schubin where in March 1943 he tunnelled out through the latrine tunnel with William Ash , Peter Stevens , Aidan Crawley and others . This time Day headed east to Poland , hoping to get on a ship to Sweden . He was recaptured and sent back to Schubin , before being transferred back to Sagan . Stalag Luft III — North Compound and The Great Escape . Together with Roger Bushell he planned and organised The Great Escape . On 24 March 1944 , Day and 75 others took part in The Great Escape and he made his way to Stettin . Disguised as a British Colonel under guard by another escapee ( Pavel Tobolski ) , who was dressed as a German soldier , they travelled by train , through Berlin , reaching Stettin on the evening of the next day . There they sought help from some French workers and were taken to a French workers camp . Unfortunately they were betrayed by an informer in the camp and arrested the following day . After a brief stay in the local jail , Day was taken to Berlin and was interviewed by Arthur Nebe , the man who selected the 50 escapers to be murdered , which included Tobolski . Day was spared execution . Day later said that Hitler had ordered his execution personally , but that Hermann Goering had asked him to relent because Day and his family were so well known to the public . Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp . After interrogation by the Gestapo he was sent to Sachsenhausen concentration camp , from where he and four others ( including three survivors from the Great Escape ) managed another tunnel escape . After another visit to Gestapo headquarters he was held in solitary confinement in the death cells at Sachsenhausen . Hostage in Tyrol . In February 1945 he was transferred to Dachau via Flossenburg . In April 1945 , he was transferred to Tyrol together with other prominent prisoners . He made one final escape attempt in the final weeks of the war when the prisoners had limited freedom within the city limits while being held in Villa Bassa ( now Niederdorf ) . On April 28 , Day stole a Volkswagen and drove to the Allied lines where he informed the Allied Forces of the hostage situation in Tyrol . However , the following day one of the German prisoners , Colonel von Bonin , telephoned , Captain Wichard von Alvensleben in nearby Bozen , asking him to send his Wehrmacht unit to Villa Bassa in order to protect the prisoners from the SS guards . The Wehrmacht troops freed the hostages on April 30 after forcing their guards to flee . For his services while a prisoner he was awarded the Distinguished Service Order and was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire . He was also awarded the United States Legion of Merit ( Officer Class ) for his services to American POW s . Later life . Day was promoted to group captain in 1946 before retiring from service in 1950 . He acted as technical advisor for the films " Reach for the Sky " and " The Great Escape " . The book " Wings Day " by Sydney Smith ( Squadron Leader Eric Sydney - Smith RAF ) is an account of Day ' s exploits as a Prisoner of War . Sydney - Smith was also a POW and was held with Day for several years . The book was first published by Willian Collins & Sons & Co Ltd 1968 , re - released by Pan Books ( London ) in 1970 . ISBN 0 - 330 - 02494 - 9 . Day also heavily features in the biography of Douglas Bader " Reach for the Sky " by Paul Brickhill and " The Great Escape " also by Brickhill . Harry Day was a much loved and admired man , whose courage went hand in hand with an attractive unconventionality and sense of humour . Married to Margo , he lived mainly in the Isle of Wight or at 6 , Trevor Square , London . He died in Blue Sister ' s Hospital , Malta on 11 March 1977 , aged 78 .