Tony Snell ( RAF officer ) Flight Lieutenant Anthony Noel " Tony " Snell ( 19 March 1922 – 4 August 2013 ) , was a British RAF pilot during World War II . He flew in the North African campaign in 1942 and was shot down during the Allied invasion of Sicily in 1943 . Initially captured by the Germans he escaped from a firing squad but was recaptured . He again escaped German captivity whilst in Italy and became one of the very few men to bes awarded the DSO exclusively for escaping from the enemy . World War 2 . Snell was born in Tunbridge Wells in 1933 and attended Cheltenham College . In November 1940 he volunteered for the RAF and was shipped to the United States for pilot training under the " Arnold " Scheme . North Africa . Snell returned to England during the summer of 1942 and joined No . 242 Squadron RAF flying Spitfire s . In October 1942 his unit was transferred to North Africa to provide air cover for the Operation Torch landings . For the rest of 1942 and into early 1943 , Snell ' s squadron provided air interception and ground attack sorties in support of the British First Army as it drove towards Tunis . Sicily . After the capitulation of Axis forces in May 1943 , 242 Squadron was reassigned to Malta to refit for Operation Husky , the invasion of Sicily . On July 10 , 1943 , Snell was detailed to provide air cover over the Allied beachhead but was ' bounced ' by German Messerschmitt 109 fighters . His Spitfire was hit and he made crash landed in enemy territory . He initially ran into an Italian patrol and then a German one that fired at him . In his attempt to escape from the Germans he found he had hid in a minefield . After slowly finding his way out of the minefield he was captured by the Germans near an airfield . Thinking Snell was a spy they intended to execute him . Snell made another run for it and managed to again escape but was wounded in the right shoulder . Escape from captivity . Weakened by his wound Snell was recaptured but this time was able to prove he was an Allied pilot . Treated for his wounds he was later transferred to a military hospital in Lucca . After Italy surrendered in September 1943 the Germany Army took control of the prison camp , and directed that the prisoners be transferred by train to Germany . While other prisoners on the train distracted the guards Snell , along with Major Per Lewis , escaped through a small window . The following morning they found they were near Mantova . After a six - day walk they encountered members of the Italian resistance movement near the small village of Fabrico , who helped them hide in a safe house in Modena for almost two months . With help from the resistance the pair gradually made it to the Swiss border , and they returned to England in November 1944 . Lewis was Mentioned in Despatches on 1 January 1945 , and Snell was awarded the Distinguished Service Order , a rare example of the award given for excaping from the enemy . Snell spent time in hospital recuperating and later joined No . 504 Squadron RAF flying Gloster Meteor jet fighters . The squadron was assigned to Germany just after hostilities ceased and Snell remained August 1946 until discharged from the RAF a short while later . Post war . Snell travelled through Africa and met his future wife Jackie in New York in 1964 . They travelled together in the United States and Mexico . He worked as an actor in films and theatre , and also as a songwriter and entertainer throughout his life . He recorded the album " An Englishman Abroad " whilst in New York . Returning to the UK in 1966 , Snell and Jackie moved to Ibiza where they ran a charter service on a catamaran they had sailed there . In 1970 he moved to the British Virgin Islands to run an unsuccessful boat charter company . His wife had opened a restaurant called " The Last Resort " which burnt down . Selling everything left in Ibiza the Snells rebuilt the restaurant into a success . Snell continued to provide entertainment to patrons up until his death . He wrote an account of his life in " Spitfire Troubadour " .