Derek Hodgkinson
Air Chief Marshal Sir William Derek Hodgkinson, was a senior Royal Air Force officer. As a bomber pilot in the Second World War, he was shot down and spent time in Stalag Luft III as "Big S", responsible for the security of the escape committee.
Early life
Born near Prestbury, Cheshire, and educated in Repton, Hodgkinson took a short service commission with the RAF in 1936, first flying the Avro Anson multi-role aircraft for RAF Coastal Command and then the American-built Hudson medium-level bomber with No. 220 Squadron RAF.Second World War
When war was declared, Hodgkinson was responsible for patrolling the English Channel from Heligoland Bight to Stavanger, which included patrols during the Dunkirk evacuation. Hodgkinson was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for shooting down a Heinkel HE115 float plane. He then became an instructor with the Operational Training Unit, where in 1942, as a squadron leader, Hodkinson was selected to form part of "Bomber" Harris's 1,000 bomber raids over Germany.The city of Bremen was attacked on the night of 25 June and Hodkinson's Hudson was shot down by a night fighter on the return trip over the Dutch coast. The crew, except Hodgkinson and his navigator were killed. Wounded, Hodgkinson was taken to a hospital as a prisoner of war.
He was later transferred to Stalag Luft III, where he was made responsible for security under the leader of the escape committee "Big X". Stalag Luft III was made famous by the daring mass break-out through tunnels depicted in the film The Great Escape. After several unsuccessful escape attempts, the camp was evacuated ahead of the Russian advance of January 1945 and the prisoners marched through severe winter weather to the naval PoW camp near Bremen. They were again transferred to Hamburg where they were liberated by the British in April 1945.