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Richard Pape
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Before the War Richard Pape lived in Yorkshire and worked in the local newspaper. In 1941 he was the pilot of a bomber sent to destroy Goering’s residence in Berlin. The raid was successful, but the Dutch – German border. Pape and another of the crew found refuge with a loyal Dutch family. They helped him and his comrade to meet with the members of the resistance movement. Flans were made to convey the English pilots to the coast and them to England, but they were arrested at Leyden and sent to a prison camp in silisia the prisoners existed at that time on 350 grammes of black potato bread a day and a litre of a watery cabbage soup.
In the camp Pape effected a change identity with a New Zeland solder. He also managed to send some information to the war Office through his collegnes on the Yorkshire Post by using the paper special code. In shocking conditions he worked in a coalmine with Russianprisoners of war and Russian women captives. He escaped with a polish airman whose name was mieteck. It was cold winter and Pape fell ill with pleurisy. He was sheltered in a church and was not fully recovered when he made another attempt to gain freedom helped by the Polish Underground movement.
He collapsed and in delirium was captured by the Gestapo in Cracow. The Gestapo tortured him, but he refused to reveal the information they wanted. At last he was sent to a labour camp in Czechoslovakia from which he escaped into Austria and them to Hungary, where he was recaptured. Eventually he achived repatriation through Sweden by feigning an incurable disease. It was on September 7th, 1944 exactly three years to the day after he had been shot down.
Pape was awarded the military medal for his exploits.
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