Group Captain Group captain (Gp Capt or G/C) is a senior officer rank used by some air forces, with origins from the Royal Air Force. The rank is used by air forces of many Commonwealth of Nations, countries that have historical British influence. Group cap ...

Brian Paddon DSO (24 August 190821 February 1967), was a

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...

pilot who became a

prisoner of war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of war for a ...

and successfully escaped from

Colditz Castle Colditz Castle (or ''Schloss Colditz'' in German) is a Renaissance architecture, Renaissance castle in the town of Colditz near Leipzig, Dresden and Chemnitz in the States of Germany, state of Saxony in Germany. The castle is between the towns o ...

during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

Early life

Paddon was born in

Carshalton Carshalton ( ) is a town, with a historic village centre, in south London, England, within the London Borough of Sutton. It is situated around southwest of Charing Cross and around east by north of Sutton town centre, in the valley of the Rive ...

Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

, the son of the Reverend Charles Salmon Paddon and his wife Nellie Symington Paddon.Royal Aero Club Aviator's Licence 10796. In the 1911 Census of Redruth in Cornwall, Paddon, aged two, is living with his parents at Lannarth Vicarage. 1911 Census of Redruth, RG14/13962, Brian Paddon, age 2, at Lannarth Vicarage, Redruth, Cornwall, born Carshalton, Surrey.

Royal Air Force service

Paddon joined the RAF on a short service commission as a

pilot officer Pilot officer (Plt Off or P/O) is a junior officer rank used by some air forces, with origins from the Royal Air Force. The rank is used by air forces of many countries that have historical British influence. Pilot officer is the lowest ran ...

(on probation) in June 1929. He obtained his

Royal Aero Club The Royal Aero Club (RAeC) is the national co-ordinating body for air sport in the United Kingdom. It was founded in 1901 as the Aero Club of Great Britain, being granted the title of the "Royal Aero Club" in 1910. History The Aero Club was foun ...

Aviator's Licence #10796 on 3 September 1932. Paddon was shot down flying

Bristol Blenheim The Bristol Blenheim is a British light bomber designed and built by the Bristol Aeroplane Company, which was used extensively in the first two years of the Second World War, with examples still being used as trainers until the end of the war. ...

L8827 of No. 40 Squadron RAF during an attack at

Saint-Valéry-en-Caux Saint-Valery-en-Caux (, literally ''Saint-Valery in Caux'') is a commune in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy region in northern France. The addition of an acute accent on the "e" (Valéry) is incorrect. Geography The town is loca ...

on 6 June 1940 as part of the

Battle of France The Battle of France (; 10 May – 25 June 1940), also known as the Western Campaign (), the French Campaign (, ) and the Fall of France, during the Second World War was the Nazi Germany, German invasion of the Low Countries (Belgium, Luxembour ...

.Chorley, W R. (1998). RAF Bomber Command Losses of the Second World War, Vol 1 – 1939/1940. Midland Publishing. . Page 72. He was captured and became a

Prisoner of war

After passing through the interrogation and transit camp of Dulag luft, he was first sent to

Oflag IX-A/H Oflag IX-A was a World War II German prisoner-of-war camp located in Spangenberg Castle in the small town of Spangenberg in northeastern Hesse, Germany. Camp history The camp was opened in October 1939 as Oflag IX-AMattiello (1986), p.206 to hou ...

Spangenberg Spangenberg is a small town in northeastern Hesse, Germany. Geography Spangenberg lies in the Schwalm-Eder district some southeast of Kassel, west of the Stölzinger Gebirge, a low mountain range. Spangenberg is the demographic centrepoint of ...

, before shortly afterwards leaving for

Stalag Luft I Stalag Luft I was a German World War II prisoner-of-war (POW) camp near Barth, Western Pomerania, Germany, for captured Allied airmen. The presence of the prison camp is said to have shielded the town of Barth from Allied bombing. About 9,000 ...

at Barth, arriving there on 12 July 1940, where he became the Senior British Officer. After several escape attempts from various camps, he was sent to

Oflag IV-C Oflag IV-C, generally known as Colditz Castle, was a prominent German Army prisoner-of-war camp for captured Allied officers during World War II. Located in Colditz, Saxony, the camp operated within the medieval Colditz Castle, which overlooks th ...

, arriving there on 14 May 1941 with three other officers, including

Airey Neave Lieutenant Colonel Airey Middleton Sheffield Neave, () (23 January 1916 – 30 March 1979) was a British soldier, lawyer and Member of Parliament (MP) from 1953 until his assassination in 1979. During the Second World War he was the first ...

. After several more attempts to escape, on 11 June 1942, he was sent to a

court-martial A court-martial (plural ''courts-martial'' or ''courts martial'', as "martial" is a postpositive adjective) is a military court or a trial conducted in such a court. A court-martial is empowered to determine the guilt of members of the arme ...

Stalag XX-A Stalag XX-A was a German World War II German prisoner-of-war camps in World War II, prisoner-of-war camp located in Toruń in Occupation of Poland (1939–1945), German-occupied Poland. It was not a single camp and contained as many as 20,000 men ...

for insulting a German officer during one of his previous escape attempts. However, he managed to escape from his cell, and with the aid of other British prisoners of war, left the camp with a work party by picking up a ladder and placing on his shoulder, slipped away and travelled to Danzig. He didn't put the ladder down. No one stopped him. ource: personal family stories handed down the generations He stowed away on a Swedish ship and successfully reached neutral Sweden on 18 June. He returned to the UK on 6 August 1942. He was awarded the

Distinguished Service Order The Distinguished Service Order (DSO) is a Military awards and decorations, military award of the United Kingdom, as well as formerly throughout the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth, awarded for operational gallantry for highly successful ...

and promoted to

group captain Group captain (Gp Capt or G/C) is a senior officer rank used by some air forces, with origins from the Royal Air Force. The rank is used by air forces of many Commonwealth of Nations, countries that have historical British influence. Group cap ...

. He was also awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross. Paddon retired from service on 10 November 1950.

Family life

Paddon married Sheila Mary Mansell in 1935, but she died in Malta on 23 September 1939. They had two daughters. He married again in 1948 to Anita Williams; they had three daughters both born in Rhodesia. He later married Kay Paddon. He died in retirement in Rhodesia in 1967.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Paddon, Brian 1908 births 1967 deaths Royal Air Force group captains English aviators British World War II pilots British World War II bomber pilots British World War II prisoners of war Prisoners of war held at Colditz Castle World War II prisoners of war held by Germany British escapees Shot-down aviators Companions of the Distinguished Service Order Royal Air Force personnel who were court-martialled