N.Z. AIRMAN

Grey River Argus, 16 September 1941, Page 3

N.Z. AIRMAN

Escape frpm German Camp

(Rec. 1.3). LONDON. Sept. 15. The “Evening Standard’’ gives prominence to a story of the escape from a German prisoner of war camp of a South Canterburyite, Ser-geant-Pilot Christopher Falcon Scott, a member of a New Zealand bomber squadron. Towards the end of last year he was briefed for a raid on Mannheim- over which his Wellington plane was disabled by flak fire. Scott announced he intended crashlanding, and invited the crew to bale out- The crew stayed in. The ground, which looked smooth under the moonlight, from three thousand feet, was found very bumpy. The aeroplane broke in half Scott was knocked out While' Scott was in hospital, German propaganda announced his machine was shot down by a Messerschmitt. Scott for eight months awaited a chance ot escape. Eventually he was able to make a dash to un-occupied France, where hn posed .as a Frenchman, despite his lingual limitations. Eventually he reached Spain and arrived in England exactly a year after his arrival from New Zealand. He reported to his squadronon the evening of his arrival, and was taken to the briefing room, where he was intrigued to hear the bombers’ crews were hriefing for a Mannheim raid. Scott had no complaints concerning the treatment in the prison camp. The food was adequate, because ms physique was slight and his appetite modest.