Medals of executed Great Escape pilot return home

Medals belonging to a pilot executed after taking part in the famous Great Escape during World War Two have been brought home to his former squadron.

Prisoner of War Flt Lt James "Cookie" Long was one of 50 men shot in 1944 on the orders of Adolf Hitler after escaping the German Stalag Luft III camp.

All but three of the 76 escapees were recaptured but the mass breakout was immortalised in the classic 1963 movie The Great Escape starring Steve McQueen.

RAF Lossiemouth-based IX (Bomber) Squadron has now been presented with his medals, after a deal was agreed with a collector.

The squadron’s association had tracked the medals down to New Zealand after learning of their pending auction.

Having secured thousands of pounds worth of pledges from its members, the association negotiated a private sale.

The 1939-45 Star, Air Crew Europe Star, and 1939-1945 War Medal with Bronze Oak Leaf will now be displayed in the squadron’s heritage room at Lossiemouth.

They will sit alongside other artefacts from the squadron’s 110-year history.

Flt Lt Long was the co-pilot on a 1941 raid on Cologne when his Wellington bomber was attacked by a German fighter and crashed in the Netherlands.

Having bailed out, the crew were captured and initially imprisoned in Stalag Luft I.

After several escape attempts, he was moved to the Stalag Luft III in 1942.

It was at the camp that he gained the nickname Cookie, reputedly for his ability to make illicit alcohol.

He was rumoured to have inspired James Garner’s character Hendley, nicknamed "The Scrounger" in the movie for his ability to procure items useful for the escape.

Gp Capt James Heeps, Typhoon deputy force commander and president of the IX (Bomber) Squadron Association, said: "We have always been proud of our squadron’s heritage and over the years have attended many Great Escape anniversary events to remember Cookie.

"But even so I was surprised by the speed and generosity of association members’ responses to the fund-raising campaign which enabled this purchase."

Gp Capt James Heeps said the collector - who wishes to remain anonymous - had withdrawn the medals from auction and sold them well below valuation to "enable their return home to the IX (Bomber) Squadron family".

He has been made an honorary member of the association "in recognition of his generosity".

In an unexpected twist, the current commanding officer of IX(B) Squadron spotted his uncle in an old photograph of Cookie and fellow prisoners at Stalag Luft III.

Wing Cdr Chris Pearson said: "I’d always known that my uncle Alec had helped with The Great Escape, distributing earth despite being too tall to crawl through the tunnels.

"I’d also known about Cookie, having served on the squadron as a junior officer. However, it’d never crossed my mind that they would have known each other.

“As the squadron was getting ready to receive the medals, we looked through a trove of documents gifted to us some years ago by Cookie’s family and found a photograph of the two men together in a signed menu for the Stalag Luft III Christmas dinner in 1942.

"I turned white and the hairs on the back of my neck stood on end."

The medals of Cooke's lead pilot, Flt Lt (later Squadron Leader) John Shore, are also now on display at RAF Lossiemouth.

His son, Wing Cdr (retired) Ian Shore, said: "It was an honour to be present with my father’s medals at this special occasion."

As well as Steve McQueen and James Garner, The Great Escape also starred Richard Attenborough, Charles Bronson, James Coburn and Gordon Jackson.