Walter Morison
Encyclopedia
Flight Lieutenant
Walter McDonald Morison (26 November 1919 - 26 March 2009) was a Royal Air Force
pilot who became a prisoner of war
and was sent to Colditz
for attempting to steal an enemy aircraft during the Second World War.
at the outbreak of war in September 1939, and was trained as a pilot. He was commissioned as a Pilot Officer
on 30 November 1940.
On the night of June 5/6 1942 he was in collision with Wellington X3339 from 156 Squadron piloted by Sgt Guy Chamberlin RAFVR, flying a Wellington
bomber and he became a prisoner of war
. He was the sole survivor of the 5 man crew. Walter Morison had been Guy Chamberlin's instructor at RAF Lossiemouth around the beginning of 1942. All the crew of X3339 were killed and are buried in the same row at the Reischwald Forest War Cemetery near Kleve in Germany.
He was sent to Stalag Luft III
POW Camp at Sagan
.
He was promoted to Flight Lieutenant
on 30 November 1942 whilst being held as a POW
On 12 June 1943, Morison with 25 others escaped from the camp during what was known as the delousing break
. Accompanied by Flight Lieutenant
Lorne Welch
they walked to a nearby airfield and attempted to steal an aircraft, but had to abandon the attempt when the aircraft crew appeared to fly away the aircraft. Shortly afterwards they were recaptured and sent to Oflag IV-C
at Colditz
.
He was liberated from Colditz by the American army in April 1945.
Flight Lieutenant
Flight lieutenant is a junior commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and the air forces of many Commonwealth countries. It ranks above flying officer and immediately below squadron leader. The name of the rank is the complete phrase; it is never shortened to "lieutenant"...
Walter McDonald Morison (26 November 1919 - 26 March 2009) was a Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...
pilot who became a prisoner of war
Prisoner of war
A prisoner of war or enemy prisoner of war is a person, whether civilian or combatant, who is held in custody by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict...
and was sent to Colditz
Oflag IV-C
Oflag IV-C, often referred to as Colditz Castle because of its location, was one of the most famous German Army prisoner-of-war camps for officers in World War II; Oflag is a shortening of Offizierslager, meaning "officers camp"...
for attempting to steal an enemy aircraft during the Second World War.
Royal Air Force service
Morison joined the Royal Air ForceRoyal Air Force
The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...
at the outbreak of war in September 1939, and was trained as a pilot. He was commissioned as a Pilot Officer
Pilot Officer
Pilot officer is the lowest commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and the air forces of many other Commonwealth countries. It ranks immediately below flying officer...
on 30 November 1940.
On the night of June 5/6 1942 he was in collision with Wellington X3339 from 156 Squadron piloted by Sgt Guy Chamberlin RAFVR, flying a Wellington
Vickers Wellington
The Vickers Wellington was a British twin-engine, long range medium bomber designed in the mid-1930s at Brooklands in Weybridge, Surrey, by Vickers-Armstrongs' Chief Designer, R. K. Pierson. It was widely used as a night bomber in the early years of the Second World War, before being displaced as a...
bomber and he became a prisoner of war
Prisoner of war
A prisoner of war or enemy prisoner of war is a person, whether civilian or combatant, who is held in custody by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict...
. He was the sole survivor of the 5 man crew. Walter Morison had been Guy Chamberlin's instructor at RAF Lossiemouth around the beginning of 1942. All the crew of X3339 were killed and are buried in the same row at the Reischwald Forest War Cemetery near Kleve in Germany.
He was sent to Stalag Luft III
Stalag Luft III
Stalag Luft III was a Luftwaffe-run prisoner-of-war camp during World War II that housed captured air force servicemen. It was in the German Province of Lower Silesia near the town of Sagan , southeast of Berlin...
POW Camp at Sagan
Zagan
Zagan may refer to:*Zagan - a demon in the Ars Goetia*Żagań - a town in west Poland...
.
He was promoted to Flight Lieutenant
Flight Lieutenant
Flight lieutenant is a junior commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and the air forces of many Commonwealth countries. It ranks above flying officer and immediately below squadron leader. The name of the rank is the complete phrase; it is never shortened to "lieutenant"...
on 30 November 1942 whilst being held as a POW
On 12 June 1943, Morison with 25 others escaped from the camp during what was known as the delousing break
Delousing break
The Delousing break was a mass escape attempt by British, American and Allied Aircrew Officer Prisoners of War during the Second World War. It occurred on 12 June 1943 from the North Compound of Stalag Luft III POW camp in Germany- Main Party :...
. Accompanied by Flight Lieutenant
Flight Lieutenant
Flight lieutenant is a junior commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and the air forces of many Commonwealth countries. It ranks above flying officer and immediately below squadron leader. The name of the rank is the complete phrase; it is never shortened to "lieutenant"...
Lorne Welch
Lorne Welch
Patrick Palles Lorne Elphinstone Welch, , known as Lorne Welch, was a British engineer, pilot and Colditz prisoner of war....
they walked to a nearby airfield and attempted to steal an aircraft, but had to abandon the attempt when the aircraft crew appeared to fly away the aircraft. Shortly afterwards they were recaptured and sent to Oflag IV-C
Oflag IV-C
Oflag IV-C, often referred to as Colditz Castle because of its location, was one of the most famous German Army prisoner-of-war camps for officers in World War II; Oflag is a shortening of Offizierslager, meaning "officers camp"...
at Colditz
Colditz
Colditz is a town in the Free State of Saxony, Germany, near Leipzig, located on the banks of the river Mulde. The town has a population of 5,188 ....
.
He was liberated from Colditz by the American army in April 1945.
Postwar
After the war Morison qualified as a chartered accountant and he wrote an account of his life during the war Flak and Ferrets - One Way to Colditz. Morison died on 26 March 2009.External links
- Obituary in The Daily Telegraph