War hero who helped inspire The Great Escape dies - Telegraph 'A remarkable man' - Salford Advertiser
Both articles refer to a F/Lt Colin "The Forger" Blythe as if he was a real person: He said: "The man was almost blind but he was an absolute genius at his job. "He taught me how to make a totally authentic-looking passport." There was no such person. He was a character played by Donald Pleasence which was based on the activities of Tim Walenn
Bill Dean RIP. The night Bill Dean crashed 20-21 January 1944 102 Squadron Halifax II HX187 DY-H Op. Berlin Took off 1635 hrs Pocklington. Hit by flak at 19,500 feet over the target and on completing its attack was intercepted by a night-fighter. The aircraft was abandoned and crashed at Ahrensfelde, 13 km NE from the centre of Berlin. BCL Vol.5 - Chorley. The Berlin raid 20/21 January 1944 769 aircraft - 495 Lancasters, 264 Halifaxes, 10 Mosquitos - to Berlin. 35 aircraft - 22 Halifaxes, 13 Lancasters - lost, 4.6 per cent of the force. No 102 Squadron, from Pocklington, lost 5 of its 16 Halifaxes on this raid, 2 more crashed in England and the squadron would lose 4 more aircraft in the next night's raid. The bomber approach route took a wide swing to the north but, once again, the German controller managed to feed his fighters into the bomber stream early and the fighters scored steadily until the force was well on the way home. The diversions were not large enough to deceive the Germans. The Berlin area was, as so often, completely cloud-covered and what happened to the bombing is a mystery. The Pathfinder skymarking appeared to go according to plan and crews who were scanning the ground with their H2S sets believed that the attack fell on eastern districts of Berlin. No major navigational problems were experienced. No photographic reconnaissance was possible until after a further 4 raids on Berlin were carried out but the various sources from which the Berlin reports are normally drawn all show a complete blank for this night.
