Dominic Bruce
British RAF officer / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Dominic Bruce, OBE, MC, AFM, KSG (7 June 1915 – 12 February 2000) was a British Royal Air Force officer, known as the "Medium Sized Man."[3][4] He has been described as "the most ingenious escaper" of the Second World War.[5] He made seventeen attempts at escaping from POW camps, including several attempts to escape from Colditz Castle, a castle that housed prisoners of war "deemed incorrigible".
Dominic Bruce | |
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Nickname(s) | The "Medium Sized Man", "Medium Sized Officer", "Bruce", "Brucie" and "Der Kleine" |
Born | (1915-06-07)7 June 1915[1] Hebburn, County Durham, England |
Died | 12 February 2000(2000-02-12) (aged 84) Richmond, Surrey, England |
Allegiance | United Kingdom |
Service/ | Royal Air Force |
Years of service | 1935–1946 |
Rank | Flight Lieutenant |
Service number | 45272[2] |
Unit | No. 9 Squadron No. 214 Squadron |
Battles/wars | Second World War |
Awards | Officer of the Order of the British Empire Military Cross Air Force Medal Knight of the Order of St. Gregory the Great (Holy See) |
Other work | College principal |
Famed for his time in Colditz, Bruce also escaped from Spangenberg Castle and the Warburg POW camp. In Spangenberg Castle he escaped with the Swiss Red Cross Commission escape, it is also argued he co-innovated the wooden horse escape technique while serving time inside Spangenberg. In Warburg he escaped dressed as a British orderly in a fake workers party. Inside Colditz Castle, Bruce authored the Tea Chest Escape and also faced a firing squad for an attempted escape via a sewer tunnel. While held in solitude in Colditz Bruce, along with two other prisoners, became a key witness to the post war Musketoon commando raid trial.
For his exploits, Bruce was awarded the Military Cross and is the only known person to have received both the Military Cross and the Air Force Medal. Bruce has also featured prominently in books, sound recordings, TV and film. In his later years he was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire for his services to education.