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{{Short description|RAF Pilot and Colditz escapee (1918–2013)}}
{{BLP unsourced|date=April 2013}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2012}}
{{Use British English|date=May 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2021}}
'''Peter Tunstall''' (1 December 1918 &ndash; 27 July 2013)<ref>http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/10209913/Squadron-Leader-Peter-Tunstall.html</ref> was a [[flight Lieutenant]] for the [[Royal Air Force]]. During [[World War II]] he was a [[POW]].
{{Infobox military person
|image=
|image_size=
|caption=
|birth_date={{Birth date|1918|12|1|df=yes}}
|death_date={{Death date and age|2013|7|27|1918|12|1|df=yes}}
|placeofburial_label=
|placeofburial=
|birth_place=[[Chadwell St Mary]], England
|death_place= South Africa
|placeofburial_coordinates= <!-- {{Coord|LAT|LONG|display=inline,title}} -->
|nickname=
|birth_name=Peter David Tunstall
|allegiance={{flag|United Kingdom}}
|branch={{air force|United Kingdom}}
|serviceyears=1937–1958
|rank=[[Squadron Leader]]
|servicenumber=
|unit=
|commands=
|battles=[[World War II]]
* [[Battle of France]]
|battles_label=
|awards=
|relations=
|laterwork=
⚫
}}
'''Peter David Tunstall''' (1 December 1918 &ndash; 27 July 2013)<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/10209913/Squadron-Leader-Peter-Tunstall.html |title=Squadron Leader Peter Tunstall |work=[[The Daily Telegraph]]|date=29 July 2013 |accessdate=30 July 2013}}</ref> was a [[squadron leader]] in the [[Royal Air Force]] during the [[World War II|Second World War]] and a [[prisoner of war]] (POW) held at [[Oflag IV-C|Colditz Castle]]. He holds the record for the most time spent by an Allied POW in [[solitary confinement]].{{citation needed|date=October 2018}}


==Early life==
As a POW, Tunstall escaped four times. His escape from [[Spangenberg]] Castle with Eustace Newborn and Dominic Bruce has been recognised as one of the best ever. He was court martialed by the Germans five times and spent 415 days in [[solitary confinement]], in both cases more than any other British POW.
⚫
Tunstall was born in [[Chadwell St Mary]], [[Essex]], in 1918 and moved to the nearby village of [[Orsett]] at the age of three. As a schoolboy he took his first flying lesson from a local airfield, paid for by shooting and selling rabbits to his local butcher. He joined the [[RAF]] in 1937 and trained at [[No. 61 Squadron RAF|No 61 Squadron]] at [[Hemswell]] in Lincolnshire and eventually became a [[Handley Page Hampden|Hampden]] pilot.


During his RAF training he was told by A.J. Evans – a [[World War I]] [[Royal Flying Corps]] pilot and double prisoner-of-war escapee – that if he was captured, "Your first duty was to try to escape. Your second duty was to be as big a bloody nuisance as possible to the enemy." Tunstall took the advice to heart.
Tunstall also developed a method of getting information home inside a photograph. At the end of the war, he was recommended for an award by [[MI9]]. However, the last senior British officer in [[Colditz]] declined to support this award, a decision attributed to a severe clash of personalities. Thus Tunstall, who the Germans considered a master trouble maker whom they once tried to shoot, ended the war unrecognised by the RAF.


==Second World War==
⚫
Tunstall disputes some of the stories about Colditz. He did work with Escape Officers to cause diversions when an escape was 'on'. He did pull stunts and spoil roll calls at other times, otherwise the Germans would have known an escape was being covered up. However, he disputes that POWs threw 'excrement' bombs or blew 'raspberries' at the Germans. Nor does he know of anyone who did such things.
Tunstall flew combat missions over France during and after the British retreat to Dunkirk. He was captured on the night of 26/27 August 1940, when, due to a wireless failure, his aircraft became lost and crash-landed on the Dutch coast. As a prisoner of war, he was initially sent to a POW camp in Poland. After trying to escape from the camp dressed as a German NCO he was transferred to [[Oflag IX-A/H|Spangenberg Castle]]. It was during his incarceration at Spangenberg Castle that Tunstall, along with Eustace Newborn and [[Dominic Bruce]] came up with the escape plan known as "the Swiss Commission". The escape attempt has gone down as one of the most audacious of the war. Using uniforms found in the castle and suits made from uniforms, the three POWs simply walked out of the camp during an inspection by the Swiss Red Cross. They spent ten days at large before being recaptured.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.echo-news.co.uk/echofeatures/memories/1882759.prankster_and_hero_the_man_who_kept_colditz_laughing/|title=Prankster and hero - the man who kept Colditz laughing|publisher=Echo News|date=5 December 2007|accessdate=30 July 2013|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://archive.today/20130730133156/http://www.echo-news.co.uk/echofeatures/memories/1882759.prankster_and_hero_the_man_who_kept_colditz_laughing/|archivedate=30 July 2013}}</ref>


{{Main|Swiss Red Cross Commission Escape|l1=3 September 1941, The Swiss Red Cross Commission Escape}}
After the war, Tunstall continued to serve in the RAF until 1958. Upon retirement, he moved with his family to Africa. There he did many things from bush pilot to professional actor. Tunstall is currently living in [[South Africa]] and writing his autobiography.


Tunstall was then moved to [[Oflag VIB]], where he tried again to escape dressed as a German soldier. Following this attempt, he was shipped to Colditz Castle on 15 March 1942. Here Tunstall perfected his [[goon baiting|"goon-baiting"]] (activities to distract and annoy the German guards). At Colditz, he also developed methods of getting information back to Britain inside photographs and letters. At the end of the war, he was recommended for an award by [[MI9]], but it was turned down by the Colonel [[Willie Tod]], the senior British officer at Colditz.{{citation needed|date=June 2020}}
⚫
Tunstall was born in [[Chadwell St Mary]], [[Essex]], in 1918 and moved to the nearby village of [[Orsett]] at the age of three. He took his first flight from a local field. He joined the [[RAF]] before the war and eventually became a [[Handley Page Hampden|Hampden]] pilot.

⚫
Tunstall disputes some of the stories about Colditz. He did work with Escape Officers to cause diversions when an escape was "on". He did pull stunts and spoil roll calls at other times, otherwise the Germans would have known an escape was being covered up. However, he disputes that POWs threw "excrement" bombs or blew "raspberries" at the Germans. Nor does he know of anyone who did such things.

Tunstall was liberated by American troops on 16 April 1945 and returned to Britain shortly afterwards.

==Post war==
After the war, Tunstall continued to serve in the RAF until 1958 as a flying instructor on [[Gloster Meteor|Meteor]] and [[de Havilland Vampire|Vampire]] jets. He also served at the Advanced Flying Training School (No. 5 FTS) at [[Oakington]] in Cambridgeshire as a chief flying instructor. After leaving the RAF, he joined [[Laker Airways]] before emigrating to South Africa, where he worked as an actor as well as continuing to fly. His autobiography, ''The Last Escaper'', was published in 2014.

==Death==
Tunstall died on 27 July 2013 at his home in South Africa.


==References==
==References==
{{reflist}}
{{Reflist}}


==External links==
==External links==
* [http://www.colditzcastle.net/page_1157286382193.html Listing showing Tunstall at Colditz]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20061214051912/http://www.colditzcastle.net/page_1157286382193.html Listing showing Tunstall at Colditz]
* [http://www.davewindle.com/DEWart%20video1.htm An article on Tunstall]
* [http://www.davewindle.com/DEWart%20video1.htm An article on Tunstall]
* [https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/news/squadron-leader-peter-tunstall-the-cooler-king-of-colditz-who-failed-to-get-the-recognition-he-deserved-8738644.html An article on Tunstall's life and why he did not get appropriate recognition for his actions.]

{{Authority control}}


{{Persondata <!-- Metadata: see [[Wikipedia:Persondata]]. -->
| NAME = Tunstall, Peter
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES =
| SHORT DESCRIPTION = Colditz escapee
| DATE OF BIRTH = 1 December 1918
| PLACE OF BIRTH =
| DATE OF DEATH = 27 July 2013
| PLACE OF DEATH =
⚫
}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tunstall, Peter}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tunstall, Peter}}
[[Category:1918 births]]
[[Category:1918 births]]
[[Category:2013 deaths]]
[[Category:2013 deaths]]
[[Category:Colditz prisoners of World War II]]
[[Category:Prisoners of war held at Colditz Castle]]
[[Category:World War II prisoners of war held by Germany]]
[[Category:English emigrants to South Africa]]
[[Category:Escapees from German detention]]
[[Category:British escapees]]
[[Category:Royal Air Force personnel of World War II]]
[[Category:Royal Air Force personnel of World War II]]
[[Category:Royal Air Force officers]]
[[Category:Royal Air Force squadron leaders]]
[[Category:People from Orsett]]
[[Category:People from Orsett]]
[[Category:People from Chadwell St Mary]]
[[Category:People from Chadwell St Mary]]
[[Category:Military personnel from Essex]]

Latest revision as of 16:59, 24 October 2024

Pete Tunstall
Birth namePeter David Tunstall
Born(1918-12-01)1 December 1918
Chadwell St Mary, England
Died27 July 2013(2013-07-27) (aged 94)
South Africa
Allegiance United Kingdom
Service / branch Royal Air Force
Years of service1937–1958
RankSquadron Leader
Battles / warsWorld War II

Peter David Tunstall (1 December 1918 – 27 July 2013)[1] was a squadron leader in the Royal Air Force during the Second World War and a prisoner of war (POW) held at Colditz Castle. He holds the record for the most time spent by an Allied POW in solitary confinement.[citation needed]

Early life

[edit]

Tunstall was born in Chadwell St Mary, Essex, in 1918 and moved to the nearby village of Orsett at the age of three. As a schoolboy he took his first flying lesson from a local airfield, paid for by shooting and selling rabbits to his local butcher. He joined the RAF in 1937 and trained at No 61 Squadron at Hemswell in Lincolnshire and eventually became a Hampden pilot.

During his RAF training he was told by A.J. Evans – a World War I Royal Flying Corps pilot and double prisoner-of-war escapee – that if he was captured, "Your first duty was to try to escape. Your second duty was to be as big a bloody nuisance as possible to the enemy." Tunstall took the advice to heart.

Second World War

[edit]

Tunstall flew combat missions over France during and after the British retreat to Dunkirk. He was captured on the night of 26/27 August 1940, when, due to a wireless failure, his aircraft became lost and crash-landed on the Dutch coast. As a prisoner of war, he was initially sent to a POW camp in Poland. After trying to escape from the camp dressed as a German NCO he was transferred to Spangenberg Castle. It was during his incarceration at Spangenberg Castle that Tunstall, along with Eustace Newborn and Dominic Bruce came up with the escape plan known as "the Swiss Commission". The escape attempt has gone down as one of the most audacious of the war. Using uniforms found in the castle and suits made from uniforms, the three POWs simply walked out of the camp during an inspection by the Swiss Red Cross. They spent ten days at large before being recaptured.[2]

Main article: 3 September 1941, The Swiss Red Cross Commission Escape

Tunstall was then moved to Oflag VIB, where he tried again to escape dressed as a German soldier. Following this attempt, he was shipped to Colditz Castle on 15 March 1942. Here Tunstall perfected his "goon-baiting" (activities to distract and annoy the German guards). At Colditz, he also developed methods of getting information back to Britain inside photographs and letters. At the end of the war, he was recommended for an award by MI9, but it was turned down by the Colonel Willie Tod, the senior British officer at Colditz.[citation needed]

Tunstall disputes some of the stories about Colditz. He did work with Escape Officers to cause diversions when an escape was "on". He did pull stunts and spoil roll calls at other times, otherwise the Germans would have known an escape was being covered up. However, he disputes that POWs threw "excrement" bombs or blew "raspberries" at the Germans. Nor does he know of anyone who did such things.

Tunstall was liberated by American troops on 16 April 1945 and returned to Britain shortly afterwards.

Post war

[edit]

After the war, Tunstall continued to serve in the RAF until 1958 as a flying instructor on Meteor and Vampire jets. He also served at the Advanced Flying Training School (No. 5 FTS) at Oakington in Cambridgeshire as a chief flying instructor. After leaving the RAF, he joined Laker Airways before emigrating to South Africa, where he worked as an actor as well as continuing to fly. His autobiography, The Last Escaper, was published in 2014.

Death

[edit]

Tunstall died on 27 July 2013 at his home in South Africa.

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Squadron Leader Peter Tunstall". The Daily Telegraph. 29 July 2013. Retrieved 30 July 2013.
  2. ^ "Prankster and hero - the man who kept Colditz laughing". Echo News. 5 December 2007. Archived from the original on 30 July 2013. Retrieved 30 July 2013.
[edit]
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