Herbert Massey
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Herbert M Massey was born 19th January 1898.
He received the following awards and honours: CBE - 2 Jan 1950, DSO - 6 Nov 1936, MC - xx xxx 1917, MiD - 23 Jul 1937, MiD - 1 Jan 1941, MiD - 24 Sep 1941, s - 2 Aug 1949.
Wounded in WW1, he lost half of his leg but was amongst the small band of amputees who remained in the RAF and continued flying. In 1936 he was wounded again whilst taking part in operations with 6 Squadron in Palestine. However, he was able to make a safe landing and recovered successfully. He was flying aboard Stirling N3750, piloted by Flt Lt N E Winch, during the second of the 'Thousand Plan' raids when it was shot down near the Dutch coast, fortunately the whole crew was able to bale out and were taken prisoner. Sent to Stalag Luft III at Sagan, he became Senior British Officer and under his authority plans for a mass escape where instituted. Taking place in 1943, "The Great Escape" resulted in over 70 RAF prisoners escaping although most were later recaptured and 50 of them were executed on Hitler's orders. However, Group Captain Massey was eventually repatriated to Britain through ill health.
