Squadron Leader Roger Joyce Bushell (30 August 1910 – 29 March 1944) was a South African aviator in the British Royal Air Force. He masterminded the famous "Great Escape" from Stalag Luft III in March 1944, but was one of the 50 escapees to be recaptured and subsequently shot and murdered by the Nazi German Gestapo secret police.
Bushell was born in Springs, Transvaal, South Africa, on 30 August 1910 to English parents, Benjamin Daniel and Dorothy Wingate Bushell (née White). His father, a mining engineer, had immigrated to the country from Britain and he used his wealth to ensure that Roger received a first-class education. He was first schooled in Johannesburg, then aged 14 went to Wellington College in Berkshire, England. In 1929, Bushell then went to Pembroke College, Cambridge to study law.
Keen on pursuing non-academic interests from an early age, Bushell excelled in rugby and cricket and skied for Cambridge in races between 1930 and 1932, captaining the team in 1931.
One of Bushell's passions and talents was skiing: in the early 1930s, he was declared the fastest Briton in the male downhill category. After the war, a black run was named after him in St. Moritz, Switzerland, in memory of his efforts to organize Anglo-Swiss ski meetings. He additionally won the slalom event of the annual Oxford-Cambridge ski race in 1931.
At an event in Canada, Bushell had an accident in which one of his skis narrowly missed his left eye, leaving him with a gash in the corner of it. Although he recovered from this accident, he developed a dark droop in his left eye as a result of scarring from his stitches.
Bushell became fluent in French and German, with a good accent, which became extremely useful during his time as a prisoner of war.
Auxiliary Air Force and legal career
Despite his sporting prospects, one of Bushell's primary wishes was to fly. In 1932 he joined No. 601 Squadron Auxiliary Air Force (AAF), which was often referred to as "The Millionaires' Mob" because of the number of wealthy young men who paid their way solely to learn how to fly during training days (often on weekends). He was commissioned on 10 August 1932 and promoted to flying officer on 10 February 1934, and flight lieutenant on 20 July 1936.
Although Bushell was pursuing a career with the RAF, he was not hampered in his attempts to become a barrister-at-law of Lincoln's Inn, London. From the outset of his legal career, many commented on his ability as a lawyer, particularly in criminal defence. After a period, Bushell was appointed to military cases in prosecuting RAF personnel charged with various offenses. These often involved pilots charged with dangerous flying. In October 1939, acting as assistant to Sir Patrick Hastings, he successfully defended two RAF pilots, John Freeborn and Paddy Byrne, court-martialled after the friendly fire incident known as the Battle of Barking Creek. Byrne would later be incarcerated
with Bushell at Stalag Luft III.
Bushell was given command of No. 92 Squadron in October 1939. His promotion to squadron leader was confirmed on 1 January 1940. During the squadron's first engagement with enemy aircraft on 23 May 1940, while on a patrol near Calais, to assist with the Dunkirk evacuation, he was credited with damaging two Messerschmitt Bf 110 fighter aircraft of ZG 26 before being shot down himself, probably by future ace Oberleutnant Günther Specht. He crash-landed his Spitfire and assumed that he was in friendly territory, so he had a cigarette. He surrendered to a German soldier who came by on a motorcycle.
Bushell became a prisoner of war and was sent to the Dulag Luft transit camp near Frankfurt with all the other captured aircrew.
On arrival at Dulag Luft, he was made part of the permanent British staff under the senior British officer Wing Commander Harry Day. The permanent staff's duty was to help newly captured Allied aircrew to adjust to life as prisoners of war.
Escape, which was regarded as an important duty of all prisoners of war of officer rank, was never far from his mind and, fortunately, he was in good company with Day and Fleet Air Arm pilot, Jimmy Buckley. Day placed Buckley in charge of escape operations, with Bushell as his deputy. The three of them formed the escape committee responsible for all escape attempts.
The permanent staff of the camp started several escape tunnels, one of which was completed in May 1941. Bushell was given a place in the tunnel but elected to escape on the same day as the tunnel break by cutting through the wire surrounding a small park in the camp grounds. His decision not to use the tunnel was to allow him an earlier getaway, thus enabling him to catch a particular train.
The exact date of the escape is not known but is believed to have occurred in June 1941. Bushell hid in a goat shed in the camp grounds and, as soon as it was dark enough, he crawled to the wire and made good his escape.
Bushell was recaptured some time later on the Swiss border, only a few hundred yards from freedom, by a German border guard. He was treated well and returned to Dulag Luft before being transferred to Stalag Luft I with all the 17 others who had escaped in the tunnel (including Day and Buckley).
Bushell was at Stalag Luft I for only a short period before being transferred to Oflag X-C at Lübeck. At this camp, he participated in the construction of another tunnel, but this was abandoned unfinished when the camp was evacuated.