Griffiths, Guy Beresford Kerr (Oral history)

British officer served as pilot with 803 Sqdn, Fleet Air Arm in Atlantic, 1939; POW in Germany, 1939-1945

REEL 1 Period as officer with Royal Navy, 1934-1939: joining Royal Marines, 1934; transfer to Fleet Air Arm, 1938. Recollections of shooting down during operation against U 30 with 803 Sqdn, Fleet Air Arm in Atlantic, 1939: opinion of Blackburn Skua; flying from HMS Ark Royal; volunteering for operation against U-boat, 14/9/1939; loss of squadron aircraft whilst attacking U-boat; attacking U 30 which had attacked Thanet Head; how he was captured by U-boat crew; memories of Fritz Julius Lemp; treatment of British POWs on board U-boat; how he was shot down during attack on U-boat; problems of getting to Wilhelmshaven; attitude of SS towards Lemp drinking alcohol with Griffiths; amusing story of SS security blunder at Wilhelmshaven; results of RAF bombing raid on Wilhelmshaven. REEL 2 Continues: Recollections of period as POW in Germany, 1939-1945: attitude of German Navy towards POWs; move to Polish POW camp at Hanover; his low POW number 21; move to Spangenburg near Kassel; removal to Dulag Luft, late 1939; propaganda film made of RAF and naval POWs at Dulag Luft, Christmas, 12/1939; plans for escape tunnel from Dulag Luft, 1940-1941; SS man planted amongst POWs; escape from Dulag Luft, 6/1941; preparations he made for escape; recapture in Ulm- Darmstadt; treatment by SS on recapture; removal to Stalag Luft 1, Barth. REEL 3 Continues: work making maps; removal of POWs from Barth to Stalag Luft III, Sagan; how he was wrongly court-martialled for being pro-German; his role interrogating POW air crew to gather intelligence; links with Polish Resistance; method of using codes to get messages through to GB; obtaining information about German Air Force jets and V weapons; gathering of materials for Great Escape; selection of escapees for Great Escape; how he was in tunnel waiting to go out when escape was discovered; faking madness in hope of getting repatriated; trek to Nuremberg from Sagan to avoid advancing Russians; his escape on march in Bavaria, 1945. REEL 4 Continues: story of deceiving German chief of police to take charge of US POWs; return to GB, spring 1945.