LM621 (HW-C) 100 Sqn

Sergeant Harry Dale

Flight Engineer

Service Number 1512979 : PoW Number 295

Harry Dale was from Sheffield, England. He was the Flight Engineer in the LM621 crew.

Dale originally joined the RAF in 1941 as an Aircraft Engineer and worked on Spitfires. In 1943 he volunteered to become aircrew.

When the aircraft was hit and the order to bale out was given, Dale stayed with the pilot whilst the four remaining crew jumped. He then helped the pilot out of his seat, and they then baled out.

On landing, Dale buried his parachute and mae west and headed North. Unfortunately he was captured soon after, near the town of Orleans.

He spent the rest of 1944 in Stalag Luft VII at Bankau. On 19 Jan 45 they were marched out of the camp and walked 350 miles over 17 days to Goldberg, before being put on a train and interned in Stalag Luft IIIa at Luckenwalde on 08 Feb 45. He was liberated by the Russian Army on 22 Apr 45, where he then "liberated" the German stores.

He left the Royal Air Force after the war as a Flight Sergeant and returned to the Silver industry in Sheffield. He died in 1995 aged 74.