Squadron Leader 90120 Roger Joyce BUSHELL. 601 (City of London) Squadron Royal Auxiliary Air Force. 1932-1944. Born 30th August 1910 at Springs, Transvaal, South Africa. Died 29th March 1944.
He was the leader of the GREAT ESCAPE. He was prisoner 621 at Dulag Luft, Stalag Luft III
CWGC data
Squadron Leader, Pilot 90120 Roger Joyce BUSHELL. Mentioned in Despatches of 601 Squadron, Royal Auxiliary Air Force executed 29th March 1944 aged 33. Son of Benjamin Daniel and Dorothy Wingate Bushell, of Mossel River, Cape Province, South Africa. B.A. (Cantab.); Barrister-at-Law, Lincolns Inn. He is laid to rest in Poznan Old Garrison Cemetery, Poland. Please note when he was executed his body was cremated.
How he met his death. Credit
http://www.pegasusarchive.org/pow/roger_bushell.htm
The Gestapo had promised to execute Bushell if they crossed his path again, and they were true to their word. A few days later, Obersturmbannführer Dr. Leopold Spann, the Saarbrücken Gestapo chief, gave the order to type up death certificates for Bushell and Scheidhauer, in advance of their murder.
Before dawn on the 29th March 1944, Dr. Spann, Kriminalsekretär Emil Schulz, and Walter Breithaupt, their driver, collected Roger Bushell and Bernard Scheidhauer from the Kripo prison and drove them in the direction of Mannheim, where Breithaupt had been told that they were to be handed on to the relevant authorities. After they had travelled for approximately 25 miles and were passing through woodland, Dr. Spann ordered the driver to stop, whereupon he and Schulz got out to talk and smoke cigarettes, leaving Breithaupt alone with the two handcuffed men. He was soon summoned to join them, and was informed that they had received an urgent order from Berlin Head Office that the two "terrorfliers" were to be killed at once. Bushell and Scheidhauer were let out of the car and were told that they could relieve themselves in bushes a few short steps from the car, but were told that they would be shot if they tried to escape. Emil Schulz and Dr. Spann walked to within a metre behind each man, both of them holding a pistol. Facing away from their captors, the two men began to unbutton their trousers, whereupon Dr. Spann gave a signal and he and Schulz simultaneously shot both men in the back of the neck. The bullet that struck Roger Bushell did not kill him, but left him in spasms, requiring Schulz to administer a final shot to his left temple. The bodies were taken to Neue Bremm Concentration Camp where they were cremated.
He was 33 when he was shot by the Gestapo on Hitler's personal orders after being recaptured following the escape from Stalag Luft III in 1944.
The mass breakout from the prison camp was highlighted in Paul Brickhill's book The Great Escape and also in the film that featured Richard Attenborough. But in the film the character was renamed Roger Barlett and bore little resemblance to the actual man.
http://www.rauxaf.net/ms/20.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roger_Bushell
https://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=pv&GRid=14091429&PIpi=54815303
He is commemorated on a memorial plaque on the Royal Auxiliary Air Force Memorial at the National Memorial Arboretum, Alrewas, Staffordshire.
