Leslie Broderick

Background

Smith was born in Wandsworth, London and educated at Bancroft"s School.

Education

106 Squadron Royal Air Force and completed 18 bombing missions before being forced to crash land in France when returning from a raid on Stuttgart and four of his crew were killed.

Career

After joining the territorial army in 1939 he was posted to a searchlight unit on Canvey Island. In 1940 he transferred to the Royal Air force, trained as a pilot in Texas and was commissioned as an officer He then served in Number.

There were three tunnels being dug named Tom, Dick and Harry and Broderick worked for two months in claustrophobic conditions on Dick, but Harry was completed first and after drawing lots he was 52 in the queue to go through that tunnel on the night of 24 March 1944.

In 1945 he survived the "Long March" westwards away from the Red Army. He was demobilised in 1945 and after working as a primary school teacher on Canvey Island he moved to South Africa in 1947 where he continued to work as a teacher until his retirement.

Membership

He was then imprisoned in Stalag Luft III where he became a member of an escape tunnelling team

Connections

companion:

Adolf Hitler