Barry Davidson

Barry Anderson Davidson was born in Calgary, Alberta, on 9 April 1914. From an early age he was captivated by aviation and persuaded instructors at Calgary Municipal Airport to give him flying lessons. After earning his pilot’s licence as a teenager, he made an extraordinary gesture by writing directly to Chinese Nationalist leader Chiang Kai-shek, volunteering to serve as a pilot in the Chinese Air Force. Although his offer was politely declined, it reflected the adventurous spirit that would define his wartime service.

When the Second World War began, Davidson joined the Royal Air Force as a pilot. Posted to No. 18 Squadron RAF, he flew the Bristol Blenheim Mk IV. On 6 July 1940, with fewer than fifty hours on the aircraft type, he took off on his first operational bombing mission against a German airfield in occupied France. The attack was successful, but anti-aircraft fire crippled his aircraft on the return flight. Believing he had reached the English coast, Davidson crash-landed on a beach, only to discover he was still in occupied France. German troops quickly surrounded the aircraft, and the young Pilot Officer and his crew became prisoners of war.

Davidson spent almost five years in German captivity, eventually arriving at Stalag Luft III, the Luftwaffe prisoner-of-war camp made famous by the Great Escape. Although severe claustrophobia prevented him from working in the tunnels, he found another vital role within the escape organization. Nicknamed “The Scrounger,” Davidson became one of the camp’s most accomplished procurers. Through patience, charm and calculated risk, he persuaded German guards to provide or temporarily “loan” cameras, official documents, railway timetables, paper, ink, tools and other essential materials needed by the forgers and tunnel teams. His efforts supplied many of the resources that made the elaborate escape preparations possible.

When the mass breakout took place on the night of 24–25 March 1944, Davidson had originally been scheduled to escape. However, because German guards had recently seen him speaking with one of their own, the escape committee feared he might attract suspicion. At the request of Roger Bushell (“Big X”), Davidson voluntarily gave up his place in the tunnel so another prisoner could go instead. Seventy-six men escaped through tunnel “Harry”; only three ultimately reached freedom, while fifty recaptured officers were murdered by the Gestapo on Hitler’s orders.

In January 1945, as Soviet forces advanced, Davidson joined thousands of Allied prisoners on the brutal “Long March” through snow and sub-zero temperatures before enduring further transport in overcrowded cattle cars. His ordeal finally ended on 2 May 1945, when he was liberated by a Scottish tank regiment after nearly five years in captivity.

Following the war, Davidson returned to Calgary, where he established a successful career in the insurance industry, raised a family, and became a charter member of the Calgary Prisoner of War Association and an active member of the Southern Alberta Aircrew Association. Although Hollywood immortalized the role of the camp’s “Scrounger” through James Garner’s character in The Great Escape, Davidson rarely sought recognition, preferring to let the achievements of his fellow prisoners speak for themselves. He died on 3 November 1996, aged 82. Today, the restored Bristol Blenheim at the Bomber Command Museum of Canada is dedicated in his memory, honouring not only Barry Davidson but all Allied airmen who endured captivity during the Second World War.