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AUCHTERARDER, WW2

 
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dhubthaigh
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Joined: 19 Dec 2006
Posts: 5071
Location: Blairgowrie, Perthshire

PostPosted: Thu Aug 23, 2007 5:45 pm    Post subject: AUCHTERARDER, WW2 Reply with quote

The WW2 Memorial takes the form of gates erected at the entrance to the Great War Memorial which can be seen in the background;

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DelBoy



Joined: 12 Jul 2007
Posts: 4858
Location: The County of Angus

PostPosted: Sun Nov 07, 2010 3:28 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Allan, Robert. Pte. Black Watch
Darling, Andrew S. Sgt. Pilot. R.A.F.
Dewar, Robert. Pte. Black Watch
Donaldson, Charles H. Pte. R.M. Commandos
Forbes, John D. Sgt. R.A.F.
Fraser, Ernest J. L.Cpl. Cameronians S.R.
Gunn, Alastair D.M. Flt.Lieut. R.A.F.
Haxton, Robert L. Flt.Sgt. R.A.F.
Isaac, James. Flying Officer. R.A.F.
MacDonald, Hamish T. Pilot Officer. R.A.F.
McRostie, David. Gnr. Royal Artillery
Moir, John. Sgt. Air Gunner. R.A.F.
Munn, Andrew McK. Sgt. Seaforths & R.A.F.
Reid, James H. Flt.Lieut. R.A.F.
Sinclair, John E.C. Major. Royal Artillery
Smith, James I. Sqdn.Ldr. R.A.F.
Turnbull, Robert. Pte. Black Watch
Urquhart, Gordon A. Pte. A.&.S.H.
Whitelaw, John W. A.C.1. R.A.F.
Whittet, James. Corporal. R.A.F.
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dalblair



Joined: 26 Aug 2010
Posts: 564
Location: coupar angus

PostPosted: Wed Mar 02, 2011 12:03 pm    Post subject: alastair gunn Reply with quote

Unless i am mistaken Alastair Gunn was one of the many escapees in the Great Escape from POW camp who was captured and then executed by the Gestapo in revenge.His father was the local Doctor.
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dhubthaigh
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Joined: 19 Dec 2006
Posts: 5071
Location: Blairgowrie, Perthshire

PostPosted: Wed Mar 02, 2011 12:47 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Nostalgic visit rekindles memories of Great Escape tragedy
Feb 4 2011 by Alison Anderson, Perthshire Advertiser

A YOUNG RAF officer from Auchterarder and his tragic role in the Great Escape from Second World War PoW camp Stalag Luft 111 is forming part of an archive at his base.

Flight Lieutenant Alistair DM Gunn was only 24 when he and 49 other escapees from the camp in Poland were executed on the personal orders of Hitler, who was furious at the great tunnelling feat from which 76 service personnel had escaped on March 24, 1944.

The young airman was the son of an Auchterarder doctor who was a much-respected figure in the town.

Now Mick Prendergast who helped establish a Heritage Centre at Oxfordshire’s RAF Benson has expressed a wish to make contact with Fl Lt Gunn’s relations.

He feels they may like a copy of this photograph of a smiling Alister Gunn, taken before he became a prisoner of war in March 1942.

Mike’s invitation to Fl Lt Gunn’s relations was made when Mrs Elisabeth (Betty) Morgan, nee McLaren, formerly of Auchterarder, was given a birthday tour of RAF Benson, where she was stationed during the Second World War and where she met her husband.

The visit to mark Mrs Morgan’s 91st birthday was organised by her daughter Jennifer Ogden, who spent her first 11 years in the Lang Toun.

With Mrs Morgan’s two grand-daughters also helped organise the nostalgic visit.

Jennifer, who lives on the Isle of Wight, said: “The visit was a huge success, largely due to the courtesy and attentiveness shown towards my mother by Mick Prendergast and Squadron Leader Mike Cook.”

“After the tour of the base, Mick showed us archive material from the war years.

Amongst the photos was the picture of Alistair Gunn, one of the 50 RAF officers shot by the Gestapo in 1944 after the mass escape from Stalag Luft 111.

“Mick was most interested when we were able to supply him with information, namely that Alistair was the son of an Auchterarder doctor and we were very familiar with his sad story.

“He would like to establish if there are any relatives who would wish to have a copy of the photograph.

“He is very enthusiastic about his role and keen to extend his archive material for future generations.”

Mick Prendergast can be contacted by writing to RAF Benson, Wallingford, Oxon, OX10 6AA, by e-mailing d.prendergast594@benson.raf.mod.uk,or by calling 01491 837766 ext 7379.

OF the 76 men who made the Great Escape and survived, three avoided re-capture; 23 were recaptured and sent back PoW camp. The camp commandant at the time of the mass break-out was court-martialled by the Gestapo for not preventing the escape. The gripping story of the Great Escape was portrayed in the 1963 film starring Richard Attenborough, Steve McQueen, James Garner and Gordon Jackson.
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dhubthaigh
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Joined: 19 Dec 2006
Posts: 5071
Location: Blairgowrie, Perthshire

PostPosted: Wed Mar 02, 2011 12:52 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Checked the P.A. Card Catalogue

GUNN, Alistair Donald Mackintosh (24)
Deansland, Perthshire
Flight-Lieutenant, R.A.F.
Killed in prison camp escape bid
PA 1944 May 20 p7 (obit.)
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dalblair



Joined: 26 Aug 2010
Posts: 564
Location: coupar angus

PostPosted: Mon Mar 14, 2011 5:46 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Designed by RMMitchell 1948
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Kenneth Morrison



Joined: 29 Sep 2008
Posts: 7749
Location: Rockcliffe Dalbeattie

PostPosted: Fri Nov 23, 2018 5:49 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

dhubthaigh wrote:
Checked the P.A. Card Catalogue

GUNN, Alistair Donald Mackintosh (24)
Deansland, Perthshire
Flight-Lieutenant, R.A.F.
Killed in prison camp escape bid
PA 1944 May 20 p7 (obit.)


https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-46316377
Today 23 November 2018

The remains of a Spitfire shot down while on a mission to photograph the WW2 German battleship Tirpitz have been recovered from a Norwegian peat bog.

Auchterarder-born pilot, Flt Lt Alastair "Sandy" Gunn, had flown the aircraft out of RAF Wick in Caithness on 5 March 1942.

Gunn was captured, interrogated, imprisoned and later executed after the Stalag Luft III "Great Escape".

His plane, Spitfire AA810, is to be restored and flown again.

Finding the aircraft, which crashed on a mountainside near the village of Surnadal, south west of Trondheim, has involved months of research and days of painstaking recovery work.
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stuartn



Joined: 13 Dec 2016
Posts: 2551

PostPosted: Sun Mar 03, 2019 4:56 pm    Post subject: WMR (ex UKNIWM) report Reply with quote

WMR 82374
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Mike Morley



Joined: 17 Apr 2013
Posts: 8667
Location: Roberton, Lanarkshire

PostPosted: Thu Mar 11, 2021 10:49 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Sandy Gunn is also named on Cargilfield Prep School and Fettes College War Memorials.
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