8x6 inch notepaper, with hand written letter signed by Leonard Trent VC, 79th out of the tunnel during the Great Escape
Group Captain Leonard Henry Trent, VC, DFC (14 April 1915 – 19 May 1986) was a New Zealand aviator, senior Royal Air Force officer, and recipient of the Victoria Cross (VC), the highest award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces.
In August 1942, the RAF established a new bomber squadron, designated No. 487 (NZ) Squadron, based at Feltwell in Norfolk. An Article XV squadron, many of its flying personnel were New Zealanders, although other nationalities also served with the squadron.[33] Trent, still hoping for a posting to No. 88 Squadron, was instead sent to No. 487 Squadron as one of its flight commanders. The squadron was to operate Lockheed Venturas; these were unpopular aircraft, being relatively slow and demanding to fly, with an inadequate defensive armament. Although the senior officers in the squadron were experienced flying personnel, many crew members were novices and needed extensive practice in formation flying before reaching an acceptable standard for operational duties. The squadron flew its first mission in December, a raid on a factory at Eindhoven in the Netherlands. Over the next several months, the squadron flew raids to targets in France and the Low Countries.
On 3 May 1943 the squadron flew a bombing mission, codenamed Operation Ramrod 16, on a power station in Amsterdam. The mission was intended to be as a diversion for another raid being carried out almost simultaneously on a power station at Ijmuiden. "Ramrod" was a term designating a daylight bombing mission, with a fighter escort, that targeted a specific objective. The twelve participating Venturas, led by Trent, were to cross the Dutch coast at sea level, escorted by six squadrons of Supermarine Spitfires. Two more squadrons of Spitfires were to provide top cover for the Venturas over the target, with all of the aircraft keeping to sea level as they approached the Dutch coast so as to avoid showing up on German radar, before climbing to reach bombing height. However, the Spitfires flying top cover mistimed their departure from England, arriving early and failing to keep low enough when reaching the Dutch coast. This alerted the German defences.
Non-commissioned officers of Trent's No. 487 Squadron, with a Ventura at RAF Methwold, early 1943
One Ventura had returned to England with a malfunction and as the eleven remaining aircraft of No. 487 Squadron approached Amsterdam, they and their escorts were set upon by Me 109s and Focke-Wulf Fw 190s, 70 aircraft in all. The top cover, arriving well before the Venturas, had already been recalled having run low on fuel. The Fw 190s dealt with the escorting Spitfires while the Me 109s targeted the bombers. Under constant attack by the German fighters, No. 487 Squadron continued on to its target, with only five aircraft making it to Amsterdam to commence their bombing run. Only Trent successfully completed his run, and in doing so shot down one Me 109 with the forward machine guns of his Ventura. Immediately afterwards, his own aircraft was hit and put into a spin. As the Ventura broke up, Trent and his navigator were thrown clear at 7,000 feet (2,100 m) and became prisoners of war (POW). The remaining crew members, trapped in the aircraft, were unable to exit and were killed when it crashed.
Trent was sent to Stalag Luft III, a POW camp well to the southeast of Berlin, in what is now Żagań, in Poland. He soon became involved in the various escape attempts mounted by the POWs, helping conceal the sand extracted from tunnels that were under construction.
He was a participant in the "Great Escape" of 24 March 1944. On exiting the tunnel, he had planned with another POW, Mike Shand, to make their way to Switzerland via Czechoslovakia and Austria. He was the 79th POW to pass through the escape tunnel, just behind Shand. However, as he was exiting the tunnel, a German guard thwarted his escape and Trent was recaptured almost immediately and placed in solitary confinement. The majority of the successful escapees were eventually recaptured, the Germans executing 50 of them. By January 1945, the Soviet forces were advancing into Germany and the POWs at Stalag Luft III were force marched away to the west to a camp near Bremen. They were moved again in April but were liberated by the British on 2 May 1945
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