Word Celebrity Blog

JOHN FANCY






















Vicarage at Lund.



John Fancy was born in 1913, in the vicarage at Lund near Driffield in the Yorkshire Wolds.


















The Yorkshire Wolds.





















John Fred Fancy


He was delivered into this world by his grandmother, who was the local midwife. His father, John Fred Fancy was the manager of a nearby estate.

















Hymers College in Hull.


After attending the village school John was educated at Hymers College in Hull. He studied land management,as he looked foward to follow his father, into a career in estate management.





















Scarborough Gardens.


John then worked in the parks and gardens department at Scarborough, before deciding, in late 1935, to join the Royal Air Force.



















John Fancy is the last man on the right with a pipe in the first row.


John Fancy trained as an aircraft fitter, but when it became clear that a war was imminent he volunteered to be a pilot.
















Due to his slight color-blindness, he was instead selected as an air observer (navigator) and completed his training in December 1939.

In 1937, John Fancy had married Elsie Parker, with whom he had two daughters and a son.


















In January 1940, John Fancy joined No 110 Squadron, based in Suffolk and equipped with the Blenheim bomber. In late February, 12 Blenheims were gifted to Finland. John Fancy and his crew were detailed to ferry one of the aircraft. The crews wore civilian clothes, and the aircraft were decked in the blue swastika markings of the Finnish Air Force. After refuelling stops in Scotland and neutral Norway, they landed on a frozen lake at Juva, where the aircraft were handed over. After a few days instructing the Finnish crews, they were flown to Stockholm in a Finnish Airlines Junkers transport. Two weeks later they were back in Suffolk.

In the spring of 1940, John Fancy flew sweeps over the North Sea, and in April he attacked the Norwegian
airfield at Stavangar.

His service record also indicates operations over the North Sea including the raid on Stavanger.  His squadron was then moved to operations over Northern Europe in support of the British Expeditionary Force rearguard actions which culminated in Operation Dynamo.

 
























John Fancy heard that Elsie was expecting their first child in May 1940, the same day that his Blenheim bomber plane was shot down.

His daughter said: "He found out that mother was expecting me on that very day. She always said it was the fact that he knew he was going to be a father that gave him the strength to survive and the will to keep trying to escape."

Following the German Blitzkrieg into the Low Countries and France on May 10 1940, the RAF's light bombers based in France suffered crippling losses; so the Blenheim squadrons based in England were thrown into the battle.





















The key targets were the bridges over the river Meuse at Maastricht and Sedan, and 12 aircraft of No 110 Squadron were sent to attack the bridge at Sedan, France on May 14.

The force encountered intense anti-aircraft fire and came under attack from German fighters, but John Fancy and his crew bombed the bridge successfully.

Five of the Twelve aircraft were shot down.



















The Blenheim in which John Fancy was serving as air observer/navigator was hit as it left the target and crash-landed in the grounds of a chateau.

















He was sent to Stalag Luft III in Sagan, Poland, in 1942.  There his expertise was used to help plot the break-out of 76 men that became known as the "Great Escape".

The plan was to dig three tunnels - Tom, Dick and Harry; the first of which, Tom, was built by Mr Fancy and others in the corner of a hall.  In order to keep the tunnels from being detected,  they were 30 feet below the surface and were only 2 feet square.

Although John Fancy was transferred away from the camp and Tom was later discovered,  76 men did escape through Dick the following year.

Of these, only three evaded capture - 50 men were killed and the rest were sent back to the camp.  Two decades later, the escape attempt caught the imagination of movie bosses and inspired the 1963 Hollywood blockbuster "The Great Escape", which starred Steve McQueen, James Garner and Richard Attenborough.

Airman John Fancy was one of the RAF's most prolific escape artists of World War 2.   He acquired the Nickname of  "the Mole" John Fancy dug eight tunnels at the various peison camps in which he was held, in East Prussia, Poland and Germany. Some of the tunnels were 40 feet below the surface and only 2 feet square.

In all Fancy escaped from custody some sixteen times,only to be recaptured.

While he was at large, John Fancy tramped over Lithuania, Latvia and Germany. e experienced many adventures and difficult moments. During one escape, John Fancy even obtained directions from a German soldier.  There was the time he was recaptured by an extermination squad and was subjected to three mock executions.

John Fancy was full of praise for the spontaneous generosity of the poor people of the two Baltic countries who, at great personal risk, gave him some of their meager food supplies.

On his final escape attempt John Fancy and two comrades made their way to the Baltic coast, where they stole a boat. They were well out to sea when they were recaptured.


He constructed eight separate tunnels from various camps, using a German issued steel table knife as his principal tool. The knife became one of his prized possessions after the war.

John Fancy's long period of imprisonment came to an end in the last days of April 1945, when his prison camp was liberated by allied forces. He was flown back to England, touching down at an RAF airfield. John later observed: "After four years, 10 months and four days I landed back in England after taking off on what should have been a four-hour flight."

John Fancy's health had suffered considerably during his time as a POW, and he spent three months recovering in Royal Air Force hospitals before being discharged from the service in August 1945 as a warrant officer. While in the hospital in Lancashire John met his five-year-old daughter for the first time.  For his conduct as a POW and his persistent attempts to escape, he was mentioned in dispatches.


























After the war, John Fancy returned to the Yorkshire Wolds. He established a market garden near Driffield and three greengrocer shops at Scarborough.

John was a keen fisherman, a fairly good tennis-player and he enjoyed painting.  John Fancy also took great pride in his garden.

After the death of his wife Elsie in 1983, John moved to Slapton, in south Devon, in order to be near to his
daughter. 



























In 1992, John Fancy was invited to a ceremony in London to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the Finnish Air Force. The Finnish ambassador took the opportunity to present him with the country's Winter War Medal.

In 1993, on his 90th birthday, John Fancy's family took him back to the chateau, now an upmarket hotel and golf course. He was given a hero's welcome by the Mayor and local people.






















A Picture of four Fancy generations.


























John with his Great Grandchild. 94 years difference in Fancys


John Fancy, who was 95, passed on September 16, 2008. He is survived by two daughters - Janet and Kay, a son, Graham, eight grandchildren.  and 10 great grandchildren.



















Enterior of the Church of Saint James the Great in Slapton



















Church of Saint James the Great in Slapton


The church of Saint James the Great was packed for the funeral service of John Fancy. This was testimony to his popularity.





Flight of Jackdaws.


"As his coffin was brought out of the church after the service a large flight of jackdaws suddenly  appeared directly over it," Janet, the daughter of John Fancy,said. "It was just as if he was being given a farewell fly past."



















Slapton, Devon.


A Devon community mourned the death of a man whose exploits to escape the prison camps where he was held during WWII, earned him the nickname "The Mole". . John Fancy had lived in Slapton for 23 years.























John Fancy riding down to the local pubs.


He was revered in Slapton and both local pubs had a special seat at the bar reserved for him. He was still riding down to the pub on his electric buggy complete with extra battery to get him back up the hill, right up to the time of his death.






















Queens Arms in Slapton.


Clive Hain said "I only knew John for the last 5 years of his life. But it was an honour never the less.John was often in the Queens Arms in Slapton sipping his double whisky, followed by a few more and lastly a coffee served by my wife Mo.  John has his own seat and whoever was sat in it would always get up as soon as John came in.

I think he was such a charming man, always calling my wife wench, nobody could ever fall out with him. Never heard him say an ill word about anyone. I have read his book "Flight of Fancy".  What a hero, but so quiet about what happened,  I for one will really miss John."





















Tower Inn in Slapton 


The Tower Inn in Slapton has his portrait displayed on the wall. John Fancy's grand-daughter said: "There's a portait of him above his favourite seat which was revealed on the day of his funeral and it captures him perfectly".

Denis Howard & Margaret Boon remarked "Our first recollection of John was seeing him in his mobility scooter, hurtling down Prospect Hill on his way to the Tower Inn."

"We weren't sure if he'd negotiate the sharp turn in to the car park, but he managed it with no reduction in speed!"

"As visitors we didn't know John very well, but he was always friendly and a real Gentleman. We have many good memories of John's lively Friday lunchtime banter. He always had the perfect answer for everything and a wonderful sense of humour."

"In early July, John kindly signed my copy of his book "Tunnelling to Freedom". I asked if he'd like a drink, adding are you allowed another? He said "no, but I will".


His daughter Janet Fancy, a 68 year old divorcee from Kingsbridge, Devon, described him as "irrepressible".

"He was a real charmer, but above all, he had patience, he was quite irrepressible."

"He was wonderful,and above all else he was a doer,"

"He never left anything to anyone else, if he could do it himself then he got stuck in."

"My father took a lot of risks during the war trying to do his bit to get soldiers out of the camps. He dug at least eight very deep and long tunnels".





















She still has the butter knife, inscribed with the German eagle emblem.  "How he got it home, we've no idea," she said.


"During his long stint as a prisoner-of-war, he acquired the reputation as the most determined escaper  the Germans had ever encountered."



























"After surviving a plane crash and five years of imprisonment, the family rather felt he was indestructible."


Brydgette Bryon-Edmond

























Brydgette Bryon-Edmond


David Elstone of Hymers College in Hull, welcomed Brydgette Bryon-Edmond, who is the grand-aughter of John Fancy, a former pupil from the years 1926 to 1929.  He was a serial escaper from the Nazi POW camps, author of the book 'Tunnelling to Freedom" and was part of the planning team for 'The Great Escape".  Brydette gave an assembly to the whole Senior School and a presentation to Year 9 as part of their History lesson.  She also went to the Junior School to inform pupils about her grandfather's exploits.

Matthew Cowan, a Year 12 pupil, also gave a presentation about John Fancy, which he had given for a national history competition, and reached the national finals - his subject was 'My Local Hero.' 




























 John Fancy, a navigator in the RAF, who was shot down during a bombing raid in Northern France in May 1940. He was captured and held prisoner by the Germans until the end of the war, during which time he made 16 attempts to gain his freedom. He escaped 3 times but was recaptured on each occasion. His book 'Tunnelling to Freedom' was a best seller in 1957 and has recently been reprinted in 2008, following his death, aged 95.




























David Elstone, Headmaster at Hymers, comments, "We welcome a lot of visitors throughout the year, who add value and provide great insight into the subjects being taught. The fact that Brydgette is the granddaughter of one of our former pupils, an Old Hymerian, makes this even more special and interesting for our pupils. We are really pleased to have welcomed her back to her grand-father's old school."


Books

After the war John Fancy wrote a book about his adventures. "Tunnelling to Freedom: The Story of the World's Most Persistent Escaper", was published in 1957, by Panther Books, and became an instant bestseller. Aurum Press has now acquired the rights to publish this classic work in a new edition, which will reveal John Fancy's amazing exploits to a new generation of readers. His gripping and dryly humorous account reveals the fascinating details of life in the prison camps and the determination, heroism and madness of the escapers. We also see the incredible ingenuity and patience which John brought to bear on his escape attempts, often digging his tunnels with no more than a 10-inch butter knife.

In addition to his tunnelling John Fancy also recounts his attempts to abscond from outside working parties, cutting through the camp's perimeter wire and jumping from moving trains. With a new Introduction that sets John's activities in a historical context, and Illustrations including photos of John and his fellow prisones in the camps, plus his original plans of tunnels and artefacts including his German butter knife, this is essential reading for the WW2 historian and anyone who enjoys a good adventure story.





















"Tunnelling to Freedom" (Panther, 1957, ASIN B0007JJ9IS)


























"Flights of Fancy" (Navigator, 1986, ISBN 0902830651)


























John Fancy felt at home in the pub!


One of John Fancy's many admirers wrote: "He survived,  millions didn’t.....  He was enjoying his whiskey and family and whatnot right up until he died, slipping away in his sleep mid-conversation.  What a great way to go!"