Edward Gordon Brettell
Military ROLL OF HONOUR
Object Number - UPL 25574 - S/L Gordon Brettell 133 Eagle Squadron
Joined RAF, trained at 58 OTU, assigned to 92Sqn, transferred to 133Sqn.
Shot down 26 September 1942 near Morlaix, France in Spitfire IX BS313. Became a Prisoner of War (POW) and was executed for his part in the Great Escape from Stalag Luft III
Awards: DFC (British)
Connections
See how this entry relates to other items in the archive by exploring the connections below.
Units served with
- Unit Hierarchy: Squadron
- Type Category: Fighter
Aircraft
- Aircraft Type: Spitfire
- Unit: 4th Fighter Group 336th Fighter Squadron No 133 'Eagle' Squadron
Missions
- Date: 26 September 1942
- Date: 19 August 1942
- Official Description: 2d Lt Samuel F Junkin Jr of 309th Ftr Sq, 31st Ftr Gp, flying a Spitfire in support of the amphibious raid on Dieppe, shoots down a German fighter, this being the first aerial victory won by an Eighth AF fighter pilot flying from the UK.
Places
- Site type: Airfield
- Site type: Airfield
- Site type: Prisoner of war camp
- Known as: Dulag Luft Grosstychow Dulag 12
- Site type: Memorial
- Site type: Prisoner of war camp
- Known as: Stalag Luft III, Sagan, Germany
Events
| Event | Location | Date | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Born |
Chertsey, Surrey, UK | 19 March 1915 | Parents Vivian and Eileen Brettell |
|
Other Prisoner of War (POW) |
Zagan, Poland | 26 September 1942 - 29 March 1944 | Held at Stalag Luft 3, Sagan-Silesia (now Poland). Executed for his role in the "Great Escape". |
|
Other Shot Down |
Brest, France | 26 September 1942 | Shot down in vicinity of Brest. |
|
Died |
Danzig | 29 March 1944 | Murdered by Bruchardt of the Danzig Gestapo after he was captured as a result of the "Great Escape" |
|
Buried |
Old Garrison Cemetery Poznań, Miasto Poznań, Wielkopolskie, Poland | Commonwealth War Graves Poznań Plot: 9 Row: A Grave: 1-20 | |
|
Enlisted |
Joined RAF. | ||
|
Other Operational training |
Grangemouth, Falkirk, UK | Operational training at 58 OTU. | |
|
Other Assigned |
Biggin Hill, London SE19 3HY, UK | Assigned to 92 Sqn RAF. | |
|
Other Transferred |
26 September 1942 | Transferred to 133 [Eagle] Sqn RAF. |
Revisions
cook
Amended error in Death year
Amendment to rank to reflect his service in RAF.
Death and Burial information, taken from CWGC site.
Served at Biggin Hill with 92 Sqn in 1941 taken from 92 Sqn ORB.
From 133 Sqn ORB.
Added Dieppe from 133 Sqn ORB
From Ancestry records
Service No. from London Gazette, Connections from 133 Squadron ORB.
He was British so did not receive American medals as stated previously. His DFC was recorded in the SUPPLEMENT TO THE LONDON GAZETTE, 29 SEPTEMBER, 1942 page 4216.
Changed to military, associated with Stalag Luft III
Amended to reflect that Gordon Brettell was an RAF officer who was seconded to 133 Eagle Squadron as a Flight Commander. His death is taken from his gravestone in the CWG cemetery in Poznan.
Lee Cunningham 16-Nov-2014. added POW event.
Lee Cunningham 28-Oct-2014. Connection to mission within web-site data.
Lee Cunningham 22-Oct-2014 for more information on the 'Great Escape' see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stalag_Luft_III#The_.22Great_Escape.22
Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia / Roll of Honor
