Franz von Werra

Who was Franz von Werra?

Franz Xaver Baron von Werra was a German World War II fighter pilot and flying ace who was shot down over Britain and captured. He is generally regarded as the only Axis prisoner of war to succeed in escaping from a Canadian prisoner of war camp and returning to Germany, though a second man, a U-Boat rating named Walter Kurt Reich is said to have jumped from a Polish troopship in the St. Lawrence River in July 1940. Von Werra managed to return to Germany via the USA, Mexico, South America and Spain to reach Germany on 18 April 1941. Oberleutnant von Werra was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 14 December 1940.