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searchaux" style="display:none">Royal Air Force officer (1918–2008)</div> <p class="mw-empty-elt"> </p> <style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1257001546">.mw-parser-output .infobox-subbox{padding:0;border:none;margin:-3px;width:auto;min-width:100%;font-size:100%;clear:none;float:none;background-color:transparent}.mw-parser-output .infobox-3cols-child{margin:auto}.mw-parser-output .infobox .navbar{font-size:100%}@media screen{html.skin-theme-clientpref-night .mw-parser-output .infobox-full-data:not(.notheme)>div:not(.notheme)[style]{background:#1f1f23!important;color:#f8f9fa}}@media screen and (prefers-color-scheme:dark){html.skin-theme-clientpref-os .mw-parser-output .infobox-full-data:not(.notheme) div:not(.notheme){background:#1f1f23!important;color:#f8f9fa}}@media(min-width:640px){body.skin--responsive .mw-parser-output .infobox-table{display:table!important}body.skin--responsive .mw-parser-output .infobox-table>caption{display:table-caption!important}body.skin--responsive .mw-parser-output .infobox-table>tbody{display:table-row-group}body.skin--responsive .mw-parser-output .infobox-table tr{display:table-row!important}body.skin--responsive .mw-parser-output .infobox-table th,body.skin--responsive .mw-parser-output .infobox-table td{padding-left:inherit;padding-right:inherit}}</style><table class="infobox vcard" style="width:25.5em;border-spacing:2px;"><tbody><tr><th colspan="2" class="infobox-above" style="font-size:125%; background-color:#C3D6EF;color:inherit;"><div style="display:inline-block" class="fn">Sydney Hastings Dowse</div></th></tr><tr><td colspan="2" class="infobox-image" style="border-bottom: 1px solid #aaa;; line-height: 1.5em"><span class="mw-default-size" typeof="mw:File/Frameless"><a href="/wiki/File:Sydney_Dowse_in_RAF_service.jpg" class="mw-file-description"><img src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/1/15/Sydney_Dowse_in_RAF_service.jpg" decoding="async" width="185" height="133" class="mw-file-element" data-file-width="185" data-file-height="133" /></a></span><div class="infobox-caption" style="font-size: 100%">Sydney Dowse in RAF service prior to becoming a <a href="/wiki/POW" class="mw-redirect" title="POW">POW</a></div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label" style="padding-right: 1em">Nickname(s)</th><td class="infobox-data nickname">The Laughing Boy</td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label" style="padding-right: 1em">Born</th><td class="infobox-data">21 November 1918<br /><a href="/wiki/Hammersmith" title="Hammersmith">Hammersmith</a> United Kingdom</td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label" style="padding-right: 1em">Died</th><td class="infobox-data">10 April 2008 (aged 89)<br /><a href="/wiki/Hampshire" title="Hampshire">Hampshire</a>, United Kingdom</td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label" style="padding-right: 1em">Allegiance</th><td class="infobox-data"><span class="flagicon"><span class="mw-image-border" typeof="mw:File"><a href="/wiki/United_Kingdom" title="United Kingdom"><img alt="United Kingdom" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/a/ae/Flag_of_the_United_Kingdom.svg/23px-Flag_of_the_United_Kingdom.svg.png" decoding="async" width="23" height="12" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/a/ae/Flag_of_the_United_Kingdom.svg/35px-Flag_of_the_United_Kingdom.svg.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/a/ae/Flag_of_the_United_Kingdom.svg/46px-Flag_of_the_United_Kingdom.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="1200" data-file-height="600" /></a></span></span> <a href="/wiki/British_Empire" title="British Empire">British Empire</a></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label" style="padding-right: 1em">Service <wbr />/ branch</th><td class="infobox-data"><span class="flagicon"><span class="mw-image-border" typeof="mw:File"><span><img alt="" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/cc/Air_Force_Ensign_of_the_United_Kingdom.svg/23px-Air_Force_Ensign_of_the_United_Kingdom.svg.png" decoding="async" width="23" height="12" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/cc/Air_Force_Ensign_of_the_United_Kingdom.svg/35px-Air_Force_Ensign_of_the_United_Kingdom.svg.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/cc/Air_Force_Ensign_of_the_United_Kingdom.svg/46px-Air_Force_Ensign_of_the_United_Kingdom.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="1440" data-file-height="720" /></span></span> </span><a href="/wiki/Royal_Air_Force" title="Royal Air Force">Royal Air Force</a></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label" style="padding-right: 1em">Years of service</th><td class="infobox-data">1937–1946</td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label" style="padding-right: 1em">Rank</th><td class="infobox-data"><a href="/wiki/Flight_lieutenant" title="Flight lieutenant">Flight lieutenant</a></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label" style="padding-right: 1em">Unit</th><td class="infobox-data"><a href="/wiki/No._608_Squadron_RAF" title="No. 608 Squadron RAF">No 608 Squadron</a><br />No 1 Photographic Reconnaissance Unit</td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label" style="padding-right: 1em">Battles / wars</th><td class="infobox-data"><a href="/wiki/World_War_II" title="World War II">World War II</a></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label" style="padding-right: 1em">Awards</th><td class="infobox-data"><span typeof="mw:File"><a href="/wiki/File:Military_Cross_ribbon.png" class="mw-file-description"><img src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d5/Military_Cross_ribbon.png/30px-Military_Cross_ribbon.png" decoding="async" width="30" height="9" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d5/Military_Cross_ribbon.png/45px-Military_Cross_ribbon.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d5/Military_Cross_ribbon.png/60px-Military_Cross_ribbon.png 2x" data-file-width="100" data-file-height="30" /></a></span> <a href="/wiki/Military_Cross" title="Military Cross">Military Cross</a><br /><a href="/wiki/Mentioned_in_despatches" class="mw-redirect" title="Mentioned in despatches">mentioned in despatches</a></td></tr></tbody></table> <p><a href="/wiki/Flight_Lieutenant" class="mw-redirect" title="Flight Lieutenant">Flight Lieutenant</a> <b>Sydney Hastings Dowse</b> <a href="/wiki/Military_Cross" title="Military Cross">MC</a> (21 November 1918 – 10 April 2008) was a <a href="/wiki/Royal_Air_Force" title="Royal Air Force">Royal Air Force</a> pilot who became a <a href="/wiki/Prisoner_of_war" title="Prisoner of war">prisoner of war</a> and survived <a href="/wiki/Stalag_Luft_III#The_great_escape" title="Stalag Luft III">The Great Escape</a> during the Second World War. </p> <meta property="mw:PageProp/toc" /> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Early_life_and_RAFVR">Early life and RAFVR</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Sydney_Dowse&action=edit&section=1" title="Edit section: Early life and RAFVR"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>Born in <a href="/wiki/Hammersmith" title="Hammersmith">Hammersmith</a>, Sydney was educated at <a href="/wiki/Hurstpierpoint_College" title="Hurstpierpoint College">Hurstpierpoint College</a>. In July 1937, he joined the recently formed <a href="/wiki/Royal_Air_Force_Volunteer_Reserve" title="Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve">Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve</a> and learnt to fly at weekends. At the outbreak of war in September 1939, he was called up for regular service and completed his pilot training. He was commissioned as a <a href="/wiki/Pilot_officer" title="Pilot officer">pilot officer</a> on 21 October 1940, with seniority from 9 August 1940.<sup id="cite_ref-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-1"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>1<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>He joined <a href="/wiki/No._608_Squadron_RAF" title="No. 608 Squadron RAF">No 608 Squadron</a> attached to <a href="/wiki/Coastal_Command" class="mw-redirect" title="Coastal Command">Coastal Command</a> flying <a href="/wiki/Avro_Anson" title="Avro Anson">Avro Ansons</a> on anti-submarine and convoy escort operations. At the end of 1940, he volunteered to join No 1 Photographic Reconnaissance Unit (PRU) flying <a href="/wiki/Spitfire" class="mw-redirect" title="Spitfire">Spitfires</a>. </p><p>He was <a href="/wiki/Mentioned_in_despatches" class="mw-redirect" title="Mentioned in despatches">mentioned in despatches</a> on 11 June 1942<sup id="cite_ref-2" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-2"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>2<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> and promoted to <a href="/wiki/Flight_lieutenant" title="Flight lieutenant">flight lieutenant</a> on 21 October 1942, with seniority from 9 August 1942.<sup id="cite_ref-3" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-3"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>3<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>Dowse was shot down on 15 August 1941 while on a reconnaissance mission to photograph the German battleships <a href="/wiki/German_battleship_Scharnhorst" title="German battleship Scharnhorst"><i>Scharnhorst</i></a> and <a href="/wiki/German_battleship_Gneisenau" title="German battleship Gneisenau"><i>Gneisenau</i></a> at Brest.<sup id="cite_ref-4" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-4"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>4<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> He was wounded in the leg and quickly captured by the Germans, becoming a <a href="/wiki/Prisoner_of_war" title="Prisoner of war">prisoner of war</a>. </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Prisoner_of_war">Prisoner of war</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Sydney_Dowse&action=edit&section=2" title="Edit section: Prisoner of war"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Early_escape_attempts">Early escape attempts</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Sydney_Dowse&action=edit&section=3" title="Edit section: Early escape attempts"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>His first escape attempt came on 1 December 1941, when he was recovering from the leg wound sustained when he was shot down. He escaped from a hospital at Stadtroda in Thuringia. However, Dowse was recaptured three days later attempting to cross the Dutch-German border.<sup id="cite_ref-Gaz4107_5-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Gaz4107-5"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>5<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>His next attempt was from <a href="/wiki/Stalag_IX-C" title="Stalag IX-C">Stalag IX-C</a> at <a href="/wiki/Bad_Sulza" title="Bad Sulza">Bad Sulza</a> on 21 January 1942. He exchanged identities with a Canadian POW and joined a work party. He managed to slip away unnoticed when outside the camp. After travelling some distance by train to Werwitz, he continued on foot, through deep snow, towards the German-Belgian frontier where he was re-captured five days later, suffering from extreme exhaustion and exposure.<sup id="cite_ref-Gaz4107_5-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Gaz4107-5"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>5<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-6" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-6"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>6<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>Following a brief period in hospital, he was transferred to <a href="/wiki/Oflag_VI-B" title="Oflag VI-B">Oflag VI-B</a> at Warburg. </p><p>At Warburg, he participated in the excavation of an escape tunnel, which was completed on 18 April 1942. He, and 34 others (including the legless air ace, <a href="/wiki/Douglas_Bader" title="Douglas Bader">Douglas Bader</a>, and Dowse's later escaping partner, <a href="/wiki/Stanislaw_Krol" class="mw-redirect" title="Stanislaw Krol">Stanislaw Krol</a>), prepared to escape. However, as the tunnel broke surface, it became clear that it was slightly too short, and the exit hole had emerged directly in the patrol path of a German sentry. Six RAF officers managed to escape, but, due to the proximity of the sentry, no one else, including Dowse, was able to do so.<sup id="cite_ref-7" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-7"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>7<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Stalag_Luft_III">Stalag Luft III</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Sydney_Dowse&action=edit&section=4" title="Edit section: Stalag Luft III"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>In May 1942, Dowse was transferred to <a href="/wiki/Stalag_Luft_III" title="Stalag Luft III">Stalag Luft III</a> at <a href="/wiki/%C5%BBaga%C5%84" title="Żagań">Sagan</a> with a batch of other RAF officers. </p><p>Dowse's next escape attempt happened on 30 November 1942, when he and <a href="/wiki/Flight_Lieutenant" class="mw-redirect" title="Flight Lieutenant">Flt Lt</a> <a href="/wiki/Stanislaw_Krol" class="mw-redirect" title="Stanislaw Krol">Stanisław 'Danny' Krol</a> cut through the wire into the camp's central compound and crawled across that compound using blankets as camouflage. They were in the process of cutting the perimeter wire to get out when they were arrested and sentenced to 14 days' solitary confinement.<sup id="cite_ref-8" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-8"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>8<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>Dowse, who spoke some German, befriended a German corporal who worked alongside Dowse in the camp's censor office. From this contact, Dowse was able to gain useful information and documents which aided the camp escape organisation. He was able to 'borrow' a genuine gate pass, which was copied by the camp's forgery department, and a copy was used on the <a href="/wiki/Delousing_break" title="Delousing break">delousing break</a> mass escape in June 1943.<sup id="cite_ref-9" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-9"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>9<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>Through this same contact, Dowse was able to gain information about the German secret rocket establishment at <a href="/wiki/Peenem%C3%BCnde" title="Peenemünde">Peenemünde</a>. This information was passed on to British intelligence via secret codes written into POWs' letters home.<sup id="cite_ref-10" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-10"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>10<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>Dowse also learnt that the <a href="/wiki/Gestapo" title="Gestapo">Gestapo</a> had liquidation plans for <a href="/wiki/Roger_Bushell" title="Roger Bushell">Roger Bushell</a> if he were caught escaping again. Dowse warned Bushell, who chose to ignore the warning.<sup id="cite_ref-11" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-11"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>11<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="The_Great_Escape">The Great Escape</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Sydney_Dowse&action=edit&section=5" title="Edit section: The Great Escape"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>During his time in the North Compound at Stalag Luft III, Dowse became involved with the construction of the three tunnels intended for a mass escape, masterminded by <a href="/wiki/Roger_Bushell" title="Roger Bushell">Roger Bushell</a>, <a href="/wiki/Harry_Day" title="Harry Day">Harry Day</a> and Canadian Wally Floody, who was instrumental in the tunnel's design and construction. One tunnel, codenamed 'Harry' which Dowse had helped build, was completed in early 1944. </p><p>On 24 March 1944, he took part in <a href="/wiki/Stalag_Luft_III#The_great_escape" title="Stalag Luft III">The Great Escape</a> through tunnel 'Harry', escaping with <a href="/wiki/Flight_Lieutenant" class="mw-redirect" title="Flight Lieutenant">Flt Lt</a> <a href="/wiki/Stanislaw_Krol" class="mw-redirect" title="Stanislaw Krol">Stanisław Krol</a>. Dowse had drawn escape number 21, and was disguised as a Danish foreign worker, equipped with the appropriate (forged) documents and clothing provided by his 'contact'.<sup id="cite_ref-12" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-12"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>12<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>Dowse and Krol travelled mainly by foot towards the Polish border, but were recaptured just inside Germany on 6 April 1944. They were amongst the last escapers to be re-captured. Taken to the local <a href="/wiki/Gestapo" title="Gestapo">Gestapo</a> headquarters, they were interrogated, before being separated.<sup id="cite_ref-13" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-13"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>13<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>Dowse was sent to <a href="/wiki/Sachsenhausen_concentration_camp" title="Sachsenhausen concentration camp">Sachsenhausen concentration camp</a>. <a href="/wiki/Stanislaw_Krol" class="mw-redirect" title="Stanislaw Krol">Stanisław 'Danny' Krol</a> was among the 50 recaptured officers to be executed. </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Sachsenhausen_concentration_camp">Sachsenhausen concentration camp</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Sydney_Dowse&action=edit&section=6" title="Edit section: Sachsenhausen concentration camp"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>At Sachsenhausen, Dowse found himself with three fellow survivors of the 'Great Escape': (<a href="/wiki/Harry_Day" title="Harry Day">Harry Day</a>, <a href="/wiki/Johnnie_Dodge" title="Johnnie Dodge">Johnnie Dodge</a> and <a href="/wiki/Bertram_James" title="Bertram James">Bertram James</a>). They were placed in Sonderlager A (Special Camp A) within the main camp. Here were housed a handful of other 'political' prisoners, including <a href="/wiki/Special_Operations_Executive" title="Special Operations Executive">SOE</a> agent <a href="/wiki/Peter_Churchill" title="Peter Churchill">Peter Churchill</a>, two Russian generals, various other Russians, Poles, Italians and four British soldiers of Irish origin.<sup id="cite_ref-14" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-14"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>14<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Later, they were joined by <a href="/wiki/British_Commandos" class="mw-redirect" title="British Commandos">British Commando</a> <a href="/wiki/Jack_Churchill" title="Jack Churchill">Jack Churchill</a>. </p><p>Dowse and James almost immediately began another tunnel, which was kept secret from all non-British personnel. This was completed and used on the night of 23 September 1944, when Dowse, James, Day, Dodge and Jack Churchill escaped.<sup id="cite_ref-15" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-15"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>15<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-16" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-16"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>16<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> <sup id="cite_ref-17" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-17"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>17<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>Dowse paired up with Day and they travelled by train into Berlin. However, they were recaptured the next day when hiding in a bombed out house in the Berlin suburb of Mahlsdorf.<sup id="cite_ref-18" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-18"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>18<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>Placed in the death cells back at Sachsenhausen, all the escapers who had been re-captured were spared execution mainly thanks to Day's efforts under interrogation. </p><p>In April 1945, after spending several months in solitary confinement Dowse, together with other prominent prisoners (Prominenten), was <a href="/wiki/Transport_of_concentration_camp_inmates_to_Tyrol" title="Transport of concentration camp inmates to Tyrol">transferred to the Tyrol</a> via concentration camps at <a href="/wiki/Flossenb%C3%BCrg_concentration_camp" title="Flossenbürg concentration camp">Flossenburg</a> and <a href="/wiki/Dachau_concentration_camp" title="Dachau concentration camp">Dachau</a>. </p><p>He was awarded the <a href="/wiki/Military_Cross" title="Military Cross">Military Cross</a> for his services as a <a href="/wiki/POW" class="mw-redirect" title="POW">POW</a>. This award was published in the <i><a href="/wiki/London_Gazette" class="mw-redirect" title="London Gazette">London Gazette</a></i> on 16 August 1946.<sup id="cite_ref-Gaz4107_5-2" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Gaz4107-5"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>5<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Later_life">Later life</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Sydney_Dowse&action=edit&section=7" title="Edit section: Later life"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>Dowse served as an <a href="/wiki/Equerry" title="Equerry">equerry</a> at <a href="/wiki/Buckingham_Palace" title="Buckingham Palace">Buckingham Palace</a>. For a number of years in the 1950s, at the time of the communist insurgency, he worked in <a href="/wiki/Federation_of_Malaya" title="Federation of Malaya">Malaya</a> as a rubber plantation manager in the <a href="/wiki/Penang" title="Penang">Penang</a> Settlement.<sup id="cite_ref-Tel1584_19-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Tel1584-19"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>19<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> After the war, he also worked, possibly unwittingly, for a short time as a representative for <a href="/wiki/Bernie_Cornfeld" class="mw-redirect" title="Bernie Cornfeld">Bernie Cornfeld</a>'s insurance fraud, "The Dover Plan", as well as other unsuccessful and/or dubious ventures. He lived mainly on his heroic stories from the war, which were a <i>laissez passer</i> in post-war society. </p><p>He married three times<sup class="noprint Inline-Template Template-Fact" style="white-space:nowrap;">[<i><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed" title="Wikipedia:Citation needed"><span title="This claim needs references to reliable sources. (January 2012)">citation needed</span></a></i>]</sup> </p><p>He returned to <a href="/wiki/Stalag_Luft_III" title="Stalag Luft III">Stalag Luft III</a> in March 1994 and March 2004 to mark the anniversaries of the Great Escape, and to commemorate his friends who did not survive.<sup id="cite_ref-Tel1584_19-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Tel1584-19"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>19<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-20" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-20"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>20<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="References">References</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Sydney_Dowse&action=edit&section=8" title="Edit section: References"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1239543626">.mw-parser-output .reflist{margin-bottom:0.5em;list-style-type:decimal}@media screen{.mw-parser-output .reflist{font-size:90%}}.mw-parser-output .reflist .references{font-size:100%;margin-bottom:0;list-style-type:inherit}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns-2{column-width:30em}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns-3{column-width:25em}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns{margin-top:0.3em}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns ol{margin-top:0}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns li{page-break-inside:avoid;break-inside:avoid-column}.mw-parser-output .reflist-upper-alpha{list-style-type:upper-alpha}.mw-parser-output .reflist-upper-roman{list-style-type:upper-roman}.mw-parser-output .reflist-lower-alpha{list-style-type:lower-alpha}.mw-parser-output .reflist-lower-greek{list-style-type:lower-greek}.mw-parser-output .reflist-lower-roman{list-style-type:lower-roman}</style><div class="reflist reflist-columns references-column-width reflist-columns-2"> <ol class="references"> <li id="cite_note-1"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-1">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.london-gazette.co.uk/issues/34989/supplements/6497">London Gazette</a></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-2"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-2">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.london-gazette.co.uk/issues/35586/pages/2521">London Gazette</a></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-3"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-3">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.london-gazette.co.uk/issues/35773/supplements/4811">London Gazette</a></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-4"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-4">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><i>RAF Coastal Command Losses</i> by Ross McNeill</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-Gaz4107-5"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">^ <a href="#cite_ref-Gaz4107_5-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-Gaz4107_5-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-Gaz4107_5-2"><sup><i><b>c</b></i></sup></a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.london-gazette.co.uk/issues/37687/supplements/4107">London Gazette</a></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-6"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-6">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><i>Wire and Worse</i> by Charles Rollings page 207</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-7"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-7">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><i>Wire and Worse</i> by Charles Rollings page 212</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-8"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-8">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><i>AIR40/2645 Official Camp History – SL3(East)</i> page 50</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-9"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-9">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><i>The Great Escape from Stalag Luft III</i> by Tim Carroll page 123</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-10"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-10">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><i>Wings Day</i> by Sydney Smith page 153</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-11"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-11">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><i>Wings Day</i> by Sydney Smith page 169</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-12"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-12">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><i>The Great Escape from Stalag Luft III</i> by Tim Carroll page 192</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-13"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-13">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><i>AIR40/2645 Official Camp History – SL3(North)</i> page 59</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-14"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-14">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><i>Wings Day</i> by Sydney Smith page 193</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-15"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-15">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><i>Wings Day</i> by Sydney Smith page 210</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-16"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-16">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><i>The Great Escape</i> by <a href="/wiki/Paul_Brickhill" title="Paul Brickhill">Paul Brickhill</a> page 236</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-17"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-17">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"> <i> Moonless Night</i> by <a href="/w/index.php?title=Bertrand_James&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Bertrand James (page does not exist)">Bertrand James</a> </span> </li> <li id="cite_note-18"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-18">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><i>Wings Day</i> by Sydney Smith page 212</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-Tel1584-19"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">^ <a href="#cite_ref-Tel1584_19-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-Tel1584_19-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/military-obituaries/air-force-obituaries/1584759/Sydney-Dowse.html">Obituary</a> in the <i>Telegraph</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-20"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-20">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/3515042.stm">BBC News</a></span> </li> </ol></div> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="External_links">External links</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Sydney_Dowse&action=edit&section=9" title="Edit 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