Dominic Bruce

1. Oflag IV-C
   Dates unknown

Dominic Bruce, (7 June 1915 – 12 February 2000) was a British Royal Air Force officer, known as the "Medium Sized Man." He has been described as "the most ingenious escaper" of the Second World War. He made seventeen attempts at escaping from POW camps, including several attempts to escape from Colditz Castle, a castle that housed prisoners of war "deemed incorrigible". He was named by Jim Rogers ("Tunnelling into Colditz") as one of the ten 'Kings of Colditz', the men who "dedicated their waking hours only to the idea of escaping". Famed for his time in Colditz, Bruce also escaped from Spangenberg Castle and the Warburg POW camp. In Spangenberg Castle he master minded the Swiss Red Cross Commission escape described by Aidan Crawley in his book 'Escape from Germany. A History of R.A.F. Escapes during the War' (1956). It is also argued he co-innovated the wooden horse escape technique while serving time inside Spangenberg. In Warburg he escaped dressed as a British orderly in a fake workers party. Inside Colditz Castle, Bruce authored the Tea Chest Escape and also faced a firing squad for an attempted escape via a sewer tunnel. While held in solitude in Colditz Bruce, along with two other prisoners, became a key witness to the post war Musketoon commando raid trial. He is notable for being (along with Hank Wardle) one of the only two men who escaped from both Spangenberg and Colditz prison camps during World War II. For his exploits, Bruce was awarded the Military Cross and is the only known person to have received both the Military Cross and the Air Force Medal. Bruce has also featured prominently in books, sound recordings, TV and film. In his later years he was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire for his services to education.