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Orr, Andrew Neilson (Flying Officer)

Prisoner of War 1943-April-17

Birth Date: 1915-April-23 (age 27)

Husband of Lillian Anton

Home: Glasgow scotland

Service
RAFVR
Unit
78 (B) Sqn- Squadron (RAF)
Nemo Non Paratus Nobody unprepared
Base
RAF Linton-on-Ouse
Rank
Flying Officer
Marshal
Air Chief MarshalA/C/M
Air MarshalA/M
Air Vice MarshalA/V/M
Air CommodoreA/C
Group CaptainG/C
Wing CommanderW/C
Squadron LeaderS/L
Flight LieutenantF/L
Flying OfficerF/O
Pilot OfficerP/O
Warrant Officer 1st ClassWO1
Warrant Officer 2nd ClassWO2
Flight SergeantFS
SergeantSGT
CorporalCPL
Senior AircraftmanSAC
Leading AircraftmanLAC
Aircraftman 1st ClassAC1
Aircraftman 2nd ClassAC2
Position
Air Gunner (Rear)
Service Numbers
121341
PoW: 1102

Halifax B/GR.Mk.II DT773

Bombing Pilsen Czechoslovakia 1943-April-16 to 1943-April-17

78 (B) Sqn (RAF) RAF Linton-on-Ouse

78 (Preston's Own) Squadron (Nemo non paratus) RAF Linton-on-Ouse. Halifax BII aircraft DT 773 EY was shot down by night fighter pilot Lt Joseph Nabrich III/NJG101 returning from an operation against the Skoda armaments factory in Pilsen, Czechoslovakia. Pilot Flight Lieutenant Dowse gave the order to abandon the aircraft and stayed at the controls. Sadly, Flight Lieutenant Dowse was not able to get free himself and went down with his bomber. The Halifax crashed crashed in the dry lake bed of Max Eyth in the Hofen district of Stuttgart, Germany

Flight Lieutenant AP Dowse (RAFVR) was killed in action

FS R Desjardins (RCAF), Sergeant AW Hoare (RAFVR), Sergeant P Lansford (RNZAF), Flying Officer AN Orr (RAFVR), Sergeant TT Slater (RAFVR) and Sergeant HE Thompson (RAFVR) survived and all were taken as Prisoners of War

General [Royal Air Force Serial and Image Database]...

General Aviation Safety Network

General Allied Losses and Incidents: All Commands

Operations Record Book Operations Record Book Monthly Summary

Operations Record Book Operations Record Book Daily Detail

RAF Roundel MI-9 PoW Questionnaire

Footprints on the Sands of Time, RAF Bomber Command Prisoners of War in Germany 1939-45 by Oliver Clutton-Brock page 374

Museum Flying Officer Orr artifacts stored at CWHM

Goldfish Club (ditching or parachuting into water) was earned in November 1942 on a mission to Genoa Italy (see below).
Home
Google MapGlasgow scotland
Target
Google MapPilsen Czechoslovakia

Halifax DT773

Warrant Officer 1 Desjardins, Richard (RCAF)
Navigator
Prisoner of War
1943-April-17
cemetery unknown

Male Head

Flight Lieutenant Dowse, Arthur Patrick (RAF)
Pilot Instructor
Killed in Action
1943-April-17
Durnbach War Cemetery, Gmund am Tegernsee, Germany

Male Head

Hoare, Albert William (RAFVR)
Air Gunner (Mid-Upper)
Prisoner of War
1943-April-17
cemetery unknown

Male Head

Langford, Philip (RNZAF)
Wireless Operator/Air Gunner
Prisoner of War
1943-April-17
cemetery unknown

Flying Officer Orr, Andrew Neilson (RAFVR)
Air Gunner (Rear)
Prisoner of War
1943-April-17
cemetery unknown

Male Head

Slater, Thomas Thompson (RAFVR)
Flight Engineer
Prisoner of War
1943-April-17
cemetery unknown

Male Head

Thompson, H E (RAFVR)
Bomb Aimer
Prisoner of War
1943-April-17
cemetery unknown

Previous Events

1942-November-08 Flying Officer Interned Prisoner

Halifax B.Mk.IIEY-T

78 Bomber Squadron RAF

Mission to Genoa resulted in internment in Spain.

Halifax B.Mk.II W1063

Bombing Genoa Italy 1942-November-07 to 1942-November-08

78 (B) Sqn (RAF) RAF Linton-on-Ouse
Orr's Log from November 1942
Aircraft incident card -Form 1180

On the night of 7th / 8th November 1942 he flying 78 Squadron Halifax W1063 on Ops to Italy but outbound and (likely over the Alps) one of the engines failed. Realizing that they could not then return over the Alps they continued to target, released the bomb load but then headed for Gibraltar, the aircraft was eventually ditched near Valencia Spain.The crew were rescued but then interned briefly in Spain before being released to Gibraltar and then returned to the UK in early 1943. Stoey from multiple sources

  • Flying Officer A P Dowse
  • Sergeant J Kershaw
  • Sergeant H E Thompson
  • Sergeant P Langsford (RNZAF)
  • Sergeant A W Hoare
  • Pilot Officer A N Orr
  • Sergeant T T Slater

Orr, Andrew Neilson (RAF)
Rear Gunner
Interned Prisoner
1942-November-08
cemetery unknown

Handley Page Halifax

(RAF Photo, 1942)(Source Harold A Skaarup Web Page)A Royal Air Force Handley Page Halifax Mk. II Series I (Serial No. W7676), coded TL-P, of No. 35 Squadron, RAF, based at Linton-on-Ouse, Yorkshire in the UK, being piloted by Flight Lieutenant Reginald Lane, (later Lieutenant-General, RCAF), over the English countryside. Flt Lt Lane and his crew flew twelve operations in W7676, which failed to return from a raid on Nuremberg on the night of 28/29 August 1942, when it was being flown by Flt Sgt D. John and crew.

The Handley Page Halifax is a British Royal Air Force (RAF) four-engined heavy bomber of the Second World War. It was developed by Handley Page to the same specification as the contemporary twin-engine Avro Manchester.

The Halifax has its origins in the twin-engine HP56 proposal of the late 1930s, produced in response to the British Air Ministry's Specification P.13/36 for a capable medium bomber for "world-wide use." The HP56 was ordered as a backup to the Avro 679, both aircraft being designed to use the underperforming Rolls-Royce Vulture engine. The Handley Page design was altered at the Ministry to a four-engine arrangement powered by the Rolls-Royce Merlin engine; the rival Avro 679 was produced as the twin-engine Avro Manchester which, while regarded as unsuccessful mainly due to the Vulture engine, was a direct predecessor of the famed Avro Lancaster. Both the Lancaster and the Halifax would emerge as capable four-engined strategic bombers, thousands of which would be built and operated by the RAF and several other services during the War.

On 25 October 1939, the Halifax performed its maiden flight, and it entered service with the RAF on 13 November 1940. It quickly became a major component of Bomber Command, performing routine strategic bombing missions against the Axis Powers, many of them at night. Arthur Harris, the Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief of Bomber Command, described the Halifax as inferior to the rival Lancaster (in part due to its smaller payload) though this opinion was not shared by many of the crews that flew it, particularly for the MkIII variant. Nevertheless, production of the Halifax continued until April 1945. During their service with Bomber Command, Halifaxes flew a total of 82,773 operations and dropped 224,207 tons of bombs, while 1,833 aircraft were lost. The Halifax was also flown in large numbers by other Allied and Commonwealth nations, such as the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF), Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF), Free French Air Force and Polish forces. Wikipedia

YouTube Halifax Heavy Bomber WWII

General Harold A Skaarup Web Page

Wkikpedia Wikipedia Halifax Bomber

Museum National Air Force Museum of Canada

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last update: 2023-12-08 20:34:11

Halifax B/GR.Mk.II DT773

EYRAF Roundel?
Failed to Return, Plzen, 17.4.43. On return, shot down by Night Fighter off Texel Island, Netherlands.


PoW Capture -- a story in Pictures March 16-17, 1944

Flying Officer Orr was a graduate of Glasgow art College according to his son Ron Orr. As a result his artwork is very communicative.

Museum Flying Officer Orr artifacts stored at CWHM

3 AM 17 4 1943, Attacked by Night Fighter
3 AM 17 4 1943, Baling out of rear gunner position

Halifax BII aircraft DT 773 was shot down by night fighter pilot Lt Joseph Nabrich III/NJG101 returning from an operation against the Skoda armaments factory in Pilsen, Czechoslovakia. Pilot Flight Lieutenant Dowse gave the order to abandon the aircraft and stayed at the controls. Flight Lieutenant Dowse was not able to get free himself and went down with his bomber. The Halifax crashed crashed in the dry lake bed of Max Eyth in the Hofen district of Stuttgart, Germany.

The crew survived and were taken Prisoner of War

The drawing show Flying Officer Orr baling out of his rear gunner position. He apparently injured his leg as he baled out.

3:10 AM 17 4 1943, Found by German Authorities

According to Flying Officer Orr, only ten minutes later he was on the ground and being captured by German Authorities. This image shows him landing on solid ground on Texel Island; and a very Dutch looking thatched roof house in the background. This image is a odds with his receipt of the Goldfish which occurred in November 1942 when his crew ditched in the ocean near Valencia Spain.

36 Hours in Cooler at Dulag Luft, 18th & 19th of April 1943

Dulag Luft is a processing centre just north and west of Frankfurt. Most downed allied airmen were processed and interrogated at Dulag Luft and then transferred to a Prison Camp.

North Compound

This is a layout map of the north compound at Stalag Luft 3, Sagan and Bellaria Germany (after 1945, Poland). Bellaria was a second camp located about 5 miles from the main camp at Sagan. Flying Officer Orr remained at Stalag Luft 3 Sagan. The north compound is the place from which the "Great Escape" took place in late March 1944.

Bar to Freedom

"The Wire" represented imprisonment. Many prisoners commented on "the wire".

Bellaria Design on Verdunkels

We don't really know what this drawing by Flying Officer Orr represents. But we do know that it is extremely well done. Bellaria is the location of second camp for Stalag Luft 3. Verdunkel refers to "dark" in German, it may also refer to "obscured". It was a term used to describe the paper that was used to cover the windows for black-out purposes in wartime. This image does not contain the characteristic page number of the YMCA diary book. It may be "verdunkel" paper.

A cartoon perhaps? An idyllic representation of a place that the prisoners wonder about. May have gotten a few laughs!

The Pit (Tidy Version)

"The Pit" is a highly derogatory term for what appears to be a reasonably nice space (given that it is a prison camp). Is there is something that we do not know about this room?

Escape

Transcription of prologue: "Originally copied from the wall of a cell in which would be escapes served sentences of solitary confinement for their aborted escaped attempts. Flight Lieutenant Boctel [likely Brettell] was among the band of RAF officers ruthlessly shot when recaptured after escaping from the north compound Stalag Luft 3 on 25th of March 1944"

"F/LT Gordon E Brettell died Danzig 133 squadron RAF 29 March 1944."

Flight Lieutenant Brettell had two escape attempts. March 1943 -- he was recaptured and spent time in solitary confinement. March 1944 (Great Escape) -- his group got as far as Danzig (Gdansk). They were recaptured and executed on March 29, 1944

Photos, right click to open in larger size

There are many photos taken inside prison camps. The prisoners smuggled in cameras, radios and other tools. The prisoners were extremely resourceful

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