Kidder, Gordon Arthur (Flight Lieutenant)

Prisoner of War Executed 1942-October-13

Flight Lieutenant Gordon Arthur Kidder RCAF

Birth Date: 1914-December-09

Born: St. Catharines, Ontario

Parents: Son of Arthur Garfield and Ethel May (nee Smith) Kidder. Brother of Alvin Harry and Alice Viola Marie.

Spouse:

Home: St Catharines, Ontario

Enlistment: Toronto, Ontario

Enlistment Date: 1941-January-08

Mentioned in Dispatches (1)

Service

RCAF

Unit

156 (B) Sqn- Squadron (RAF)
We Light The Way

Base

Rank

Flight Lieutenant

Position

Navigator

Service Numbers

J/10177

Home
Google MapSt Catharines, Ontario
Target
Google MapKiel Germany
Final Burial
Google MapCmentarz Wojenny Wspolnoty Brytyjskiej w Poznaniu
8 D 5

156 Squadron (We Light The Way), Pathfinder Force. Wellington aircraft was shot down on October 13 1942. FS W.W. Lott and D.W. Congdon were also killed. Two Canadians, Sergeant MacDonald and a wounded Flight Lieutenant G.A. Kidder were taken Prisoners of War.

Flight Lieutenant Kidder escaped from P.O.W. Camp Stalag Luft 3 and was shot by the Gestapo. Please see Wiley G.W. for escape details and the list of Canadian escapees killed.

Canada Source Canadian Virtual War Memorial

Find-A-Grave Finadagrave.com

Canada Primary Source Library and Archives Canada Service Files (may not exist)

Supplemental Story

Stories and Videos

The Great Escape: Canadian Airmen Role

The Movie by the same name implies that The Great Escape was an American operation. It was not. It was primarily a British Commonwealth Operation and Canadian airmen had a very prominent role. In fact six Canadian airmen who were captured after escape were executed by German forces.

YouTube The True Story Of The Great Escape

Further Reading:

  1. THE GREAT ESCAPE: A CANADIAN STORY by Ted Barris
  2. THE GREAT ESCAPE by Paul Brickhill

The Escape

Seventy-six Allied Officers escape from Prisoner of War Camp Stalag Luft 3. 50 were subsequently murdered in retaliation for their escape attempt on the order of Adolph Hitler. 15 were recaptured, and 11 escaped.

6 - RCAF

  1. Flight Lieutenant GE McGill
  2. Flight Lieutenant H Birkland MiD
  3. Flight Lieutenant GA Kidder
  4. Flight Lieutenant PW Langford MiD
  5. Flight Lieutenant JC Wernham MiD
  6. Flight Lieutenant GW Wiley

4 - RAAF

  1. Squadron Leader J Catanach
  2. Flight Lieutenant AH Hake
  3. Flying Officer RV Kierath
  4. Squadron Leader JEA Williams

2 - RNZAF

  1. Flying Officer A Christensen
  2. Flying Officer PPJ Pohe

2 - SAAF

  1. Flight Lieutenant N McGarr
  2. Lt RJ Stevens

2 - Norway (RAF)

  1. Flying Officer H Espelid
  2. Flying Officer J Fugelsang

1 - France (RAF)

  1. Lt BW Scheidhower

1 - Greece (RAF)

  1. Flying Officer S Skanziklas

32 - RAF

  1. Flight Lieutenant E Brettell DFC
  2. Flight Lieutenant LG Butt DFC
  3. Squadron Leader RJ Bushell
  4. Flight Lieutenant MJ Casey
  5. Flying Officer D.H. Cochram
  6. Squadron Leader IK Cross DFC
  7. Flight Lieutenant BH Evans
  8. Lt Gouws
  9. F/Ls WJ Grisman
  10. Flight Lieutenant AD Gunn
  11. Flight Lieutenant CB Hall
  12. Flight Lieutenant AH Hayter
  13. Flight Lieutenant ES Humphreys
  14. Flight Lieutenant A Kiewnarski
  15. Squadron Leader TG Kirby-Green
  16. Flying Officer W Kolanowski
  17. Flight Lieutenant TB Leigh
  18. Flight Lieutenant R Marcinkcus
  19. Flight Lieutenant HT Milford
  20. Flying Officer J Mondschein
  21. Flying Officer K Pawluk
  22. Flight Lieutenant HA Picard
  23. Flight Lieutenant CD Swain
  24. Flying Officer RC Stewart
  25. Flying Officer JG Stower
  26. Flying Officer DD Street
  27. Flight Lieutenant E Valenta
  28. Flight Lieutenant GW Walenn
  29. Flight Lieutenant JF Williams
  30. Flight Lieutenant JLR Long
  31. Flying Officer S Krol
  32. Flying Officer P Tobolski

The Great Escape

  1. From which Prison Camp were the Canadian and British Airmen trying to escape and where was it located?
  2. How deep was the escape tunnel?
  3. How long was the tunnel?
  4. How many men expected to escape?
  5. How how many did escape?
  6. How many were re-captured?
  7. How long did it take to plan and execute the escape?
  8. What special skills were required to facilitate the escape?
  9. Was the Gestapo's treatment of the re-captured prisoners legal under the terms of the Geneva Convention?

Additional Projects

  • Compare and contrast the 1963 movie with the actual events
  • Compare the differences between Internment and Prisoner of War
  • Were there allied prison camps for Captured German and Japanese?
  • Were there detainment camps for non-combatants?