Paul Gordon ROYLE

Paul Gordon ROYLE Update Details

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ROYLE, Paul Gordon

Service Number:	42152
Enlisted:	1 January 1939
Last Rank:	Flight Lieutenant
Last Unit:	Royal Air Force - unspecified units
Born:	Perth, Western Australia, Australia , 17 January 1914
Home Town:	South Perth, South Perth, Western Australia
Schooling:	Hale School and W.A. School of Mines, Western Australia,
Occupation:	Kalgoolie Gold Mine Surveyor
Died:	Natural causes after orthopaedic surgery, Royal Perth Hospital, Western Australia, 23 August 2015, aged 101 years
Cemetery:	Karrakatta Cemetery & Crematorium, Western Australia Killara Gardens Area, Garden X, Ground Niche Memorial 0010.
Memorials:	Ballarat Australian Ex-Prisoners of War Memorial

World War 2 Service

1 Jan 1939:	Enlisted Royal Air Force , 42152
3 Sep 1939:	Involvement Royal Air Force , 42152
6 Nov 1939:	Promoted Royal Air Force , Pilot Officer, London Gazette 5 Dec 1939 page 8106.
18 May 1940:	Imprisoned RAF Blenheim IV L4861F from 53 Sqn RAF crashed near Fontaine-au-Pire, Cambrai, France, after being hit by ground fire. Pilot and Navigator both taken P.O.W.
6 Nov 1940:	Promoted Royal Air Force , Flying Officer, London Gazette 21 Feb 1941 page 1078.
6 Nov 1941:	Promoted Royal Air Force , Flight Lieutenant, London Gazette 20 Jan 1942 page 348.
26 Mar 1944:	Imprisoned Escaped from Stalag Luft III on 24 March 1944 during the Great Escape. Recaptured on 26 March 1944. He was returned to Stalag Luft III, unlike fifty of his Great Escape comrades who were recaptured and shot.
2 May 1945:	Involvement Royal Air Force , Flight Lieutenant, 42152, Liberated POW returned to U.K.
Date unknown:	Involvement Flight Lieutenant, 42152, Royal Air Force - unspecified units

Help us honour Paul Gordon Royle's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.

Biography contributed by David Barlow

Flight Lieutenant Paul Gordon Royle 42152 was captured at Fontaine aux Pires in France on the 18th of May 1940 when his Blenheim aircraft crash-landed

He was #57 in the Great Escape from Stalag Luft III in 1944 - of the 76 escapees, 73 were captured and 50 of those captured were murdered by the Gestapo

Upon the passing of Paul Royle on 23 August 2015, aged 101, the only remaining survivor of the 1944 escape was Dick Churchill until his death on 15 February 2019

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