Second World War “Tunnel King” dies aged 95

John Fancy, who has died aged 95, joined the RAF in 1939 as a navigator and was shot down over France nine months later. He spent the remainder of the war as a PoW, initially at Stalag Luft I, at Barth, the first camp built for RAF prisoners. When it was closed in 1942 the PoWs were transferred to other camps. He spent time in numerous Stalags in East Prussia, Poland and Germany but, wherever he found himself, he was determined to escape.

Mr. Fancy’s favourite mode of escape was tunneling, generally with a standard SS butter knife, one of which he still owned at the time of his death. As well as tunnelling, Mr. Fancy also tried his hand at absconding from outside working parties, cutting through the camp's perimeter wire and jumping from moving trains – though he always considered himself merely an "amateur tunneller". His escape activities landed him in solitary confinement for a total of 34 weeks – one eighth of his time in detention.

Eventually released at the cessation of hostilities, Fancy was flown back to an RAF airfield. "After four years, 10 months and four days,” he observed, “I landed back in England after what should have been a four-hour flight." He settled in Slapton, Devon, where he wrote two books about his experiences. He was a popular figure in the village, with a reserved seat at the bar of several local pubs.