WALTER MORISONFlight Lieutenant Walter Morison was a British veteran of the Second World War and an inmate at the infamous Colditz prisoner-of-war camp.He was sent to the ‘escape proof’ castle in 1943 after he tried to get out ofanother camp. During this attempthe and a comrade tried to steal a German aircraft to fly to Sweden, an episode which inspired a similar scene in The Great Escape.He was a bomber pilot with the RAF but was taken prisoner after crash landing in German territory following a collision with another aircraft.Walter McDonald Morison was born on 26 November, 1919. He was educated at Stowe and Trinity College, Cambridge, but gave up his university education to volunteer for the RAF on the day the war broke out, using his previous experience as a glider pilot.He flew with No 241 Squadron in Westland Lysanders and then with No 103 Squadron flying Wellington Bombers. In May 1942 he took part in the ‘Thousand Bomber Raid’ on Cologne, but the following month he was captured by the Germans.He spent a year in Stalag Luft III, scene of the real-life 'great escape' in March 1944. Flt Lt Morison and fellow pilot Lorne Welch were part of the ‘Gadget Factory’ who contributed to the construction of the famous tunnels, but in June 1943 they were part of another escape attempt.The plan went as follows: two German speaking POWs dressed in bogus guards uniforms would lead 20 of their colleagues out of the gate. Morison and Welch would then take the uniforms and would steal a plane from a nearby airbase.The plan failed, with most of the escapees being quickly recaptured, but Morison and Welch made it to the airfield and even fooled some German pilots into thinking they were ground crew. However, they were apprehended trying to steal a plane the following day.They were subsequently sent to Colditz, populated entirely by escapees from other camps and therefore a hotbed of ambitious escape plans. While at Stalag Luft III, Flt Lt Morison had suggested building a glider to escape, but the idea was dismissed by escape committee leader Squadron Leader Roger Bushell. Ironically, when Morison arrived at Colditz he discovered a similar craft, known as the Colditz Cock, was already being built.The American army liberated Colditz in April 1945 and Flt Lt Morison was released from the RAF shortly afterwards. He became a chartered accountant. He also founded a charity that researches workplace health issues. In his spare time he flew gliders and sailed off the south coast.He wrote a book about his experiences called Flak and Ferrets – One Way to Colditz, and was also among the former inmates who returned to Colditz in 2005, the anniversary of their liberation."I often think it was really the best POW camp in Germany," he said. "Because we were captured and held by the regular German forces we were under the military command, men who abided by decent standards and upheld the Geneva Convention.In fact, his recollections of the castle make it sound positively civilised: “If you get together a group of intelligent, well-educated young men, they are an interesting group of people who will always find things to do. In my first letter home from Colditz, I announced that we were having a dinner party, with details of the menu. There was theatre, books, music and we managed to hide a radio, meaning we could listen to the BBC - crucial to our morale as we realised the Germans were certain to be defeated.”He died aged 89 on 26 March, 2009. His wife, Joan, whom he met shortly after returning from Colditz, died in 2005. He was survived by their two sons and two daughters.
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