POW speaks to RAF Mildenhall Airmen

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Tabitha M. Lee
  • 100th Air Refueling Wing Public Affairs
RAF MILDENHALL, England --  Arthur William Edgley spoke at the Prisoner of War/Missing in Action Remembrance Luncheon here Sept. 14, 2011.

Edgley was a POW during World War II and he shared the story of his capture and the time he spent in captivity, with Team Mildenhall.

On his fifth attempt to join the Royal Air Force, Edgley was finally accepted and, after several assignments and training, arrived at RAF Mildenhall on May 1, 1943, as a Stirling heavy bomber rear gunner assigned to the 15th Squadron.

On his third combat operation, his plane was hit near Dusseldorf, Germany.

"The pilot told (the crew) to bail out," said Edgley as he described the events that lead to his capture.

Although most of them did, Edgley remained behind. When the plane crash-landed in Holland, Edgley and the wireless radio operator were the only two members, of the remaining aircrew, who survived the crash.

The two were on the run for six weeks, until they were captured by German forces in Paris, France. After being held in Fresnes jail for six weeks, they were taken to Frankfurt, Germany, where they were interrogated and the sent to a POW camp for two years.

They then spent two years at Stalag IV B which was home to 20,000 other prisoners.

"The Germans left us alone," said Edgley. "I was never hurt."

The camp was liberated by Russian forces on April 23, 1945. Edgley returned to English soil on May 13, 1945.

Once he returned home, he married his fiancé, Joan Lawson, on June 15, 1945, at St. Matthew's church in Sutton Bridge, Lincolnshire. They spent 58 years together and raised two daughters.

"I have had a very good life," said Edgley. "My only regret is losing my wife in 2003."
After separating from the RAF in 1947, Edgley bought a farm and worked on it until he retired in 1991.

"I'd do it again," Edgley said about his military service.