# Paul Royle

> Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Paul_Royle
> Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Paul_Royle.md
> Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Royle
> Source revision: 1352257384
> License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/)

{{Short description|Australian airman}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2017}}
{{Use Australian English|date=January 2017}}
{{Infobox military person
|honorific_suffix  = 
|birth_name=Paul Gordon Royle
|birth_date={{Birth date|1914|01|17|df=yes}}
|birth_place=[Perth](/source/Perth), Western Australia
|death_date={{Death date and age|2015|8|23|1914|01|17|df=yes}}
|death_place=Perth, Western Australia
|image=
|caption=
|nickname=
|allegiance={{flag|United Kingdom}}
|service_years=1938–45
|rank=[Flight Lieutenant](/source/Flight_Lieutenant)
|branch= {{air force|United Kingdom}}
|commands=
|unit=[No. 53 Squadron RAF](/source/No._53_Squadron_RAF)
|battles=
|awards=
|other_work=
}}
[Flight Lieutenant](/source/Flight_Lieutenant) '''Paul Gordon Royle''' (17 January 1914 – 23 August 2015) was an Australian [Royal Air Force](/source/Royal_Air_Force) pilot<ref name=elsham>[http://www.elsham.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/gt_esc/ Paul Royle at elsham] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131022151213/http://www.elsham.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/gt_esc/ |date=22 October 2013 }}. Retrieved 26 August 2014</ref> who was one of the last two survivors of the 76 men who were able to escape from the [Stalag Luft III](/source/Stalag_Luft_III) [German](/source/Germany) [prisoner-of-war camp](/source/prisoner-of-war_camp) in [World War II](/source/World_War_II) in what became known as ''[The Great Escape](/source/Stalag_Luft_III)''.<ref name=warhistory>[https://www.warhistoryonline.com/?s=Paul+Royle&chrome=1 Paul Royle profile], War History Online, 29 March 2014; retrieved 29 August 2014.</ref>

==Early life==
Royle was born in [Perth, Western Australia](/source/Perth%2C_Western_Australia) and he attended [Hale School](/source/Hale_School) and then worked in mining in [Kalgoorlie](/source/Kalgoorlie). A [Royal Air Force](/source/Royal_Air_Force) recruiting team visited Australia and he was selected for a short term commission and pilot training. He flew solo in a [de Havilland Tiger Moth](/source/de_Havilland_Tiger_Moth) and then learnt to fly the [Avro Anson](/source/Avro_Anson) twin engine trainer and the [Bristol Blenheim](/source/Bristol_Blenheim) aircraft at No.2 School of Army Cooperation at [Andover, Hampshire](/source/Andover%2C_Hampshire). He was then posted to [No. 53 Squadron RAF](/source/No._53_Squadron_RAF) in Northern [France](/source/France)<Ref Name=IWM>[http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/80024171 Paul Royle at the Imperial War Museum]. Retrieved 26 August 2014</ref> as a [pilot officer](/source/pilot_officer).

==Captivity==
On 17 May 1940, his aircraft crash landed after being attacked by [Messerschmitt Bf 109](/source/Messerschmitt_Bf_109) fighters whilst on a reconnaissance mission and he was taken prisoner by advancing German troops. After a year in [Stalag Luft I](/source/Stalag_Luft_I) he was transferred to [Stalag Luft III](/source/Stalag_Luft_III) Sagan, Germany (now [Żagań](/source/%C5%BBaga%C5%84), Poland) where he was one of the prisoners nicknamed "the penguins" who helped to dispose of sand from tunneling in their trousers and he started a tunnel under block 68.<ref name=Carroll>{{Cite book |last=Carroll |first=Tim |date=2 August 2005  |title=The Great Escape from Stalag Luft III: The Full Story of How 76 Allied Officers Carried Out World War II's Most Remarkable Mass Escape |publisher=Pocket Books |isbn=978-1416505310 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/greatescapefroms00timc  }}</ref>

==The ''Great Escape''==
On the night of 24 March 1944, he was number 57 in the queue of war prisoners waiting to escape and teamed up with Flight Lieutenant Edgar Humphreys who was the next in line. After being pulled through the narrow tunnel on a trolley and climbing the exit ladder, Royle and Humphreys ran for the cover of pine trees and then set off in the direction of [Switzerland](/source/Switzerland).<ref name=thewest>[https://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/wa/a/12637845/pow-s-escape-inspired-hollywood/  POW Escape inspired Hollywood at ''The West Australian'' 28 January 2012]. Retrieved 26 August 2014</ref> They evaded capture for two nights and crossed the [Berlin](/source/Berlin) to [Breslau](/source/Wroc%C5%82aw) [autobahn](/source/reichsautobahn) before they were arrested by home guard upon entering a village.{{cn|date=April 2026}} The two men were interrogated by the [Gestapo](/source/Gestapo) in [Görlitz](/source/G%C3%B6rlitz), Royle was then returned to solitary confinement in Stalag Luft III but Humphreys was one of the 50 escapers who were victims of the [Stalag Luft III murders](/source/Stalag_Luft_III_murders), having been selected for execution by [SS](/source/SS)-''[Gruppenführer](/source/Gruppenf%C3%BChrer)'' [Arthur Nebe](/source/Arthur_Nebe) on the orders of [Adolf Hitler](/source/Adolf_Hitler).<ref name=abc>{{cite news |url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-03-27/great-escape-survivor-recounts-breakout-70-years-on/5347898 |title=The Great Escape: Perth survivor Paul Royle marks 70th anniversary |date=27 March 2014 |publisher=[Australian Broadcasting Corporation](/source/Australian_Broadcasting_Corporation)}}</ref>

==Later life==
In January 1945 with Soviet forces only 16 miles away the camp was evacuated and the prisoners including Royle were marched west to [Marlag und Milag Nord](/source/Marlag_und_Milag_Nord) prisoner-of-war camp. He was finally liberated by British troops on 2 May 1945 and was flown to Britain where he was discharged from the RAF. He then attended the [Royal School of Mines](/source/Royal_School_of_Mines) and worked in the mining and engineering industries upon his return to Australia. He married twice and celebrated his 100th birthday in January 2014.<ref name=BAW>''Britain at War'' Magazine interview. Key Publishing ISSN 1753-3090. August 2014</ref>

Royle died, aged 101, on 23 August 2015, leaving [Dick Churchill](/source/Dick_Churchill) as the only remaining survivor of the 1944 escape from Stalag Luft III.<ref name=death>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/30/world/paul-royle-who-fled-nazis-in-a-great-escape-dies-at-101.html|title = Paul Royle, Who Fled Nazis in a 'Great Escape,' Dies at 101|newspaper = The New York Times|date = 29 August 2015|last1 = Slotnik|first1 = Daniel E.}}</ref> Churchill himself died four years later.

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
*Brickhill, Paul. ''The Great Escape''. New York: Norton, 1950. {{OCLC|1267164}}

==External links==
* [http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/80024171 Imperial War Museum Interview]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Royle, Paul}}
Category:1914 births
Category:2015 deaths
Category:Australian escapees
Category:Australian prisoners of war
Category:Australian World War II pilots
Category:Participants in the Great Escape from Stalag Luft III
Category:People educated at Hale School
Category:Military personnel from Perth, Western Australia
Category:Royal Air Force personnel of World War II
Category:World War II prisoners of war held by Germany
Category:Royal Air Force officers
Category:Australian men centenarians
Category:Australian World War II bomber pilots

---
Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Paul Royle](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Royle) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Royle?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.