Flight Lieutenant Keith B Chisholm

CHISHOLM Keith Bruce. FLT LT. MC, DFM. 402150. Born Sydney, NSW 22/12/1918

38 Sq. and 452 Sq. Spitfire VB. Berck. 12/10/1941

 Whilst on a sweep he crashed off Berck, France. He was rescued by the Germans. However he escaped from Stalag VIIIB, working party Gleiwitz, on 11 August 1942, with two Dutchmen, whilst on a work camp. With help from the Polish Resistance he reached Belgium, then France. He was finally liberated in Paris by advancing Allied forces. (ref xlviii Crawley, Aiden. “Escape from Germany”. Collins)

Stalag VIIIB Gleiwitz & Teschen. POW No. 202. 

(Source: Wingless – A Biographical Index of Australian Airmen Detained in Wartime”, Roberts Thomas V. 2011. ISBN 9780987103901 (pbk) Ligare Pty. Ltd.)

FROM: http://www.conscript-heroes.com/escapelines/EEIE-Articles/Art-16-Escapers-from-Germany.htm

Sgt Charles E McDonald (1316) was pilot of Spitfire R7279 on an escort mission to France when he was shot down 21 August 1941. McDonald baled out and landed a few miles north-west of Lille and was captured that afternoon by a German patrol. After a month in hospital at Lille where his burns were treated, he was taken to Dulag Luft at Oberursel. On 24 September McDonald was sent to Stalag Luft VIIIB (Lamsdorf). In April 1942, McDonald and most of the other RAF prisoners were moved to Stalag Luft III (Sagan). McDonald soon decided that escaping from Sagan was next to impossible and so volunteered to be returned to Lamsdorf in July 1942. Consultation with RSM Sheriff resulted in McDonald being sent on a working party to Gleiwitz as that seemed to be the most promising place to escape from. McDonald duly escaped from his hut at Gleiwitz on the night of 11/12 August 1942, along with P/O Kenneth Chisholm (see below) Sgt Geoffrey Patrick Hickman RAFVR and Edwin Carter, a Polish Jew known as Nick who was serving with the British Army …  

P/O Keith B Chisholm (2245) was shot down on a fighter SWEEP on 12 October 1941 and baled out into the sea off Berck-sur-Mer. He was picked up by a German rescue boat and sent to St Omer. After time at Dulag Luft, he was sent to Stalag VIIIB (Lamsdorf) at the end of the month. In June 1942 Chisholm and Sgt Pilot Stewart exchanged identities with two soldiers and subsequently escaped from a working party Freudental, getting as far as Brno in Czechoslovakia before being recaptured. On his return to Lamsdorf, Chisholm was sent to the hospital where he met Douglas Bader and F/Lt John Palmer and they devised a scheme whereby they would exchange identities with Army ORs and join a party working at Gleiwitz aerodrome and try to steal an aeroplane. They also included Edwin (Nick) Parker because of his knowledge of languages. They got as far as the aerodrome, where Bader worked as an orderly, but suspicions of Bader’s escape led to all work parties being checked for his whereabouts and they were soon discovered. It was at Gleiwitz that Chisholm met McDonald …  

The four men walked to Katowice where Nick was able to find them shelter on a farm until mid-September when they were taken into territory of the General Government of Poland. They then walked to Krakow, arriving 17 October, where they were sheltered for a week until L/Cpl Ronald Jeffery (1822) arrived to take them to Warsaw. They stayed at various addresses in Warsaw until 23 March 1943 when McDonald, along with British soldiers Pte John Grant and Dvr George Newton (see below) were taken by train to Paris where McDonald stayed for another month.  

Dvr George Newton RASC (3027) was captured at Amiens on 20 May 1940. Newton was held at Stalag XXIB (Schubin) until August when he was moved to a work camp at Leslau. On 6 April 1941, Newton escaped from Leslau with Pvt John Grant and Dvr Thomas Potts. They made their way to Warsaw, arriving 12 May, where Newton and Grant stayed until 23 March 1943 when they left for Paris with Sgt MacDonald.  

While McDonald stayed in Paris, Newton and Grant were taken to Lyons then Toulouse, Perpignan and the Pyrenees but were arrested the night of 1/2 April (along with F/O Stevenson) trying to cross the mountains. After several months at Fresnes, they were sent to Stalag VIIIB in October 1943. Newton escaped from a work camp at Reigesfeld in April 1944 and went back to Warsaw. He was captured by Russian forces in January 1945 and finally liberated with other Allied prisoners at Kutno.  

Chisholm stayed in Warsaw until March 1944 when he left for Brussels with Dutch Lt Kruimink. On 10 May 1944, Chisholm and Kruimink went to Paris where they stayed until the liberation. Sgt Hickman also stayed in Warsaw and is reported by Chisholm to have been arrested on 10 December 1943 and believed shot.  

From Australian WWII Nominal Rolls in the National Archives:

Service Record 

Name  CHISHOLM, KEITH BRUCE 

Service  Royal Australian Air Force 

Service Number  402150 

Date of Birth  22 Dec 1918 

Place of Birth  SYDNEY, NSW 

Date of Enlistment  24 Jun 1940 

Locality on Enlistment  BALGOWLAH, NSW 

Place of Enlistment  SYDNEY, NSW 

Next of Kin  CHISHOLM, M 

Date of Discharge  5 Mar 1946 

Rank  Flight Lieutenant 

Posting at Discharge  38 Squadron 

WW2 Honours and Gallantry  Military Cross, Distinguished Flying Medal 

Prisoner of War  Yes 

Here are Keith’s birth details:

BIRTHS: (NSW Federation BDMs 1889-1918) 

SURNAME:  CHISHOLM 

Given Name/s: Keith B

Index Year: 1918

Father: Kenneth B

Mother: Marion W (nee: WHITFORD)

Place of Registration: ANNANDALE 

Event: Birth

Registration Year: 1918

Reg No: 41820

His parents were married in 1917 at PETERSHAM NSW.

Keith married Pamela June BIGGER at Bondi NSW in 1952

Keith Bruce CHISHOLM died 23rd August 1991 in New York  – his death Notice was published in the Sydney Morning Herald 27th August 1991 (Source:  http://ryersonindex.net/search.php)