Hank Wardle

Howard Douglas Wardle MC (15 August 1915 – 30 January 1995),[1] commonly known as Hank, was a Canadian pilot in the Royal Air Force during World War II.

He is notable for being (along with the "Medium Sized Man", Dominic Bruce) one of the only two men who escaped from both Spangenberg and Colditz prison camps during World War II.

He was the only member of the crew of three to survive bailing out of the aircraft and after being interrogated at a nearby Luftwaffe base was transferred to the POW camp Oflag IX-A/H at Spangenberg Castle.

[2] In late 1943 the British military attaché in Bern made arrangements with his Dutch counterpart for Wardle to make the clandestine journey to Spain with the Dutch-Paris escape line.

He walked over the Pyrenees in a convoy that included two Italians, three Frenchmen and seven Dutchmen under the guidance of two French passeurs, Henri Marot "Mireille" and Pierre Treillet "Palo".