William Jack Grisman (30 August 1914 – 6 April 1944) was a British Vickers Wellington bomber crew member who was taken prisoner during the Second World War.

Grisman was born in Hereford Herefordshire the eldest son of a postman,[1] he was educated in the local council school where he matured rapidly towards the end of his time and became very keen on swimming and rugby football.

He wanted to see some of the world, play sports and work in engineering and quickly identified the Royal Air Force as a good opportunity so enlisted as an aircraft apprentice on 13 January 1931 to train at No.

By January 1936 he was a leading aircraftman posted to Basra in Iraqas an engine fitter but in November 1936 he was appointed driver with the British Embassy in Baghdad.

[3][5] In late December 1940 Grisman was posted to RAF Boscombe Down where experienced navigators were required for testing and developing the blind approach aid that would eventually help many night bomber crews as they struggled to land at airfields in bad weather.

[8] At 1830 on the evening of 5 November 1941 Grisman took off in a Wellington Mark Ic bomber (serial number T2562) from Boscombe Down on a Special Duties mission to investigate the capabilities of the German radar chain sites along the west coast of France.

[11] Becoming a prisoner of war he was interrogated by the Luftwaffe before being sent to Stalag Luft I Barth where he and Bull immediately became involved in escape attempts involving tunnelling out of the camp[2] where he made himself a general nuisance to the German guards (a popular pastime amongst bored RAF prisoners) and there he brewed illegal potato skin alcohol for Christmas celebrations.

Grisman and Bull were part of the group with Bushell who were sent to Stalag Luft III in the province of Lower Silesia near the town of Sagan (now Żagań in Poland).

[21][22][23] At Görlitz prison on the morning of 6 April 1944 Tony Bethell heard a truck arrive and saw three Germans in uniform call out the names of Denys Street, Neville McGarr, Sandy Gunn, Jack Grisman, Harold Milford and John F Williams.