Wally Floody

In 1936 he headed north to work at the Preston East Dome Mines in Timmins, Ontario, as a mucker—shoveling the rock and mud into carts to be hauled up to the surface.

At the onset of the Second World War, Floody was working on a ranch in Alberta when he decided to return home to enlist in the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF).

After convincing the recruiting officer that "My wife backs me in this 100%", he was advised that the train was leaving for the BCATP air station in Brandon, Manitoba that evening.

There, he joined the "X-Organization", headed by Roger Bushell (codenamed "Big-X"), who put Floody in charge of digging tunnels and their camouflage, for the upcoming escape attempts by Commonwealth and European prisoners.

However, in March 1944, the German guards, always suspicious of escapes, caught the telltale sign of sand being dropped by one of the 'penguins' out of the bottom of his pant legs and immediately rounded up Floody and 19 others and transferred them to another camp in Belaria.

[3]Returning to civilian life, Floody became a businessman and co-founder of the Royal Canadian Air Force Prisoners of War Association.