Tunnel vision as a great escaper's war story is unearthed again

During the Second World War, the Driffield-born airman delivered bombers to Finland and took part in operations over the North Sea.

However, on May 14, 1940, Fancy's life changed forever. While returning from a raid in France, the RAF navigator's plane was shot down by German anti-aircraft guns, and so began a series of events which would inspire books and one of the greatest war films ever made.

As a prisoner of war, Fancy was initially sent to Stalag Luft I, the first camp set up specifically for RAF prisoners. As the conflict deepened, he saw the inside of various other camps, but while many prisoners were resigned to their fate, the son of an East Yorkshire estate manager was not one of them.

Fancy became one of the RAF's most determined and persistent escapers who spent most of his time desperately trying to outwit his captors.

In all, he made 16 bids for freedom, digging eight tunnels, cutting through perimeter wire, absconding from outside working parties and jumping from moving trains. It was the tunnels which showed the true extent of his ingenuity and his single-minded resolve.

Using nothing more sophisticated than a small table knife, throughout his time in captivity Fancy dug an estimated 1,000ft of underground passageways and his involvement in the mass escape attempt from the Nazi camp Stalag Luft III ensured his place in history.

Helping to dig four tunnels, famously nicknamed Tom, Dick, Harry and George, 76 men eventually escaped and the daring attempts of men like Fancy provided the inspiration for the film The Great Escape, starring Steve McQueen, James Garner and Richard Attenborough.

Like many of the tales from the Second World War, the escape from Stalag Luft III had an unhappy end. Seventy-three airmen were eventually recaptured and 50 were later shot by the Gestapo.

Fancy was one of the lucky ones and when the war finally ended the former pupil of Hymer's College in Hull had more than his fair share of stories to tell.

Persuaded to write a book about his many adventures behind enemy lines, Tunnelling to Freedom: The Story of the World's Most Persistent Escaper was published in 1957 and became an instant bestseller. However, as the years passed and sales inevitably dwindled, the Yorkshireman's memoirs fell out of print.

However, the rights to the original book have just been acquired by Aurum Press and Fancy's story will be back in bookshops next month for the first time in decades.

"John Fancy was held in camps in East Prussia, Poland and Germany and his memoirs are a fascinating insight into his life," says a spokesman for the publishers. "Some of the tunnels he dug were 40ft below the surface and only 2ft square and it's hard to imagine the dogged determination required to keep slowly chipping away at these underground passageways.

"His escape attempts landed him in solitary confinement for a total of 34 weeks, but his account of the realities of life in the prison camps is gripping, dryly humorous and packed with fascinating details. The patience John showed is incredible and the fact he dug the tunnels with a 10in butter knife, even more so."

The book, which includes new photographs as well as Fancy's original plans for the tunnels, is out on March 8 and it is hoped it will be a fitting tribute to one of the Second World War's most colourful characters.

Fancy was finally released in April 1945 when his camp was liberated by advancing Allied Forces. When he was asked about his return home, he replied in typical deadpan style: "After four years, 10 months and four days, I landed back in England after what should have been a four-hour flight."

While Fancy's health had inevitably suffered as a result of his time as prisoner of war, back in the Yorkshire Wolds he got on with setting up a market garden business in Driffield and later opened three greengrocer's shops in Scarborough.

His story may suggest otherwise, but Fancy always referred to himself as an "amateur" when it came to tunnelling. However, unsurprisingly right up until his death on September 16, 2008, at the age of 95, the knife which he'd used to dig himself out of trouble remained a prize possession.

Tunnelling to Freedom: The Story of the World's Most Persistent Escaper, priced 8.99, is available to order through the Yorkshire Post Bookshop on 0800 0153232