Gunther Plüschow escaped a POW Camp in Britain

When World War I started in 1914, world-famous aviator Gunther Plüschow was serving in the German Army in Tsingtao, China. He traveled to the United States and boarded a ship bound for Italy, but due to poor weather and ship damage, it had to dock at Gibraltar, where the British captured him. He was housed in Donington Hall, a prisoner of war camp in Britain, by May 1915. He left the camp in July and made his way to London. At first, he mixed in with the crowd, going to the British Museum as a visitor and snapping photos for mementos. He dressed shabbily and started to prowl the London docks when British newspapers started publishing articles about the German lieutenant who had fled and was on the run.

Eventually, Plüschow managed to board a Dutch ship, either by stowing away or by buying crew members. He should have been interned upon arrival in the Netherlands because it was a neutral country at the time, but he managed to avoid capture and return to Germany where he was detained and suspected of being a spy. He was treated like a hero and the Germans publicized his escape as part of their propaganda campaign after he was able to persuade the German government that the story of his captivity and escape was accurate. The tale was published in 1916 by Plüschow.

Despite his skill as an aviator, the Germans prevented him from serving in the war, and after the war, he furthered his notoriety as an explorer in South America. In January 1931, he was slain while on a Patagonia excursion. In either World War, Plüschow was the only POW to manage an escape from a camp in Britain and return to Germany.

Born: February 8, 1886

Died: January 28, 1931