A Wing And A Prayer
18th June 2022
Bernard Scheidhauer had dreams of being a pilot from boyhood, growing up during the 1920s and 30s, the son of a Colonel in the French Army near an airfield near Brest, France. World War II was to interrupt his plans and when Germany occupied France, Bernard and 5 friends escaped to Britain in 1940 in a boat, "Petite Anna", which ran out of fuel and then was becalmed before being caught in a storm and drifting in the English Channel for 10 days.
The exhausted and dehydrated crew were finally picked up off the coast of Pembrokeshire by a British Naval Vessel after managing to survive without being shot by German aircraft or intercepted by German craft in the dangerous seas.
Once recovered, Bernard joined the fight for freedom shortly after, serving on board the vessel "Courbet" and a year later was finally accepted for RAF training, qualifying as a fighter pilot in 1942. He took part in successful missions that year flying Spitfires.
On 18 November however, on a mission code named "Operation Rhubarb" over Cherbourg, his Spitfire was hit by flak and the fuel line began to leak. With some of his instrumentation also not functioning and with cloudy conditions, Bernard became separated from his squadron and disorientated. Almost out of fuel, he made an emergency landing, not in the Isle Of Wight as he thought, but in a turnip field in the island of Jersey which had been occupied by German forces. Bernard was taken prisoner and transported to Stalag Luft III where he was later involved in what became known as "The Great Escape" in the spring of 1944. Unfortunately, along with those others who were recaptured, Bernard was shot in the back and killed.
He was 22 years old.
He gave his life for the cause of freedom.
The exhausted and dehydrated crew were finally picked up off the coast of Pembrokeshire by a British Naval Vessel after managing to survive without being shot by German aircraft or intercepted by German craft in the dangerous seas.
Once recovered, Bernard joined the fight for freedom shortly after, serving on board the vessel "Courbet" and a year later was finally accepted for RAF training, qualifying as a fighter pilot in 1942. He took part in successful missions that year flying Spitfires.
On 18 November however, on a mission code named "Operation Rhubarb" over Cherbourg, his Spitfire was hit by flak and the fuel line began to leak. With some of his instrumentation also not functioning and with cloudy conditions, Bernard became separated from his squadron and disorientated. Almost out of fuel, he made an emergency landing, not in the Isle Of Wight as he thought, but in a turnip field in the island of Jersey which had been occupied by German forces. Bernard was taken prisoner and transported to Stalag Luft III where he was later involved in what became known as "The Great Escape" in the spring of 1944. Unfortunately, along with those others who were recaptured, Bernard was shot in the back and killed.
He was 22 years old.
He gave his life for the cause of freedom.