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Franz Xaver Baron von Werra (13 July 1914 – 25 October 1941) was a German World War II fighter pilot and flying ace who was shot down over Britain and captured. He is generally regarded as the only Axis prisoner of war to succeed in escaping from a Canadian prisoner of war camp and returning to Germany, though a second man, a U-Boat rating named Walter Kurt Reich is said to have jumped from a Polish troopship (presumably the ex-liner ) in the St. Lawrence River in July 1940.〔Bernard, Yves & Bergeron, Caroline (1995).''Trop loin de Berlin: des prisonniers allemands au Canada,1939-1946''. Les éditions du Septentrion, p. 99. ISBN 2-89448-021-0 〕 Von Werra managed to return to Germany via the USA, Mexico, South America and Spain to reach Germany on 18 April 1941.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Aces of the Luftwaffe - Franz von Werra )〕 Oberleutnant von Werra was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 14 December 1940. == Biography == Franz Baron von Werra was born on 13 July 1914, to impoverished Swiss parents in Leuk, a town in the Swiss canton of Valais. The title Baron came from his biological father Baron Leo von Werra, who, after bankruptcy, faced deep economic hardship. Because relatives were legally obliged to look after the Baron's wife and his six children, cousin Rosalie von Werra persuaded her childless friend Louise Carl-von Haber to permit the Baron's two youngest, Franz and his sister, the benefits of wealth and education. The Carl-von Habers did not tell the children their true origin. In 1936, von Werra joined the Luftwaffe. Commissioned as a Leutnant in 1938, at the beginning of the war he was serving with Jagdgeschwader 3 in the French campaign. An able officer, he became Adjutant of II Gruppe, JG 3. He was described as engaging in boisterous 'playboy' behavior. He was once pictured in the German press with his pet lion Simba, which he kept at the aerodrome as the unit mascot. Von Werra scored his first four victories during the Battle of France in May 1940. After downing a Hawker Hurricane on 20 May 1940, on 22 May he claimed two Breguet 690 bombers and a Potez 630 near Cambrai. In one sortie during the Battle of Britain on 25 August he claimed a Spitfire west of Rochester, and three Hurricanes shot down as air victories, also including five on the ground for a total of nine RAF planes destroyed. Four airborne victories were credited by the Germans. The particulars of the actions are uncertain as no matching incident has been found in British records. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Franz von Werra」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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