In the latest of her occasional features, Susan Yates, the chair of Thurrock Historical Society, looks back the life of a rather remarkable man from Chadwell St Mary.

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I think most people have heard of the notorious Colditz Castle, believed by the Germans in World War 2 to be escape-proof. 

It became the prison of choice by their captors for inveterate escapers. It also became a challenge for its inmates. One prisoner who responded to the challenge was Squadron Leader Peter David Tunstall. 

Peter was born on 1st December 1918 in Heath Road, Chadwell St Mary. He was the son of Joseph Tunstall and Maud Helena Tunstall nee Carpenter. He was baptised at St Giles and All Saints Orsett on 8th June 1919. 

Peter was educated at Orsett Church of England School and Palmers. 

In his final year there he dedicated his spare time to flying so it was no surprise that he joined the RAF in 1937. He trained with no. 61 squadron at Helmswell in Lincolnshire and became a Hampden pilot.

The Handley Page HP.52 Hampden is a British twin-engine medium bomber that was operated by the Royal Air Force. It was part of the trio of large twin-engined bombers procured for the RAF with Bristol Pegasus engines.

Peter's claim to fame, if you can call it that, is he spent more time in solitary confinement at the infamous Colditz as an allied POW than anyone else with a total of 415 days. While being trained he was told if ever he were captured "your first duty is to try to escape, your second duty is to be as big a bloody nuisance as possible to the enemy."  

Peter took this very seriously.

Sqd Ld Tunstall flew combat missions over France both during and after the British retreat to Dunkirk. He was captured on the night of 26th/27th August 1940 when as result of a wireless failure his aircraft got lost and crash-landed on the Dutch coast. 

He was captured and advised his war was over to which he replied "it damn well is not".

He was sent to a POW camp in Poland. After trying to escape dressed as a German NCO he was transferred to Spangenberg Castle. This is a castle above the small German town of Spangenberg in Schwalm-Eder-Kreis and is located on the wooded hill of Schlossberg. Built as a castle then a fortress, a hunting lodge, a prison, a forestry school and now a hotel/restaurant. 

It was whilst here Peter, with Eustace Newborn and Dominic Bruce, made an escape which went down as one of the most audacious of the war. On 3rd September 1941 wearing suits made from uniforms found in the castle they simply walked out of the camp during an inspection by the Swiss Red Cross. 

They were free for 10 days before being recaptured. It was as a result of this that he was moved to Oflag VIB. This was a World War II POW camp 1 km southwest of the German village of Dossel now part of Warburg. Originally intended as an airfield the POW camp was opened in September 1940. Initially it was for French Officers and then British officers arrived.

Colditz Castle.

Once again Sqd Ld Tunstall tried to escape dressed as a German officer and this resulted in his being interred in the infamous Colditz Castle on 15th March 1942.

It was at Colditz that he perfected his "goon baiting". Instead of escaping he worked at annoying the German guards creating distractions to aid others in their escape plans and to raise the morale of the other prisoners. 

It was because of this activity that he was court martialled by the Germans five times and served 415 days in solitary confinement. He also created a system for getting messages back to Great Britain in photographs and letters. Sqd Ld Tunstall was rescued from Colditz by the 273rd American Infantry on 16th April 1945 and returned to Britain shortly afterwards.

It was as a result of this that Peter was recommended for an award for his endeavours by MI9 but Colonel Willie Tod who had been the senior officer at Colditz refused to endorse it and so it never materialised. 

Col Tod was awarded the Distinguished Service Order for his services in the field, and was later made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in recognition of his work at Colditz and other prison camps, from which he organised many successful escapes.

It is hard to understand why Col Tod was against giving an award to Sqd Ld Tunstallbut it is said that on being approached on the subject he replied "over my dead body". Col Tod didn't like Douglas Bader either.

After the war Sqd Ld Tunstall remarked: "I have gone down in history as the arch German baiter, always causing trouble and raising lots of laughs; but I am sorry for that reputation, rather than being remembered for my escaping and getting intelligence messages home."

Sqd Ld Peter Tunstall.

Peter remained in the RAF until 1958 serving as an instructor on Meteors and Vampire jets. After leaving the service he joined Laker airways the airline founded by Freddie Laker. On leaving Laker Airways he emigrated to South Africa. He continued to fly in South Africa and also worked as an actor. 

Peter was married twice and died on 27 July 2013 at his home in Knysna, South Africa, aged 94 years. His autobiography 'The Last Escaper' was published in 2014.

This is a man I would love to have met and chatted to and admire greatly. Only Col Tod knows why he blocked the award to Tunstall; one just wonders if in the end he regretted it.

Aiding escapers and keeping morale high in a place like Colditz if that doesn't deserve an award I don't know what does.