The RAF Escape Story of Jack Marsden

When a Lancaster crashed in flames over northern France on 4 May 1944, 19-year-old flight engineer Jack Marsden survived against all odds — dangling from a single parachute strap as German troops closed in. Hidden by a woodman and passed from house to house, Jack was swept into the world of the French Resistance, that led to him being caught in a deadly ambush that left him shot in the head and presumed dead.

He wasn’t. In Sens Hospital (pictured), a network of surgeons, nurses, police and civilians nursed him back to life and plotted his escape. On 19 June, Jack was smuggled out of the hospital on a bicycle in a daring daylight rescue. Over the next ten weeks he was hidden in barns, farms, carts and châteaux by an extraordinary array of helpers — some of whom paid with their lives. Their courage ensured that a wounded British airman found his way home.

Monies raised towards Hope House Children's Hospice & a Commemorative RAF Bench for Town's Memorial Garden.