Alastair Donald Mackintosh "Sandy" Gunn was a Scottish Supermarine Spitfire photo reconnaissance pilot who was taken prisoner during the Second World War.
19 Facts About Sandy Gunn
1.
2.
Sandy Gunn attended Cargilfield Preparatory School and Fettes College, both in Edinburgh, and was a school prefect.
3.
Sandy Gunn enlisted in the Royal Air Force on 22 February 1940 and commenced active service on 22 June 1940 as an aircrew candidate.
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Sandy Gunn began his flying training at RAF Ansty near Coventry, and later at Blackpool.
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Sandy Gunn was commissioned as a Pilot Officer on 25 January 1941.
6.
Sandy Gunn joined No 48 Squadron RAF of RAF Coastal Command flying Avro Anson aircraft on photo reconnaissance missions.
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Sandy Gunn was promoted to Flying Officer on 25 January 1942, and flew many long-range missions over German naval units on the Norwegian coast and in the North Atlantic, often in terrible weather.
8.
At 08:07 hours on the morning of 5 March 1942, Sandy Gunn took off from Wick in a Supermarine Spitfire on a photo reconnaissance mission of the German naval anchorages on the Norwegian coastline near Trondheim, Norway.
9.
Sandy Gunn was shot down with burns on his hands and face by two Messerschmitt Bf 109s from Jagdgruppe Losigkeit, flown by Leutnants Heinz Knoke and Dieter Gerhard.
10.
Sandy Gunn bailed out before his Spitfire crashed near Langurda in Surnadal Municipality, Norway, and was made a prisoner of war.
11.
Sandy Gunn was initially suspected by the Germans of having flown from a covert RAF base somewhere in northern Norway.
12.
Sandy Gunn was questioned over a period of three weeks before being processed into the prison camp system.
13.
Sandy Gunn was sent to Stalag Luft III in the German province of Lower Silesia near the town of Sagan, where he became a regular member of the tunnelling team.
14.
In captivity, Sandy Gunn was promoted to Flight Lieutenant.
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Sandy Gunn was quickly arrested on the road to Gorlitz, and arrived at the collection point for recaptured officers at Gorlitz prison.
16.
Mike Casey and Sandy Gunn were both told that they would lose their heads.
17.
Sandy Gunn was one of 50 escapees murdered by the Gestapo.
18.
Sandy Gunn's name was amongst those in the list of the murdered prisoners, which was published in the press in British and Commonwealth countries when news broke on or about 20 May 1944.
19.
In 2018, wreckage of Sandy Gunn's aircraft was found in a peat bog in Surnadal Municipality, Norway, and brought back to Britain.