Alexander Kerr
Wembley, Western Australia
RAAF 1940-1946

Alex Kerr was a journalist at The West Australian newspaper and served in the Citizen Military Forces before enlisting in the Royal Australian Air Force on 27 April 1940 to serve in World War II. Alex was part of the first intake of Australian pilots to join the Empire Air Training Scheme. He completed his basic flying training in Australia before going to Canada to undertake intermediate and advanced pilot training. In January 1941, Alex went to Scotland to train in bombers. He was then posted to 115 Squadron RAF, in Bomber Command, based at Marham, England.

On 10 May 1941, on his fourth mission, Alex's Wellington bomber was shot down by a Luftwaffe night fighter over Hamburg. He suffered seven wounds and lost consciousness as his rear gunner threw him out of the burning aircraft. Taken prisoner, Alex was hospitalised for six months before being taken to a prison camp. From 1941-1945, he was held in seven different camps in Germany.

Alex escaped three times. His first and best-planned escape was from Stalag IIIA near Berlin on 10 May 1942, exactly one year after being shot down. Alex and 53 other prisoners of war took several months to build a 45-metre tunnel out of the camp. After escaping, Alex spent 10 days jumping trains at night before being recaptured in southern Germany near the Yugoslav border. In early 1945 he escaped again but was recaptured after two days.

During his time as a prisoner of war, Alex played a leading role in camp activities, including sports and debating, and was elected Red Cross food representative. Prisoners also could undertake correspondence courses. Alex completed a certificate in Social Sciences from the University of Oxford and a certificate with the International Sales Managers' Association, and half-completed his economics degree through the University of London.

Alex remembered being paraded at first light one day in 1944 to be told by the Germans that 50 prisoners from another camp, Stalag Luft III, had been executed after escaping in the incident made famous by the movie The Great Escape. The several thousand assembled prisoners of war booed so loudly that the Germans were unable to finish the announcement. Alex was proud to be part of this demonstration, which let the Germans know exactly how they felt about the moral standards of their leaders.

In March 1945, Alex escaped a third time when he and a friend, Herb Crump, slipped away while being marched away from advancing Allied forces. Herb and Alex, who speaks German and French, hid in a ditch and then learned from retreating German soldiers that the Allies were close by. Alex flagged down a British tank with a white sheet he stole from a farmhouse. The tank crew was pursuing the Germans but gave Alex and Herb some chocolates, cigarettes and a bottle of Schnapps, which they enjoyed that night before walking to a village just overrun by Allied forces. They then 'liberated' a car, which they drove further west into British-held territory. Finally, they were flown to England.

Alex, who by war's end was a Warrant Officer, was one of only 12 survivors from the 40 Australian pilots in his training course. He was discharged in March 1946.

After the war, Alex completed a Bachelor of Science in Economics from the University of London and went on to do his Masters and PhD at the University of Western Australia. He spent 30 years teaching at the University of Western Australia and Murdoch University, before becoming Deputy Vice-Chancellor of Murdoch University, Western Australia. He has pursued a busy business career, both in Australia and overseas, since retiring from academia in 1983.

Alex married Joan Langridge in 1947 and they had five children. Joan passed away in 2000. Today, Alex is the proud grandfather of eight grandchildren. He also enjoys playing golf, fishing and music, and is currently busy with several writing assignments.

Alex has visited several locations in Germany since the war. He also visited the home of 115 Squadron in Benson, England, in 1995 and was presented with his flying record and a squadron badge. Alex has also stayed in Sussex with David Fraser, the rear gunner who saved his life by throwing him out of their blazing aircraft.

Alex's brother, Langford, also served in the RAAF during World War II. Their father, William, served in the Mounted Rifles in the Boer War.

Alex considers it a great honour to be going to London to represent his Australian fellow airmen and pay tribute to his comrades who did not return.