Ronald Gard A Hero of the Great Escape
Tavistock Museum

When: 24 March 2018 to 31 October 2018
Where: Tavistock Museum
Time: 11.00am - 3.00pm
Cost: Free, but donations welcome
Suitable for: Any age

Ronald (Ron) Gard was born at Devonport in 1909 and at the start of WW2 in 1939 was working at the Bedford Street branch of Lloyds Bank in Plymouth. On account of the serious German air raids on Plymouth the bank relocated its staff to Grimstone House at Horrabrdge where Ronald spent his last six months before joining the Royal Air force in 1941 to train as a navigator at Torquay. His wife, Lilian, and his son, Michael, went to live at Wadebridge, Cornwall with his parents-in-law.

By 1942 he was flying on night raids over Germany. In 1943 Flying Officer Ron Gard joined 12 Squadron which was based at RAF Binbrook near Lincoln, and later re-located to nearby RAF Wickenby.   He went on 24 trips but a raid on Mannheim proved to be his last one. The Lancaster bomber he was flying in was attacked and damaged by a German night fighter. When the pilot gave the order to abandon the stricken plane Ron stumbled to the escape hatch in the extreme nose of the plane and sat for a moment with his legs dangling in space. Suddenly there was the fury of cannon shells bursting around him as another fighter attacked and the nose of the aircraft fell away with Ron still inside it. Fortunately he managed to get clear and open his parachute. The pilot and an air gunner were killed but four other crew members besides Ron escaped by parachute.

Ron landed in the middle of a German searchlight battery and was immediately made a prisoner. He was taken to Stalag Luft 111 where he was to remain for the next fifteen months. Here he became an active member of the X organisation, a highly secret organisation dedicated to planning escapes, and was involved in the Great Escape of March 1944. When the camp was closed in January 1945 he was forced to march in freezing weather to other prison camps as the Germans retreated before the Russian Army. It was his good overall physical fitness which helped him survive such an ordeal.

In May 1945 after liberation Ron Gard returned to his family then living in Wadebridge. Like so many servicemen he found it difficult to adjust being restless, unable to sit still or sleep properly at night. He was always full of praise for his wife, his relatives, and the people of Wadebridge who helped him through this difficult time. He returned to banking and worked for many years in the Tavistock branch of Lloyds bank. Golf was his main sport in later life. He become the captain of Tavistock Golf Club and later an honorary life member.  

A hero in many eyes but not in his own. In 1978 Ronald Willis Gard died aged 68 at Freedom Field Hospital, Plymouth.