"Heroic Dick Starkey, 91, was sent to the infamous Stalag Luft III prisoner-of-war camp, where two famous escape bids were immortalised in films The Great Escape and The Wooden Horse. Dick was shot down in his bomber, dubbed Queenie, by Messerschmitt pilot Martin Becker in 1944 after 22 missions. He later struck up a friendship with the German flying ace and swapped Christmas cards. He also received a hero’s welcome by the people of Konigsberg, where his plane had crashed during his bombing route to Nuremberg. His story was documented in Red Line, a book by former Gulf War PoW John Nichol, who was captured and tortured by the Iraqis in 1991. John said: “Dick and his crew were right at the heart of the action and his story is an astonishing one of courage and sacrifice.”" http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/452204/Tributes-as-Lancaster-bomber-pilot-hero-captured-by-Nazis-dies-at-91
