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A war hero who helped inspire the film The Great Escape has died aged 87. Bill Dean joined the RAF in 1940 and became part of Bomber Command, completing 14 missions before he was shot down over Berlin in January 1944.
He was sent to Stalag Luft 111 in Poland a month before the breakout and helped Flight Lt Colin 'The Forger' Blythe create fake passports for 200 servicemen selected for the escape.
Seventy-six made it beyond the wire before the Germans realised what was going on, but many were recaptured and at least 50 were executed. In January 1945, Bill was among the remaining prisoners who were forced to march 2,000 miles to a camp at Luckenwalder, south of Berlin, where conditions were much worse than Stalag Luft 111.
By April of that year, security at the camp slackened enough for him to walk out. He was given shelter by a German woman for several months, before being picked up by Americans and sent back to England.
Bill went back to serving in the RAF and in the 1950s became acting squadron leader with the City of Chester Squadron. In 1956, he started his own business as a retailer of luxury goods to delicatessens.
He married in 1946 and had one daughter, Victoria and a grandson, Alex.
Bill, of Liverpool Road, Cadishead, Salford, Greater Manchester, died in his sleep in Salford Royal Hospital on Tuesday, March 9.
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