AUSTRALIAN MILITARY World War II P.O.W. Biography –

Shot down in 1942, Australian pilot John Williams became a POW in the notorious Stalag Luft III camp in Germany. John and his best mate Rusty Keirath were among the 76 POWs who tunneled their way out of the camp in what became famous as the Great Escape. John’s family was never told what happened to him. His niece Louise Williams has pieced together his life, from his upbringing in a tight-knit family hit hard by the Depression, his exploits in the air, the inventive collaboration of the POWs, to the tragic outcome of their escape.