| Admitted to: POW. St. Omer Hospital. Camp 1XC Luft 3, Lithuanina. Fallingbostel. Bad Soden. RAF Brighton SSQ (09/05/45) |
Date of Injury: 27/10/1941 |
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|---|---|---|---|
| D.O.B/Age when admitted: 25 |
Cause of Incident: Enemy Action. Shot down by flak in a Spitfire over St. Omer. Bailed out. |
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| Transferred to QVH: 27/06/1945 |
Injuries: Facial Injuries |
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| No. of Operations at East Grinstead: 2 |
IDENTITY CARD
This is to certify that the patient mentioned below and whose description is stated hereon is the authorised holder of this Identity card.
| Forename: Fraser |
Surname: Falkiner |
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| Service No: 400220 |
Nationality: Australian |
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| Awards/Honours: --- |
Patient Unit: No.11 PDRC, RAF Brighton |
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| Profession: Pilot |
Patient Rank: Flt Lt |
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| Death: --- |
Age at Death: --- |
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| Dr Rank: |
Dr Unit: |
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Falkiner's Spitfire was hit by enemy fire and caught fire. He managed to release his safety harness, but the cockpit hood was jammed and the canopy would not open. He regained consciousness after falling 20,000ft, instinctively pulling his ripcord and hit the ground still on fire.
Falkiner was taken to hospital in St. Omer, before being moved to various camps. While at Fallingbostel, the Red Cross Commission were able to persuade camp authorities to move him to Bad Soden where he could get a skin graft, performed by an English POW doctor. He was eventually repatriated to England in April 1945.
PDRC - Personnel Dispatch and Reception Centre
SSQ - Station Sick Quarters
We've been looking through our collections, and discovered this 1972 photograph from the East Grinstead Observer, o…