(1914-07-13)13 July 1914 Leuk, Canton of Valais, Switzerland
Died
25 October 1941(1941-10-25) (aged 27) North Sea, off Vlissingen, German-occupied Netherlands
Allegiance
Nazi Germany
Service/branch
Luftwaffe
Years of service
1936–41
Rank
Hauptmann
Unit
JG 3, JG 53
Commands held
I./JG 53
Battles/wars
World War II
Battle of France
Battle of Britain
Operation Barbarossa
Awards
Iron Cross, Second Class
Iron Cross, First Class
Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross
Franz Xaver Freiherr von Werra (13 July 1914 – 25 October 1941) was a German World War II fighter pilot and flying ace who was shot down over Britain and captured. He was the only Axis prisoner of war to escape from Canadian custody and return to Germany apart from a U-boat seaman, Walter Kurt Reich, said to have jumped from a Polish troopship into the St. Lawrence River in July 1940.[1][2] Werra managed to return to Germany via the US, Mexico, South America and Spain, finally reaching Germany on 18 April 1941.[3]
Oberleutnant von Werra was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 14 December 1940. His story was told in the book The One That Got Away by Kendall Burt and James Leasor, which was made into a film of the same name, starring Hardy Krüger.
^Bernard & Bergeron 1995, p. 99.
^Quinn 2014, chpt. 4.
^"Aces of the Luftwaffe – Franz von Werra". luftwaffe.cz.
Franz Xaver Freiherr vonWerra (13 July 1914 – 25 October 1941) was a German World War II fighter pilot and flying ace who was shot down over Britain and...
soldier Oberleutnant FranzvonWerra jumped from a POW train and escaped to the United States, eventually reaching his homeland. VonWerra was, reputedly,...
was by no means the one with the lowest death rate.' Luftwaffe pilot FranzvonWerra, known as The One That Got Away from the book and subsequent film of...
That Got Away may refer to: The One That Got Away (1957 film), about FranzvonWerra The One That Got Away (1964 film), an Australian TV film The One That...
U-boats, it also became known as the "U-Boat Hotel". The fighter pilot FranzvonWerra was initially held there, and also made one of the many escape attempts...
biographical war film chronicling the true exploits of Oberleutnant FranzvonWerra, a Luftwaffe pilot shot down over Britain in 1940 Pardesi (Hindi: परदेसी;...
"mass shootings of Jews", as one of the POWs in Trent Park called it. FranzvonWerra was also interrogated at Trent Park. In 1947 the estate became a Ministry...
Irish-Australian politician, 15th Premier of New South Wales (b. 1854) 1941 – FranzvonWerra, Swiss-German captain and pilot (b. 1914) 1945 – Robert Ley, German...
Stalingrad: Unteroffizier Heinrich Wöhrle (10 victories, WIA), Feldwebel Franz Hagedorn (37 victories, killed by another Il-2 Shturmovik) and Leutnant...
released in the United States. October 25 – WWII: German fighter pilot FranzvonWerra disappears during a flight over the North Sea. October 29 – The Holocaust:...
decoy airfield. On 25 October 1941, it was the airfield from which FranzVonWerra (famed as "the one who got away," the only captured Luftwaffe fighter...
precedent, cited a case of a German fighter pilot called FranzvonWerra who had escaped, vonWerra who was famed for getting the German High Command to change...
oil. One of his victims on 5 September may have been Oberleutnant FranzvonWerra, who was captured and subsequently became famous as "the one that got...
claims. Franz Woidich, listed with 82 aerial victory claims, plus thirty further unconfirmed claims. Additionally, Spick lists Horst-Günther von Fassong...
pilot was in fact FranzvonWerra who had escaped from the prisoner of war camp at Swanwick, Derbyshire and was arrested. A film of Werra's exploits was made...
now only 14 survivors from the shipwreck still on the island. Born: FranzvonWerra, Swiss-German Luftwaffe pilot, only German prisoner of war to successfully...
The One That Got Away (1956), about the only German prisoner of war, FranzvonWerra, to escape from Allied territory during World War 2, which was later...
Global Information
Nazi Germany
Luftwaffe