Canadian Virtual War Memorial

Memorial – Father J P Lardie's comments as inscribed on the Bomber Command Memorial Wall in Nanton, AB … photo courtesy of Marg Liessens

Memorial – Flight Lieutenant Patrick Wilson Langford is also commemorated on the Bomber Command Memorial Wall in Nanton, AB … photo courtesy of Marg Liessens

Memorial – Flight Lieutenant Patrick Wilson Langford is also commemorated on the Bomber Command Memorial Wall in Nanton, AB … photo courtesy of Marg Liessens

Document – Submitted for the project Operation Picture Me

Document – Submitted for the project Operation Picture Me

Certificate – Submitted for the project Operation Picture Me

Letter – Submitted for the project Operation Picture Me

Letter – Submitted for the project Operation Picture Me

Letter – Submitted for the project Operation Picture Me

Letter – Submitted for the project Operation Picture Me

Letter – Submitted for the project Operation Picture Me

Document – Submitted for the project Operation Picture Me

Letter – Submitted for the project Operation Picture Me

Letter – Submitted for the project Operation Picture Me

Newspaper clipping – From the Toronto Star May 1944. Submitted for the project Operation Picture Me.

Newspaper clipping – From the Toronto Star May 1944. Submitted for the project Operation Picture Me.

Newspaper clipping – From the Toronto Star May 1944. Submitted for the project Operation Picture Me.

Newspaper clipping – From the Toronto Star May 1944. Submitted for the project Operation Picture Me.

Photo of PATRICK WILSON LANGFORD – Flight Lieutenant Patrick Langford -2e Pilot Langford picture located in London, England with William White's family. William White "Chalky" was a RAF pal and the rear gunner on their Wellington that was shot down on an operation to Hamburg on the night of July 28-29 1942. Patrick Langford, Frank Lowe and William White were the only 3 to survive the the crash and were taken POWs.

Photo of PATRICK WILSON LANGFORD – Pilot P. Langford. Prisoner No. 710 Stalag Luft III involved in "The Great Escape" Murdered by the Gestapo March 31 1944

Memorial – Banquet commemorating the 70th anniversary of the The Great Escape and "The Fifty" at Zagan Palace, Poland March 24, 2014

Memorial – Banquet commemorating the 70th Anniversary of the Great Escape and "The Fifty" at Zagan Palace, Poland March 24 2014. Individual paintings of prisoners done with Klum milk on blotting paper.

Memorial – Lincoln Memorial in England, International Bomber Command Centre ~ Patrick Wilson Langford

Cemetery – Flight crew Picture. On the night of 28-29 July 1942 he took off in a Wellington Mark ic bomber (R1450) from RAF Upper Heyford to bomb the German shipbuilding and port of Hamburg flying as Instructor with a student crew. The bomber was shot down over Lubeck, Germany and crashed killing 3 of the crew, the pilot was taken prisoner unhurt but Langford and rear gunner were taken prisoner seriously injured. He had baled out with his parachute on fire and was badly burned and hospitalized for 2 months by the Germans during which time he was promoted to full flight lieutenant before being sent on October 1 1942 to Stalag Luft III Zagan, Poland.

Cemetery – In Memory of Flight Lieutenant Patrick Wilson Langford Service Number: C/1631 Royal Canadian Air Force Son of Richard Wilson Langford & Olive Mary Langford of Victoria, British Columbia, Canada Remembered with Honour Death 31 Mar 1944, Age 24 years Burial Poznan Old Garrison Cemetery Poznan, Poland Plot 7.C.7.

Letter – Captain Frank Lowe's recount of the events the night of July 28-29 1942, Pilot Patrick Langford was second Pilot. Shot Down In Flames! 3 survivors of a total crew of 6. Patrick Langford survived the crash. He was taken as a prisoner of war after being released from a German hospital and was one of the fifty who were shot on Hitler's orders after "The Great Escape" from Stalag Luft 3.

Photo of PATRICK WILSON LANGFORD – Patrick Langford in 1941 (Dennis Langford ~ brother)

Photo of PATRICK WILSON LANGFORD – The 6 Canadians who were apart of The Fifty murdered by the Gestapo that gave their lives so that we all can enjoy the freedoms we have today. Henry Birkland ~ Spear Hill, Manitoba Gordon Kidder ~ St. Catharines, Ontario Patrick Langford ~ Edmonton, Alberta George McGill ~ Toronto, Ontario James Wernham ~ Ontario George Wiley ~ Windsor, Ontario Lest we Forget!

Other – As prisoner No. 710 Langford was involved in the planning and excavation of the tunnel code-named "Harry" which was located under the barrack's stove in Room 23 of Block 104. He was also the "trapfuehrer" responsible to ensure that the red hot stove on its tiled piece of removable flooring was back in place over the tunnel whenever the guards were nearby. He mastered his technique to a point that he could close the trap door above the tunnellers cushioned with blankets to kill any hollow sound, and get the stove in place with carefully replaced dust and dirt within 20 seconds of a guard approaching. Langford saved the tunnel from discovery on several occasions. The tunnel was completed in early March 1944 measuring 106.07 m (348 ft) in length and the date for the break-out was set for 24 March. Approximately 600 airmen had worked on various aspects of the tunnel's construction. A list of 220 people was compiled for the actual escape but only 80 managed to get through the tunnel and of these, four were apprehended at the tunnel's exit. He was one of the 76 men who escaped the prison camp on the night of 24–25 March 1944 in the escape now famous as "the Great Escape". Langford was one of the 50 escapers executed and murdered by the Gestapo.

Photo of PATRICK WILSON LANGFORD – Langford was one of the 50 escapers executed and murdered by the Gestapo. March 1944 The Great Escape Stalag Luft 3 In Memory of The Fifty Officers who gave their lives. Per Ardua Ad Astra ~ "through adversity to the stars"

Newspaper clipping – From the Toronto Telegram 1944. Submitted for the project Operation Picture Me

Newspaper clipping – From the Toronto Telegram 1944. Submitted for the project Operation Picture Me

Newspaper clipping – From the Toronto Telegram 1944. Submitted for the project Operation Picture Me

Photo of Patrick Langford – Submitted for the project, Operation: Picture Me

Memorial – Entrance to Harry - Stalag Luft III, Zagan, Poland … photo courtesy of Marg Liessens

Memorial – The Canadians - Stalag Luft III, Zagan, Poland … photo courtesy of Marg Liessens

Memorial – Near the exit of Tunnel Harry - Stalag Luft III, Zagan, Poland … photo courtesy of Marg Liessens

Memorial – Memorial Garden - The plaque under the cross reads "Erected by the Prisoners of War of the allied air forces in honoured memory of their comrades who died at Stalag Luft 3 during the war AD 1939-1945 Per Ardua ad Astra" ... Stalag Luft III, Zagan, Poland … photo courtesy of Marg Liessens

Memorial – Memorial - Stalag Luft III, Zagan, Poland … photo courtesy of Marg Liessens

Memorial – Memorial Stone - Stalag Luft III, Zagan, Poland … photo courtesy of Marg Liessens