Colonel All M Oglivie (Joe) was one of the most decorated Newfoundlanders from the Second World War. He received the French Croix de Guerre with Bronze Star, Distinguished Flying Cross and Bar and CD, and Mentioned in Dispatches Officer of the Order of Military Merit.
Oglivie was an Observer in the Royal Air Force from 1940 to 1944. On Ogilvie's 51st operation, he was shot down over France on the night of 11/12 March, 1943. Pilot Norman Mackie told the crew to bale out, but did not have his parachute on. Joe is credited with saving his life when he went back to check on him and helped him with his parachute. They baled out at 2000 ft.
Joe landed in a field in north east France, dazed and limping he kept to small back roads. At the village of Heiltz, a frightened old farmer did what he could to help. At a cafe in Vitry le Francoise, he asked a woman for help. She became very excited and went to the telephone, panicked (she had in fact telephoned for someone to help), he ran out and hid in the woods for several hours. Local French citizens helped him reach Blaise-sous-Azillieres where Flight Engineer, Ralph Henderson, was also hiding. They were taken to meet a member of the Resistance and travelled by train to Paris then to Toulouse.
They were hidden for eleven days, given help and fake identity cards before moving by train to a member of the Underground's estate. In May, the Gestapo swooped the area and the quickly moved with a guide to the Spanish border. By train, bus and walking they reached the foothills of the Pyrenees. They were arrested at Lerida and jailed for five days until the British Consulate arranged for their release.
The prison diet made Joe so ill he could not travel back to England. He recuperated at a Spanish summer resort and arrived in Glasgow on June 6, 1943. In 1944, he transferred to the Royal Canadian Air Force and continued a distinguished career. He was a member of the Canadian Branch of the Royal Air Forces Escaping Society.