Gp Cpt T.Tumble CO Heraklion airfield & Stalag Luft III

[Andy H]

From the Telegraph online
Group Captain Tony Trumble
(Filed: 15/05/2004)

Group Captain Tony Trumble, who has died aged 88, was commanding the British held airfield of Heraklion on Crete when German paratroopers invaded; he remained to organise the evacuation of RAF personnel, but was captured and spent the next four years as a prisoner of war.

After time in prison camps in Greece and Poland, Trumble was finally transferred to the east compound of Stalag Luft III at Sagan. As an experienced wing commander, he was appointed the senior administration officer responsible for discipline and organisation.
This required a delicate balance of firmness and understanding for the prisoners' activities - which were often subversive. At the same time he had to maintain a good relationship with the German authorities to obtain the best possible treatment for a large population of young aircrew officers.

Trumble's unfailing tact, energy and conscientiousness were largely responsible for the high morale, good humour and cohesion of the camp and added greatly to the safety and security of the PoWs.

On the night of January 27 1945, the German guards burst into the compound and gave the prisoners 30 minutes to pack their meagre belongings before herding them into columns and marching them westwards ahead of the advancing Russian army.

The winter of 1945 was particularly severe, and the PoWs suffered considerable privations as they marched; there was little food and no shelter. Eventually, Trumble's column reached Stalag IIIA at Luckenwalde, south of Berlin, a camp in which the conditions were particularly brutish. He once again assumed the role of senior administration officer.

The German guards left on April 21, and the Russian army arrived a few days later. Trumble and his fellow PoWs were free, but it was some time before they were allowed to return to England. Later that year, it was announced that he had been appointed OBE, the citation commenting that "the work of this officer, while in prisoner of war camps in Germany, has been worthy of the highest praise".

The son of an artist, Anthony John Trumble was born on December 15 1915 in Essex, but spent most of his early childhood in India. After leaving Wanstead High School, east London, he joined the RAF on a short service commission and was appointed a pilot officer on March 15 1935. After completing his pilot training, he flew Bulldog fighters with No 56 Squadron. He learned to fly float-planes before spending the next three years flying fighters with the Fleet Air Arm from the aircraft carriers Courageous and Victorious.

In January 1939 Trumble took part in the deck-landing trials, on Courageous, of the Blackburn Skua fighter dive-bomber aircraft, the first British modern monoplane aircraft to land on an aircraft carrier. Shortly afterwards he returned to the RAF.

In late August he went on air intelligence duties with the RAF component of the British Expeditionary Force and, after Dunkirk, he joined No 264 Squadron, equipped with the ill-fated Defiant two-seat fighter which he flew during the early phases of the Battle of Britain.

Late in July 1940, Trumble was sent with 11 other pilots to Abbotsinch, where they converted to the Hurricane to form No 418 Flight. Within days they boarded the aircraft carrier Argus, sailing for the Mediterranean to reinforce the tiny fighter force based on Malta, which was totally inadequate against the threat posed by Italy.

Trumble and his colleagues took off from Argus on August 2 for the long journey to Luqa airfield on Malta. All but one arrived safely, and 418 combined with the small force of resident Gladiator fighters to form No 261 Squadron, with Trumble appointed as a flight commander.
The Hurricanes regularly intercepted Italian bombers and their fighter escorts. Each evening throughout the summer the British and Italian intelligence officers exchanged telephone calls to inquire about casualties and survivors, a practice which ceased when the Germans arrived. In December Trumble assumed command of 261, remaining on Malta until the end of February, when he was rested and sent to Cairo.

He was appointed to command the airfield of Heraklion on the island of Crete in readiness for a British offensive in the Dodecanese, but this was abandoned when the Germans invaded Greece in April. The airfields on Crete, which were defended by a handful of Hurricanes and Gladiators, soon came under concentrated air attacks.

On May 20 1941 German gliders and paratroops descended on the island. The official RAF history recorded that, by the 27th, the "heroic garrisons of Heraklion and Retimo were isolated".
Trumble and his staff cleared landing strips amid the rubble so that a few Hurricanes could operate, but they were soon destroyed by enemy action. The following day the airfield was heavily bombed, and the evacuation of RAF personnel was ordered. Half managed to get away - but Trumble and his adjutant remained and were among the 70 to be captured.

On his return from Germany in May 1945, Trumble returned to flying duties; he commanded the Metropolitan Communications Squadron at Hendon before taking up a staff appointment at the Headquarters of Transport Command. Among his duties was the creation of an air transport force for the Belgian Air Force; in recognition of this work he was appointed an Officer of the Order of Leopold II by the Prince Regent of Belgium.

Trumble served on the staff of the RAF Staff College and at the Central Flying School, before being promoted to group captain to command Bridgenorth, the RAF's National Service recruit training depot. During this period he was appointed to organise and take command of Lord Trenchard's funeral parade.

After a tour in Singapore, he returned to take command of RAF Aldergrove in Northern Ireland, with responsibility for establishing it as a joint civil/military airfield, a role it fulfils to the present day. His final appointment was at the Ministry of Defence. He retired from the RAF in May 1966.

Trumble became secretary of the Royal Thames Yacht Club before finally retiring to South Devon. He was the proud owner of a vintage Rolls-Royce, which he greatly enjoyed driving and maintaining.

Tony Trumble and his wife Robin were married for 65 years. She and their two sons and a daughter survive him.