North Wales war hero's daring 1,200-mile escape after being shot down behind enemy lines

Wales Online

7 hours ago

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A heroic RAF pilot from North Wales whose Second World War escape makes the Colditz breakout look a breeze is the subject of a new book.
Frank Griffiths, who was born on the Wirral but grew up in Denbighshire, was shot down while dropping supplies to the French Resistance near Annecy on August 15, 1943. Griffiths' six-man crew were all killed when his Halifax bomber slammed into a French village, with five civilians also dying, but somehow Frank survived.
Badly wounded and alone in Nazi-occupied territory, Frank embarked on a 1,200 mile, 108-day escape through France, Switzerland and Spain, a journey made via the attic of a brothel, a chimney, a brutal hike over the Pyrenees and a Spanish prison cell. Join the North Wales Live Whatsapp community now
Some 79 years later, Frank's great grandson Adam Hart set out to retrace his predecessors' odyssey. Hart, 25, from Pembrokeshire, said: 'Frank died four years before I was born, but growing up I always knew of his wartime heroics, he is a family legend.
(Image: Adam Hart)
'Retracing his escape from the Nazis across Europe was incredible and gave me an insight into his fortitude and resilience. It took him three nights to hike over the Pyrenees to Spain. I planned to do the same, but couldn't keep up with his pace, despite me being 22 at the time and having just completed Ironman Wales!'
(Image: Adam Hart)
During the journey, Adam tracked down and met descendants of people who'd risked torture and execution at the hands of the Nazis to shelter, feed and guide Frank to safety.
'Meeting these descendants was truly incredible and is really what inspired me to write this book. These complete strangers, who I usually did not even share a language with, shook my hand, hugged me and even cried when they met me,' said Adam.
(Image: Adam Hart)
'I remember the granddaughter of a farmer who helped smuggle Frank into Switzerland told me he always said it was the honour of his lifetime to help an RAF pilot during the war.'
Griffiths, born in West Kirby on May 1, 1912, grew up in North Wales and attended Mostyn House School on the Dee estuary. Aged 18, he decided to live on a boat drifting around North Wales fishing and sleeping rough in the summer, and mooring up in the Liverpool Docks in the winter when he worked as a labourer, mainly maintaining pubs.
In 1936, after six years on the boat, he joined the RAF and was accepted as a pilot. After a stint in Malaya with 62 Squadron, Frank found himself back in the UK as a test pilot testing vital aviation technology that helped keep the upper hand over the Luftwaffe.
Flying from RAF Defford near Malvern, Frank began to wrack up a list of derring-do anecdotes thanks to his maverick behaviour. This included flying underneath the Menai Bridge, parachuting a mangle to his aunt in an isolated valley in Eryri, (Snowdonia), almost colliding with a submarine in the Dee estuary and diving a WWI era biplane toward Rhyl beach in a successful attempt to put out a fire next to his cockpit.
In April 1943, Frank applied to be made operational and was posted to 138 Squadron (Special Duties). This elite outfit were involved in clandestine warfare dropping SOE agents and war material into Occupied Europe.
(Image: Adam Hart)
It was on one of these mission that Frank's plane took off from RAF Tempsford, the SOE "Special Duties" airbase in rural England. Frank and his crew were on a secret midnight mission codenamed Operation Pimento, but they were shot down near Annecy in southeast France, and he made his escape.
Once back in Britain, Frank returned to test piloting and remained in the RAF until 1972. He retired to Ruthin where he lived out his days raising money for the riding for the disabled charity, note taking badly for the local RNLI branch, and grazing his sheep on various roundabouts.
His ashes were spread near the summit of Moel Famau. Adam added: 'My generation are the first to not hear their ancestors' war stories first hand so it is more important than ever to keep them alive.
"By doing so not only does it pay tribute to that incredible generation, but it also serves as a constant reminder of why war must be avoided at all costs.
"The six lads on Frank's aircraft who were killed were all younger than me, and I'm only 25. Two left pregnant wives.'