Paddy Barthropp

Apr 24 2008 by Emma Pinch, Liverpool Daily Post

PADDY BARTHROPP, a former Spitfire pilot, was a bon vivant who, despite a rambunctious social life, possessed a courage which saw him excel in any field which caught his imagination.

During his colourful life, he fought in the Battle of Britain, escaped twice from prisoner of war camps, and became a test pilot and a winning jockey in Hong Kong.

Raised in Shropshire and educated at Ampleforth School, Barthropp joined the RAF in 1938 and trained as a pilot. During some training flights, he would divert from the air exercise and trail the local hunt in his Tiger Moth. In August, 1940, aged 19, he volunteered for Fighter Command and joined 602 Squadron flying spitfires from the south coast. His first day of action came on the climax of the Battle of Britain on September 15, 1940. He readily acknowledged that he was “absolutely terrified”. In 1941, after completing 150 operations, he was awarded a DFC and sent to a fighter training unit as an instructor.

He was soon sent back to operations for setting a bad example to students.

Shot down in France, he was imprisoned at Stalag III at Sagan, where he and a colleague attempted to escape by hiding in a drain.

Over 18 months, he spent 100 days in solitary confinement for misdemeanours before being transferred to Poland. He immediately set about helping to dig a tunnel.

After six months, it was ready, and he was third out of 32 to escape, only to be recaptured a few days later in Warsaw. In January, 1945, he was marched in the intense cold, westwards, to Lubeck, from where they were liberated in May.

He and a friend acquired a Mercedes fire engine and drove it to Brussels via Hamburg, where they were entertained by two ladies for a tin of corned beef. Barthropp remained in the RAF working in Norway locating the graves of missing airman, and received the Order of King Haakon.

He was then accepted, to his surprise, on a course to test fighter aircraft, including the first jets. In 1954, he left for an administrative post in Hong Kong. He wasn’t enthusiastic and took up horse racing in his spare time, and won a number of races at the Happy Valley racecourse.

When released by the RAF, he used this gratuity to buy a Bentley and a Rolls- Royce, and began a new career driving the rich around Britain, a venture which did very well. He is survived by his second wife, Betty.

Wing Commander Paddy Barthropp; born November 9, 1920, died April 16, 2008.