343: Bertram Ratcliffe's dramatic escape from German capture

Bertram Ratcliffe was born in 1893 and is a former pupil of Our Lady's Abingdon. Ratcliffe was an officer who became a prisoner of war in the Battle of Aisne in September 1914. He was shot but had an operation in the prison camp to save the use of his arm. Whilst being transported between prisons three years later, he and some others escaped from a moving train. They then walked for 36 hours and escaped into Holland. He was one of the first prisoners of war to escape and was invited to regale King George V with his story. Consequently he won the Military Cross. Our Lady's Library is now named after Bertram Ratcliffe.