Meet #Sydney! Sydney is a Het-ED black tortoiseshell female and one of our #GreatEscapePups. Sydney is named after Sydney Dowse, one of the men who survived the “Great Escape”. Sydney was born near London. In 1937, he joined the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve to learn how to fly. In 1939, he was called into regular service and completed his pilot training. Unfortunately, Sydney was shot down in August 1941 while on a reconnaissance mission. He was quickly captured by the Germans due to an injured leg. He made several attempts at escape. He had an escape attempt at Oflag VI-B, however when they broke surface, they realised the tunnel was too short. Sydney was captured during this attempt, and transferred to Stalag Luft III. At Stalag Luft III, Sydney had one other escape attempt with Flt Lt Stainislaw Krol, in 1942 involving wire cutters and blankets at camouflage. They were found, arrested, and sentenced to 14 days of solitary confinement. Sydney spoke some German, which he used to get information. He also found out that the Gestapo planned to murder Roger Bushell if he were caught escaping again. Disguised as a Danish foreign worker, Sydney was 21 to escape out of 76. He and companion Stanislaw Krol travelled by foot to the Polish border, but was recaptured inside Germany on April 6, 1944. They were amongst the last escapers to be captured. He was then sent to Sachsenhausen concentration camp. His companion, Stanislaw Krol, was among the 50 recaptured officers to be executed. At Sachsenhausen, he was with three fellow survivors of the Great Escape (Harry Day, Johnnie Dodge and Bertram James), as well as a handful of political prisoners. Sydney and fellow Great Escape survivor, James, immediately began another escape tunnel. They (Day, Dodge, James, and Jack Churchill) escaped on September 23, 1944, but were recaptured the next day. They were spared execution thanks to Day’s efforts under interrogation. Sydney then spent months in solitary confinement before being transferred. He was awarded the Military Cross for his services as a POW. Thank you for joining us for another #HistoryWithHamsters post. https://www.instagram.com/p/BrqZVy9g7b1/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=wgrwnfetru35