Harry Oakeby’s extraordinary tale of survival took him from life as a 24-year-old flight engineer to dicing with death posing as Fernaud Huard, a ‘deaf and dumb’ French labourer working under the noses of Nazi troops for more than a month before being rescued by advancing British troops.
The 90-year-old died suddenly on Tuesday morning at home in the High Street, Bassingbourn, after being admitted to and then discharged from Addenbrooke’s last week.
Harry’s inspirational story was revealed in the News last November.
The former British Airways engineer, who flew up until 1984, told how as he returned from an early morning raid on the city of Caen in north-west France in July 1944, he was forced to parachute out of his Halifax plane when it was hit by anti-aircraft fire and spiralled out of control.The remaining five crew were immediately captured by German troops and made prisoners of war but Harry escaped and was hidden in a cave by local farmers.
In a bizarre twist, the British airman found himself working next to a Nazi deserter and he posed as his supposedly deaf and dumb French ‘brother’ Andre Huard before being rescued and returning to England.
And last year the grandfather told the News he owed his life to the French family who hid him. When the war was over, he stayed in contact with them for more than 60 years.
Close friend, Vik Nikson, who organises Bassingbourn’s Remembrance Day, said of his death: “It was a shock.
“He was struggling in the last few months but doing well.
“The GP persuaded him to go into Addenbrooke’s on Friday for a check- up but he was out by Monday, talking and dressing himself. His heart just stopped at 2am on Tuesday.
“He was an inspirational man and will be missed.”
From the Cambridge Evening News
Moggy
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July 21, 2011 at 8:50 pm