Page 221 - They Also Served

106
Tony Rolt 1938.
Anthony Peter Roylance Rolt was born in 1918 and educated at Eton. He began motor racing in 1936, soon gaining a reputation as a fearless driver. On one occasion, a broken exhaust filled the cockpit with flames, which he duly smothered by stuffing one of his gloves into the hole while driving to victory. Entering Sandhurst on 29th January 1937, he was commissioned into the Rifle Brigade on 25th August 1938. As part of the BEF, he took part in the siege of Calais, delaying the German advance towards Dunkirk. Rolt was awarded an immediate MC but was captured during the fighting.
Always a difficult prisoner, Rolt escaped from POW camps no fewer than seven times before being sent to the maximum-security prison, Oflag IV-C at Colditz Castle. There, he masterminded an audacious escape plan – building a glider in a concealed attic, to be launched from the roof and carrying two prisoners over the walls. Over 6,000 pieces of wood had to be purloined from under the noses of the guards and machined with primitive tools. The liberation of the camp by the Russians prevented the attempt, although a reconstruction in 2012 proved that the design was viable, and the replica was successfully flown from the castle. Rolt was awarded a bar to his MC for his persistent escape attempts.
215