Great Escaper

John 'Willy' Williams was a medical student and passionate surfer turned Squadron Leader and Second World War ace. In the Australian tradition, he insisted on fighting his war in non-regulation attire and led his squadron into air combat over Libya and Egypt dressed in sandals and shorts. Shot down in the Western Desert in 1942, he ended up a POW in Stalag Luft III near the German–Polish border.John was among the seventy-six POWs who tunnelled their way out of the supposedly escape-proof