
Danny Welinski in 1944.
Danny Welinski (born in 1902) was a Polish officer of the Royal Air Force, and prisoner at Stalag Luft III.
Biography[]
Welinski was born in Warsaw, in Poland during the Russian Empire. He joined the Polish Air Force in 1920 during the Polish-Soviet War. In 1939, he emigrated to Great Britain after the German invasion of Poland. In England he joined the Royal Air Force but he was captured in 1940 and sent to Stalag Luft III. He suffered from claustrophobia and was fearful of tunnel collapses, primarily coming from his experience of having dug 17 escape tunnels. He tried to escape by mingling with a group of Russian workers but was caught by Heinrich Strachwitz who knew who he was. He was one of the three prisioners who managed to escape. Welinski and Willie Dickes arrived by boat to Sweden.