Outdoor portrait of Ronald Haig Elder (left) and Erroll Edward Green (right) of the Maclean troop ...

Accession Number	P09316.001
Collection type	Photograph
Object type	Black & white - Print silver gelatin
Maker	Unknown
Place made	Australia: New South Wales, Maclean
Date made	1938
Conflict	Second World War, 1939-1945
Copyright	Item copyright: Copyright expired - public domain This item is in the Public Domain

Description

Outdoor portrait of Ronald Haig Elder (left) and Erroll Edward Green (right) of the Maclean troop of the 15th Light Horse, at the Maclean show. Both men would later enlist in the Second World War. Elder served as a Corporal in 2/4 Battalion with the service number NX68570. Green was pilot and Flight Lieutenant (Fl Lt) attached to No. 7 Squadron RAF with the service number 402795. Fl Lt Green's Stirling aircraft N3754 was shot down by a German night fighter whilst on a mission to bomb Bremen on the night of 25/26 June 1942. Four of his crew were killed in the air crash. The other three crew members became prisoners of war (POWs) of the Germans. Fl Lt Green spent nearly three years as a POW, with most time spent in Stalag Luft III. He participated in preparations for escape by dispersing soil taken from the tunnel, but was moved on to another camp by the Germans before the escape took place on the night of 24/25 March 1944. Shifted from camp to camp, Fl Lt Green eventually escaped captivity with some other prisoners. After being picked up and fed by the American Army, Fl Lt Green and his fellow escapees were able to board a plane bound for Britain, arriving a few weeks before VE-Day.