Alistair Russell Price
Speaker Topics
History
Locations Covered
West Midlands
Fees
<£75
Availability
1 Month Minimum
Profile Bio
Alistair Price is now retired , but was General sales manager for a Premier Brands company until 2000, when he was made redundant and set up his own sales agency focused on the Vending Sector. He sold this business in April 2019.
He has many interests and during lockdown wrote a book on his father Squadron Leader Kenneth Price DFC , who did 58 trips in Bomber command in WW2 before being shot down and becoming a prisoner of war in Stalag Luft 111 for nearly 2 years. He took part in the Great Escape in March 1944.
He does talks on his father every 7/10 days and he is also speaker secretary for the local Probus Group. He is a volunteer driver to deliver books to local schools , plays tennis every week and works part-time as a crewman on Avon Boats in the summer. He was also until recently High Bailiff of Henley in Arden Court Leet.
Talk Description
What did you do in the war dad ?
This is a story about Kenneth George Price DFC and Bar, who came from a relatively poor background to gain a scholarship at the age of 13 to King Henry V111 grammar school in Coventry. He was a reporter on the Coventry Evening Telegraph in 1937 and joined the RAFVR in 1938. He was called up to join the RAF on 1st September 1939 at the age of 20. He completed 58 bombing trips (missions), before being shot down over Holland in July 1943. For Ken, each trip was a very scary experience, with enemy guns being fired at them from below and the possibility of being blown to pieces or even worse burnt alive, if the plane caught fire. The life expectancy for a bomber crew in WW2 was 5 trips. The attrition rate was greater than officers on the front line in WW1.
After he was shot down, he was picked up by the Dutch Resistance who exchanged his uniform for a peasant’s costume and got rid of his two dog tags. Unfortunately, he was betrayed to the Gestapo by a Catholic priest who was sheltering him. The Gestapo thought he was spy and beat him up breaking his ribs in the process. He was released by an alleged Luftwaffe officer, who got him transferred to Stalag Luft 111, in Sagan, Poland. This is where the Great Escape took place in March 1944 & Ken played a key role in helping with the escape, being number 182 to come out of the tunnel – it was aimed to get out 200. 76 escaped , 50 were shot, 23 made it back to camp & just 3 got back to the UK. He didn’t escape and was a POW for nearly 2 years. In January 1945 with the Russians just 20 miles due east of the camp, the Germans decided to move the Prisoners, so at the end of that month, Ken took part in what is described as the “Long March“ from Stalag Luft 111 in bitterly cold weather around Germany. Over 3 months, nearly 500 miles were covered, with many Prisoners of War dying through malnutrition and exhaustion. The war ended on 8th May 1945 and Ken was repatriated to England on 3rd June. He ended the war as a Wing Commander. In peacetime he joined the Ministry of Aviation. Sadly, he died quite young, at the age of 60, due to a great extent his time in Stalag Luft 111.
Other Talks
Stalag Luft 111 1942-1945 - life in the camp as a prisoner of war.
This follows a visit by Alistair to the Camp near Sagan in Poland in March 2019 to commemorate the Great Escape in March 1944. It covers life in the camp and how the prisoners occupied themselves.
It starts with a video from the visit, showing the camp as it is now.
The presentation shows the layout of North Compound and the location of the 4 tunnels. It shows artifacts from 1942 found at the site. Also, the tunnel Harry in detail.
An overview of the Great Escape plan and the long march from end of January to beginning of May 1945.
Ends with a short video of the 75th Anniversary of the Great Escape followed by pictures of two iconic planes of WW2 – Lancaster & Mosquito.
