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Capes, John Hawtrey

Date of birth:
September 20th, 1910
Date of death:
1985
Nationality:
British

Biography

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Period:
Second World War (1939-1945)
Rank:
Stoker 1st Class
Unit:
H.M.S. Perseus (N36), Royal Navy
Awarded on:
December 14th, 1943
"For outstanding courage, endurance and resource."
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"He and three others escaped from the sinking HMS Perseus using the Twill Trunk escape hatch in the engine room and wearing Davis Submerged Escape Apparatus. However, only he survived the journey to the surface and the five mile (8 km) swim to the island of Cephalonia, where he was hidden by islanders for 18 months before being smuggled in a caïque to Smyrna in Turkey."
British Empire Medal (BEM & EGM)

Sources