Date of birth:

December 4th, 1916 (Glasgow, Great Britain)

Date of death:

October 4th, 2011

Service number:

80545

Nationality:

British (1801-present, Kingdom)

Wallace Cunningham studied Engineering. In 1938, he joined the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve and joined no. 19 Squadron in July 1940 as a fighter pilot.
He was shot down on August 28, 1941, and spent most of the rest of war in the Nazi’s Stalag Luft 111 camp at Sagan until January 1945, when he was forced to take part in the notorious Long March in mid-winter snow from Sagan to Luckenwald, south of Berlin, as Soviet forces pushed the Nazis west.
Their camp at Luckenwald was liberated by the Soviets in April 1945 and he was later handed over to the Americans and freedom.
After the war he returned to creative engineering becoming ultimately Vice-President of an international engineering firm.

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Period:

Second World War (1939-1945)

Rank:

Pilot Officer

Unit:

Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve

Awarded on:

October 8th, 1940

Citation:
"This officer has shot down five hostile aircraft. He has shown great personal gallantry and splendid skill in action."

• Photo 1: Tom MacNeill
• - The London Gazette Issue 34964 published on the 8 October 1940
  - BBC News
  - Herald Scotland - Obituaries