Otto Thelen

Varese2002 · 24 January 2010, 09:10 PM

The following stories about Otto Thelen are given in Flight

Quote:

Escaped German Prisoners.
One of the prisoners who escaped from Dorchester last week and was recaptured at West Hartlepool on Monday, was Hans Heyn, who was the pilot cf a German seaplane which fell into the North Sea.
Of the two officers who escaped from Donnington Hall on Saturday one was the well-known German pilot Otto Thelen, of whom the following description has been circulated by the police authorities at Scotland Yard :

"Otto Thelen, German Flying Corps, aged 25, height 5 ft. 7 in., stiff build, weather-beaten features, somewhat sallow complexion, grey eyes, tair hair, slight scar on left part of forehead, caused by a burn, clean shaven, wearing knickers and stockings of greyish material. Speaks English with a foreign accent."

A reward of £100 is offered to any person giving information which will lead to his arrest.

Source: Flight 24.IX.1915 page 722

Quote:

Sentence on Lieutenant Otto Thelen.
At a military court at Maidenhead on Tuesday, Lieutenant Otto Thelen, of the German Flying Corps, was sentenced to nine months' detention in the military barracks, Chelmsford, for attempting to escape by tunnelling from Holyport prison camp. Lieutenant Thelen was rescued from a sinking aeroplane in the North Sea and had previously escaped from Donington Hall.

Source: Flight 10.II.1916 page 126

Is there anything more on Otto Thelen ?

Kees

Romani · 24 January 2010, 09:52 PM

Unfortunately I cannot answer this question, but I found the following very amusing

Quote:

Escaped German Prisoners.
...
Of the two officers who escaped from Donnington Hall on Saturday one was the well-known German pilot Otto Thelen, of whom the following description has been circulated by the police authorities at Scotland Yard :

"Otto Thelen, German Flying Corps,... wearing knickers and stockings of greyish material. Speaks English with a foreign accent."

Escaped German inmate and intimate crossdresser?

Sounds like you should post this in this thread!

Was there a dress code for German pilots?

Was there a dress code for German pilots?

Varese2002 · 24 January 2010, 10:33 PM

Sure the story is from this far away time rather amusing. The two escaped via a tunnel (!) and Thelen was speaking English with a foreign accent (German perhaps ?).

Perhaps Thelen has somewhere published his recollections of this time.

Kees

Varese2002 · 24 January 2010, 11:56 PM

The Otto Thelen story continued

Quote:

Otto Thelen Recaptured.
The two officers, one of whom was the German aviator, Otto Thelen, who escaped from Donnington Hall on the 18th ult., were recaptured at Chatham on the 23rd ult. It is understood that both men had arranged a passage on a vessel.

Source: Flight 1.X.1915 page 750

Otto Thelen surely had some ideas how to escape

Kees

todd_tifft · 25 January 2010, 06:22 AM

The Otto Thelen story was part of the local history in Maidenhead and often came up as news of the past in the Maidenhead Advertiser, our regular newspaper. Todd

rammjaeger · 30 January 2010, 05:46 AM

Kees,

from my memory the English tried to get rid off him after his 7th try to escape and he was allowed to go back to Germany in exchange for others.

stevedrew · 30 January 2010, 06:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rammjaeger

Kees,

from my memory the English tried to get rid off him after his 7th try to escape and he was allowed to go back to Germany in exchange for others.

It seems to me that an officer who had tried to escape seven times might have been a thorn in their side, but someone with that much determination is someone you DO NOT want to fight against.

They should, of course, have repatriated guys who were non combatants or easy to fight against, like the Turks did...they repatriated that sickly Irish chap who had poor eyesight...what was his name again??

Mannock...something like that.

rammjaeger · 30 January 2010, 10:19 AM

Steve,

in some of these cases the re-patriated men had to promise not to fight in combat again - they would do service in an administrative or staff function.