A Rare & Unusual Prisoner of War Postcard sent home by a New Zealander imprisoned in the infamous Stalag Luft III, scene of the Great Escape. The postcard is from Pilot Officer K.A.S Pipe to Miss Violet Cole in Wellington, dated 17 December 1943. It was received in New Zealand the day before the Great Escape and refers to the bleak conditions, however Pipe also alludes to hopefully spending the next Christmas in ‘different surroundings’, so perhaps he believed he would be one of the lucky ones to escape. In the Great Escape, on 23-24 March 1944, 76 men (the last being New Zealander Len Trent Vc) escaped through one of three tunnels which had been secretly dug under the perimeter wire of the camp. All but three prisoners were recaptured and most were executed by the Gestapo. As a NZ Air Force Officer, Pipe would have almost certainly been involved in the tunnelling operation, although was not one of the 76 men who escaped (200 were planned to escape). New Zealand had a few Rnzaf men in this Officers-only camp. Flying Officer Kenneth Alfred Sidney Pipe Mbe, Dfc was born in Suffolk 18 September 1910. He enlisted in the Rnzaf 4 June 1940 and completed service in the Middle East with 70th Squadron before undertaking European Operations. On his 58th sortie he was shot down over Hanover on the night of 22-23 September 1943. Unconscious, he fell a considerable distance before coming-to just in time to pull his rip cord. He landed in trees and was taken prisoner of war. He remained of Pow until May 1945. After his return to New Zealand he remained in the Rnzaf, firstly with the Northern Reserve and Atc, and later in Rnzaf Supply based in Whenuapai. He retired 16 April 1962 and died 31 Jul 1974. Dfc 18 January 1944 (115 Squadron - Lancaster). ‘This officer has completed numerous operations against the enemy, in the course of which he has invariably displayed the utmost fortitude, courage and devotion to duty.’ Mbe New Year Honours 1963, for dedicated service