106 Squadron Warrant Officer Roy Dotrice, 1923 – 2017
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It was sad to learn that the well-known actor Roy Dotrice passed away recently. Best known for his playing of John Aubrey in the one man show ‘Brief Lives’; it was interesting to learn he was a member of 106 Squadron during their Manchester period and served under W/C Guy Gibson DSO DFC at RAF Coningsby.
He was born on Guernsey in 1923 and on the outbreak of war he found a boat and rowed for four days across the Channel to England to join the RAF; lying about his age to gain entry. Roy trained as a Wireless Operator/Air Gunner before joining 106 in April of 1942. Here he flew in one of the worst operational aircraft the RAF were issued with, the AVRO Manchester. On one sortie Gibson asked them to take up his brother Alick who was an Army Officer. They didn’t tell their passenger that on their return they would beat up the Waafery. Guy unimpressed, had to loan his brother a new pair of trousers after landing. |
On 2nd/3rd May 1942 AVRO Manchester R5840 ZN-X took off at 22.25 for a Gardening Operation off the coast of Schleswig-Holstein in Gardens Forget-Me-Not and Wallflower. Their aircraft suffered a mine fouling the bomb doors on release over the island of Pellworm near Sylt, as a result the crew, F/Sgt Hurd, Sgt Fixter, P/O Simpson, F/Sgt Callom, Sgt Morris, Sgt Stephen and Sgt Dotrice had to ditch.
Roy recounted to his family taking to their ‘round, one-oared dinghy’ for several days. They had to ‘play dead’ to a passing U-boat which came close to inspect them. Upon landing, buried their dinghy and on arriving at the top of the beach saw a sign, “Achtung Minen!”
They watched a little old lady collecting wood for her cottage for several hours, checking it was safe to approach. They were greeted at the door by a German Officer who had been watching them all the time. And so Roy became a guest of the Germans at Stalag Luft VI at Heydelkrug on the Baltic coast.
It was here that he developed his interest in the theatre. At first receiving only female parts as he had not yet started shaving. With the advance of the Red Army, the camp was evacuated in July 1944 on 24 hours’ notice. A nightmare journey in cattle trucks took him and his fellow prisoners to Fallingbostel POW Camp south of Hanover. Liberation came almost three years to the day of his being captured.
Following repatriation to the UK, he appeared in a Revue called ‘Back Home’ put on by ex-POWs in aid of the Red Cross. He was discharged from the RAF with the rank of Warrant Officer in 1946. The same year he married the actress Kay Newman. Appropriately, on 24 hours’ notice, he then took the lead in the Manchester Repertory Company’s production of Terrance Rattigan’s ‘Flarepath’.
There then followed a remarkable career which included The Royal Shakespeare Company, working with Sir Peter Hall & Lord Olivier, the West End, TV, film and Broadway. In 2007 he was appointed OBE. Our condolences go out to his three daughters, Evette, Michelle and Karen, all of whom followed their father and mother on to the stage. - Pro Libertate
Roy recounted to his family taking to their ‘round, one-oared dinghy’ for several days. They had to ‘play dead’ to a passing U-boat which came close to inspect them. Upon landing, buried their dinghy and on arriving at the top of the beach saw a sign, “Achtung Minen!”
They watched a little old lady collecting wood for her cottage for several hours, checking it was safe to approach. They were greeted at the door by a German Officer who had been watching them all the time. And so Roy became a guest of the Germans at Stalag Luft VI at Heydelkrug on the Baltic coast.
It was here that he developed his interest in the theatre. At first receiving only female parts as he had not yet started shaving. With the advance of the Red Army, the camp was evacuated in July 1944 on 24 hours’ notice. A nightmare journey in cattle trucks took him and his fellow prisoners to Fallingbostel POW Camp south of Hanover. Liberation came almost three years to the day of his being captured.
Following repatriation to the UK, he appeared in a Revue called ‘Back Home’ put on by ex-POWs in aid of the Red Cross. He was discharged from the RAF with the rank of Warrant Officer in 1946. The same year he married the actress Kay Newman. Appropriately, on 24 hours’ notice, he then took the lead in the Manchester Repertory Company’s production of Terrance Rattigan’s ‘Flarepath’.
There then followed a remarkable career which included The Royal Shakespeare Company, working with Sir Peter Hall & Lord Olivier, the West End, TV, film and Broadway. In 2007 he was appointed OBE. Our condolences go out to his three daughters, Evette, Michelle and Karen, all of whom followed their father and mother on to the stage. - Pro Libertate
