WW2 pilot who dug tunnel out of Nazi POW camp – made famous by The Great Escape – has died aged 92
Spitfire pilot Nigel Drever was captured by Germans in 1941 after his plane was shot down in France
ONE of the last remaining Battle of Britain pilots from World War Two has died aged 96 - leaving just 15 surviving members of "The Few".
Flight Lieutenant Nigel Drever got his RAF wings aged 19 on the day war broke out in 1939.
The Spitfire pilot joined 98 Squadron and then 610 Squadron and took part in the heroic 1940 battle to halt Hitler's invasion plans.
The following year he was shot down over France, captured by the Germans and taken to the prisoner-of-war camp Stalag Luft III.
The camp was later made famous by the film The Great Escape.
Although Mr Drever was not one of the escapees, he did help to dig the tunnels.
On one occasion he had to be pulled out by his boots after the earth collapsed around him.
He spent his last few years at a care home in Reading and passed away last month in hospital.
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He was buried last week at St Andrew’s Church, at Sonning, Berkshire.
After the war Mr Drever worked as a coffee estate manager in Tanzania before managing a nightclub in Andorra and becoming a property developer in Malta and Essex.
His daughter Clair Drever, 67, of Reading, said: “He lived in Africa, then he went to Malta and then on to Andorra where he owned the Whisky Club.
“He retired in England and finally ended his days in a care home in Reading."
When he was 90 Mr Drever was honoured at a special celebration at the Churchill War Rooms in London at a 2010 event commemorating the 70th anniversary of the Battle of Britain.
Actor Robert Hardy read Winston Churchill’s speech dedicated to “The Few” in which he said: “Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few.”
Mr Drever was once was asked if he was ever scared while flying in the Battle of Britain and said: "You don't have time for that nonsense."
Almost 3,000 pilots and other aircrew served in the Battle.
Only 15 known survivors are alive.
Geoff Simpson, historical consultant of the Battle of Britain Memorial, said: "They were heroes, every last one of them and it is vital that every new generation knows of their bravery."