Magic at War

*** COMING SOON - FROM THE MAGIC AT WAR TEAM *** The Colditz Conjurer  tells the amazing true story of Flight Lieutenant Vincent ‘Bush’ Parker. A school-boy magician from the Australian outback,  ‘ Bush ’  left home to become an assistant to a master illusionist. With World War Two looming, he gave up this promising career to train as a Spitfire pilot.   One of Churchill ’ s  ‘ Few, ’  he fought in the Battle of Britain until he was shot down in a dramatic dogfight. As a prisoner-of-war in Germany, Vince Parker earned a reputation as a persistent escaper. He ended up in the infamous Colditz Castle, a high-security fortress from which the Germans thought escape was impossible. In the footlights of the castle ’ s theatre, this charismatic officer used his magic skills to boost the morale of his fellow prisoners. But, behind locked doors, he applied the secrets of stage magic and escapology to the real-life challenge of getting back home. A remarkable tale of ...

In this final part of a two-part blog, I look at Vincent 'Bush' Parker’s exploits as a prisoner-of-war at Colditz. After a magic apprenticeship to an illusionist, and an escaping apprenticeship gained from his nine escape attempts at Dulag Luft (Oberursel), Stalag Luft I and Stalag Luft III POW camps, it's now time for Parker to combine these two aspects of his life, for the ultimate challenge of escaping from Colditz Castle... Oflag IVC (Colditz)   Parker transferred to Oflag IVC (Colditz) in early May 1942. He was now Flight Lieutenant Parker, having been promoted the month before. Oflag IVC was housed in Colditz Castle in rural Saxony, Germany. Built in the Renaissance period, the castle was set-up as a high security prisoner-of-war camp in 1940. Serial escapers were sent there, but it also housed high-profile prisoners, such as relatives of the British royal family or of Allied government members, captured enemy agents, and other such people. Perched on top of a rock ...

In another escape-themed blog, I look at the wartime exploits of Vincent 'Bush' Parker. A schoolboy magician and former assistant to an illusionist, Parker was a Battle of Britain pilot. After getting shot down over the English Channel and taken captive, he became a prisoner-of-war in Germany. A persistent and audacious escaper, Parker spent time in various POW camps, until he ended up in Oflag IVC, Colditz. There, his magic skills boosted morale and played a key role in many escape attempts. See my blog, 'Never in the field of human conflict...": a magician is one of the few' , to read more about 'Bush' Parker's background as a magician and his time with the R.A.F. before he was captured. 'In the bag' Prime Minister Winston Churchill described the 15 August 1940 as  "one of the greatest days in history" ,  as it proved to be the most decisive day in the Battle of Britain. Unfortunately, for  Pilot Officer Vincent Parker, it  was also ...