As we learned in PoW accountants of World War II: the exams lifeline, British accountants held as prisoners of war (PoWs) in World War II drew considerable strength from a Red Cross scheme that enabled them to continue their studies and exams while in prison camps.

However, some accountants who took advantage of the scheme set their sights even higher by mounting daring escape attempts. Their heroic exploits show that accountants were able to adapt their resourcefulness, attention to detail and organisational flair to the high-risk art of spotting ways out – or, in some cases, digging them.

Thanks to MI9 debriefing documents completed by returning veterans, we have first-hand records of how Institute-member PoWs sought to spring themselves from captivity. While they are all highly compelling, some are instant standouts.

Tunnel troubles, but exam success

Captured in March 1941 near Tirana, Albania, Flight Lieutenant Derek Lister D'Anyers Willis of 37 Squadron, RAF Bomber Command, spent the rest of the war in a succession of PoW camps, including three in Italy. In November 1943, two months after the Italian Armistice, he was moved to Poland’s Stalag Luft III – infamous setting of 1963 war film The Great Escape.

In August 1941, Willis took part in a tunnel dig at Camp PG 78, Sumonia – but the project was scrapped. Undeterred, he joined the official escape committee at Camp PG 35, Padula. From October 1942 to August 1943, Willis superintended two tunnel constructions – yet they were both aborted, too. In a third bid for freedom, he initiated an escape attempt at Camp PG 19, Bologna, by hiding above the officers’ quarters with a captain and lieutenant – but the three men were caught, and Willis attempted no further escapes.

What he did do, though, was complete his Institute Final in 1944 while interned at Stalag Luft III. The following year, he became an ACA and eventually worked at London accounting firm Barton Mayhew & Co.

Resisting captivity – and illness

In June 1940 and April 1945, Articled Clerk and Lance Sergeant Basil Munyard of Beckenham escaped from enemy soldiers with fellow servicemen by fleeing lines of march.

According to his debriefing form, Munyard suffered from prolonged bouts of ill health during his time in captivity. A combination of injury, accident, dirt and lice had left him with ulcers and skin decay on his legs “from thigh to toes” – a condition worsened by malnourishment and lack of attention to his wounds.

In November 1940, Munyard was sent to hospital to have his legs treated and stayed for three weeks. However, just one month after discharge, he was readmitted for another 15 weeks which speaks volumes about the persistence of his infection. Munyard also suffered from annual episodes of angina, requiring hospital stays of two-to-three weeks each time.

Remarkably, amid those travails Munyard studied for a Bachelor of Commerce degree through the University of London and took part of the course's Final.

The spoke saboteur

Enlisted in February 1939 with 234th Battery in the 89th Heavy Anti-Aircraft Regiment, Lance Sergeant John Boyce was captured in Crete on 1 June 1941 – and got busy as an escape artist almost immediately. Held in a temporary camp, Boyce snuck out alone by night – but was unfit with a septic leg from a barbed wire snag. Before he could make it too far, he was recaptured by German soldiers.

In May 1942, after a spell in Stalag VII B in the Polish town Lamsdorf, Boyce was transferred to the Czech saw-mill camp Mankendorf. The following March, he cut a perimeter wire while fellow prisoners distracted the guards. Fleeing alone, Boyce managed to chalk up eight days of freedom before members of the Feldgendarmerie (German military police) recaptured him on a farm.

Three years later, while on an enemy cattle truck in Prague, Boyce and two fellow PoWs leapt from the vehicle’s window – but the very next day, they were rounded up by members of the German military engineering corps Organisation Todt.

At Mankendorf, Boyce also took part in sabotage activities. From October to December 1942, he made around 2,000 wheel spokes intended for use on German military vehicles, ensuring that each and every one was too long.

Boyce’s distaste for captivity was matched by his thirst for training. While interned, he completed exams for RSA Bookkeeping Stage 1, the Institute of Bookkeepers’ Associate and Fellowship levels, the Society of Incorporated Accountants’ Intermediate and the Institute of Chartered Accountants’ Intermediate and Final. In 1948, he became an ACA and went on to work for PriceWaterhouse & Co in Leeds.

A zeal for escape

However, for sheer overachievement on this front, Captain John Furman takes some beating. Indeed, his exploits were deemed worthy of special mention in the esteemed professional journal The Accountant.

An ICAEW member since 1937, who had enlisted with the Royal Army Pay Corps – but was soon transferred to the Royal Artillery – Furman was captured in the Western Desert in January 1941 and ended up escaping a total of four times. 

As a PoW in Italy from June 1942 to September 1943, Furman had set up a special Accountants Group to provide specialist training for articled clerks, along with a range of general courses in accountancy, bookkeeping and income tax. In addition, he was camp auditor and financial adviser, Chair of the camp’s Debating Society and a keen playwright and performer for the compound’s dedicated theatre group. 

Following the Italian Armistice, Furman escaped from German soldiers who had seized control of his camp. Recaptured by the SS, he fled once more – only to be recaptured by the Gestapo. Fleeing the enemy a final time (his third post-Armistice escape and fourth overall), he eventually rejoined British forces.

In November 1944, the London Gazette announced that Furman had been awarded the prestigious Military Cross. Carrying the news to the profession, The Accountant’s piece on Furman signed off with further, clinching, proof of his irrepressible nature, noting: “After a short leave at home, Captain Furman is again back with the Central Mediterranean Forces.” 

Furman was made a Fellow in 1944 and after the war, he returned to his pre-war practice of Sinclair, Furman & Co in London. His memoirs of his time in Italy, Be Not Fearful, was published in 1949 and by 1950 he had emigrated to the newly established state of Israel where he was initially the Comptroller and secretary of the Zim Israel Navigation Co. Ltd, in Haifa. He later became the president of the Palestine Economic Corporation of New York, where he lived for several years before returning to Tel Aviv and forming Furman Associates. He died in 2002.

Our ongoing mission

Read about Harry Mounsey and John Peacock who were also held as PoWs in World War Two and made heroic attempts to escape their incarceration.

Additionally, ICAEW’s Library team continues to research the names of articled clerks and members who were PoWs and will share further updates later this year.