Johnnie Dodge

Dodge's paternal great great grandfather was David Low Dodge, a pacifist and founder of the New York Peace Society. His great grandfather was William E. Dodge, co-founder of Phelps Dodge & Co. His grandfather was Brigadier-General Charles Cleveland Dodge, who fought in the American Civil War. His parents, Charles Stuart Dodge and Flora Bigelow (daughter of John Bigelow) divorced in 1902. Flora, who had custody of their two children, John and his sister Lucie, remarried to Lionel George William Guest, a cousin of Winston Churchill, and moved to live in Montreal, Canada.[2] His education included Fay School and St. Mark's School, Southborough, Massachusetts and then McGill University in Canada.

It was through Churchill, who then was First Lord of the Admiralty, that Dodge became commissioned into the Royal Naval Division, arriving in England in August 1914.[3] He became a naturalised British Citizen in 1915.[4]

Dodge served in the 7th (Hood) Battalion of the Royal Naval Division first at Antwerp, then at Gallipoli.[4] Together with Bernard Freyberg and two other officers, Dodge decided where Rupert Brooke was to be buried, and dug the grave on Skyros, immediately before the Gallipoli assault.

While serving as a lieutenant he was wounded at Gallipoli, and awarded the Distinguished Service Cross during this campaign.[5] His award was published in the London Gazette on 8 November 1915.[6]

He transferred to the British Army in April 1916 with the rank of captain,[7][8] to the 10th Battalion Queen's Royal West Surrey Regiment (the recently raised 'Battersea Battalion), with whom he served on the Western Front, taking part in the Battle of Flers-Courcelette.[9] He was promoted to major on 22 February 1918,[10] was wounded on more than one occasion, and ended the war as an acting lieutenant-colonel[11] commanding the 16th Battalion of the Royal Sussex Regiment fighting in France.[12] He was further decorated with the Distinguished Service Order, this being gazetted on 3 June 1919.[13]

He was demobilised on 18 December 1920, retaining the rank of major.[14]

Dodge's American cousin, Braxton Bigelow, had also joined the British army to fight in the First World War. He was killed in Flanders in 1917.[15]

He made several expeditions through these years, including visits to China and Burma,[3] however on a visit in 1921 to the Caucasus he was arrested by the Russian secret police as a suspected spy.[16] After about two months of dreadful discomfort and narrowly avoiding execution, he was expelled from Russia with an order never to return there again. After this he changed his political view from socialist to conservative.[3]

He served on London County Council as member for Mile End (East London) from 1925 to 1931. He failed in his bids to get into Parliament for the Mile End parliamentary constituency in the 1924[17] and 1929 general elections.[18] As part of his campaign for the London County Council election in 1926, Dodge engaged in a boxing exhibition match against a local professional and sustained a black eye.[19] He became a member of the London Stock Exchange and took up the directorship of a New York bank.[4]

Johnnie married divorcee Minerva Sherman (née Arrington) (1902–1980) in New York about 1929. She was born in North Carolina; her great grandparents included Governor Tod Robinson Caldwell and General William Thomas Ward.[20] They had two sons, David born 1930 and Lionel (known as Tony) in 1934, both born in England.

At the outbreak of the war, Dodge re-enlisted into the British Army, taking up the rank of major, serving with the Middlesex Regiment attached to the 51st (Highland) Infantry Division.

While awaiting action during the "Phony War" stage, Johnnie secured adoption as prospective Conservative parliamentary candidate for Gillingham for the next general election which was postponed by hostilities.[21]

When the division surrendered at Saint-Valery-en-Caux in June 1940, Dodge attempted to evade capture, and swam out to sea in an attempt to board some ships he could see on the horizon. However, the ships moved off before he could reach them, so he returned to land, covering approximately seven miles before coming ashore.[3] He was then captured by the Germans and became a Prisoner of War.

Dodge, with many other POWs from the Allied defeat in France, was forced to march towards Germany. During the march his bare feet became badly cut, and eventually he was put on a barge with other Army prisoners for transport to Germany. While on the River Scheldt he jumped overboard, but was handed over to a Luftwaffe officer by a frightened Dutch civilian.[22] As he had become a captive of the Luftwaffe, he, with all Air Force POWs, was sent to the Dulag Luft reception and transit camp at Oberursel.

Memorial for John Bigelow Dodge, St Andrew's church, Ferring, West Sussex, Southern England

Dodge was awarded the Military Cross for his services as a POW, this being recorded in the London Gazette on 18 April 1946.[37]

Post-war Dodge was a central figure leading the war crimes investigation to bring key Gestapo and other officials to justice who were responsible for carrying out the orders to murder 50 of the 76 escapees from Stalag Luft III.

He attempted to restart his political career, but with no success, when he stood at Gillingham at the 1945 General Election but lost narrowly to the winning Labour member, Joseph Binns.[38]

He died, aged 66, of a heart attack when hailing a taxi near Hyde Park in London in November 1960. After cremation his ashes were buried at St Andrew's Church, Ferring, Sussex.[39]

Dodge was portrayed by Christopher Reeve in the made-for-TV film The Great Escape II: The Untold Story (1988).