I started reading a library book about the time that this all kicked off. It is entitled "Lie in the dark and listen" and is a story about the wartime exploits of a Wg Cdr Ken Rees. It transpires that this remarkable man was a Wellington bomber pilot who ended up in Stalagluft III and participated in the "Great Escape"and the forced march to Bremen.
Tony Bethell writes an introduction which, I think, puts this whole sordid debate nicely into context and I quote:
"
Today in an age when the mere fact of being in a theatre of hostility (not hostilities) generates the media's definition of "hero" I can still only think of the Great Escape as an event in which men did their duty. That, I think, is sufficient, and if others will think of all of us, those who were murdered and those who survived, in such a manner, I believe we would all be content"
3P