Story of Torosay Castle Laird’s serial wartime escapes republished

Royal Navy Lieutenant David James, in civilian life the Laird of Torosay Castle in Mull – whose son Chris has opened it to visitors – was a resourceful serial escapee from wartime Germany after being taken prisoner.

He served in Motor Gun Boats (MGBs) and was captured in 1943 after abandoning ship at the end of a fierce firefight with armed German trawlers in the North Sea.

He was imprisoned as a POW at Dulag Marinelager (Marlag for short) a POW camp for Navy captives near Bremen in northern Germany – and made his first escape attempt there. This went pear shaped when the camp guards found the tunnel dug by POWs in preparation for a breakout.

But David James made it out of the camp at the end that year, in December, slipping away in a Bulgarian Navy uniform under the pretext of a visit to the Bath House. He got as far as the Baltic port of Lubeck where he was recaptured.

Not one to be discouraged by his first knockback, he got hold of another uniform – this time that of a Swedish Sailor (sounds like they had a theatrical wardrobe at Dulag Markag) – and got out the bathroom window for the second time.

This time he hid in a nearby forest until it was dark and then began a seris of train journeys – from Bremen to Hamburg, Lubeck, Rostock and finally to Danzig where he took ship to Stockholm, hiding under the floor above the boiler room.

He made it home and in 1947 wrote about his experiences which were published in a magazine series as ‘Prisoner’s Progress’. Three years after this, the collection of stories was published as ‘Escaper’s Progress’ – obviously a popular buy by visitors to Torosay.

He died in 1986, succeeded by his son Chris who had read his father;s stories as a child and was understandably thrilled by them He says his father: ‘loved to tell a good story’ and describes the tale as ‘Boys’ Own stuff’.

Before the war David James had sailed round the world on one of the last windjammers and then went to Antarctica to work with dogs on an early scientific expedition there. After the war he was also a member of several Polar expeditions which were featured on This is Your Life in 1962. In 1962, with Naturalist Sir Peter Scott, he founded the Loch Ness Phenomena Investigation Bureau.

From 1959-1964 he was Conservatve MP for Brighton Kemptown and then represented North Dorset from 1970-1979. At that point he retired to Torosay.

His book, Escaper’s Progress, has now been reprinted by Pen and Sword Books, the military history speciaists, with photographs and copies of original documents – so you can catch up with this Argyll hero without going to Torosay, at least for the moment.