Hugh Bruce

Hugh Glenrinnes Bruce (26 January 1919 – 9 January 2003) was a prisoner of war in Colditz Castle and later commanding officer of the Special Boat Service.

Early life Hugh Glenrinnes Bruce was born at Mhow in India, where his father was serving with the Royal Army Medical Corps on attachment to the Indian Army. He was educated at Blundell's School in Tiverton.

Military career Bruce joined the Royal Marines in 1937. He was commissioned a year later, and served briefly in the battleship

Colditz In August 1942 Bruce and Hunter were imprisoned in Colditz Castle (then prisoner of war camp Oflag IV-C), where Bruce's skills were immediately put to good use (he was a talented lock-picker and at a reunion at Colditz 40 years later, he managed to pick the lock of his cell before a disgruntled East German guard was able to find the correct key).

The three Royal Marine officers (Captain Courtice, their company commander at Calais, was also at Colditz) had a reputation for bravery and good humour, and Bruce was always a willing volunteer for whatever was being planned. He was involved in a number of escape attempts, including a particularly bold one in which one of his comrades, Mike Sinclair, impersonated a senior German NCO. But all these attempts failed, and Bruce remained in Colditz until his release in April 1945. Bruce was mentioned in dispatches three times: for his part in the defence of Calais in 1940; for the organisation of the Sandbostel tunnel; and for anti-terrorist operations against Grivas's EOKA

Bruce retired from the Royal Marines in 1957.

Civilian life In 1951 he married Jean Rowland Farrant, then head model at the House of Worth.

Bruce set up Sea Services Shipping, which surveyed the proposed route of the Channel Tunnel, and provided supply ships to the oil industry. Bruce ran the company for nearly 30 years. Later he established Bruce Maritime, which specialised in deepwater buoys in the North Sea.

In addition to his interest in wildlife, shooting and fishing, Bruce was a keen yachtsman – while in Colditz, he had won third prize in a competition organised by the Royal Ocean Racing Club for prisoners of war to design an offshore racing yacht (the first prize went to another Colditz prisoner, Flight Lieutenant Welch).

Bruce competed in 10 Fastnet races (coming first of class in Uomie in 1953) and numerous Admiral's Cup regattas. A meticulous planner in every aspect of his life, Bruce became a much sought after navigator and tactician; in his sixties he was engaged by the Swiss Admiral's Cup team as tactician on their 1981 challenge. He also wrote extensively on race tactics and navigation.

Bruce also founded the Royal Marines' Canoe Club, and in 1952, with his Royal Marine colleague David Mitchell, broke the world record for crossing the English Channel in a two-man canoe.

Hugh Glenrinnes Bruce died in 2003 in North Walsham, Norfolk.