1945 Prisoner of War
RAF, HQ No. 84 Group, Netherlands, April 1945

On 30 January 1945, Wing Commander Zumbach was posted to HQ, No. 84 Group. On April 7th while flying an Auster (MT440) light aircraft used to visit units under the Group's command, alongside another Auster (NX532) flown by Sqn Ldr Tadeusz Kawalecki, and both of them having apparently had a few drinks, made a navigational error and ran out of fuel. They force-landed in enemy territory and he and his colleague in the second Auster were captured. Jan Zumbach and Tadeusz Kawalecki, spent the final month of the war as prisoners of war in Terschelling, Wadden Islands, the Netherlands.

One of 16 PoWs they were brought to Terschelling, where they were greeted in a not very nice way by a German officer.
Zumbach, who was the senior officer, and who spoke perfect German due to his Swiss origin, told the officer that the war is soon to be over and it is in his [the German officer's] best interest to take good care of the PoWs, because it depends on them, what they will tell the liberating troops.
Then Zumbach asked to place the PoWs in the best hotel on the island, then for free time until 21.00, and finally requested the guard to give honours to Allied officers. Then they arranged an official visit to the Allied cemetery with its British graves, and placed Union Jacks on them. Most of the time on the island they spent on the beach.
In early May some problems with food appeared, and during a visit to the German commander, Zumbach suggested, that he can accept a capitulation of the German forces. At the same time,10 soldiers drafted to the Wehrmacht from Silesia appeared, and claimed that morale was low, and asked Zumbach to confirm they were Poles forced to serve in German army. Finally, on 6 May, the German garrison surrendered to Zumbach, who then passed the power to the local mayor. Allied airmen and PoWs were then taken to the mainland, where they were surrendered to liberating troops.

Sources:
bbm.org.uk/airmen/Kawalecki.htm
626-squadron.co.uk/willem15.htm
rafweb.org/Organsation/Grp06.htm
rafcommands.com/data..tails.php?uniq=MT440