John Fancy (9 March 1913 – 16 September 2008) was a British former airman whose tunnelling escapes from various German prisoner of war camps during World War II earned him the nickname The Mole, and inspired the book and film The Great Escape. He was first captured on 14 May 1940, when the Blenheim in which he was serving as air observer/navigator was shot down by German anti-aircraft fire while returning from a raid on Sedan, France. He was taken to Stalag Luft I (the Germans maintained separate POW camps for aircrew), as prisoner 89 he was one of the first allied airmen to be captured.