EDMONTON - Before he slipped underground with the French resistance and tunnelled deep below the German prison made famous for the failed "Great Escape,'' Doug Matheson simply loved to fly.

Matheson "fell in love with the first plane he saw a child'' and took to the skies as often as he could until the very end of his life, his son, Doug Matheson Jr., said Thursday.

The former Second World War fighter pilot died earlier this week when the small plane he was flying solo crashed in the Badlands of south-central Alberta. He was 88.

Matheson first learned to fly more than 70 years earlier, starting with his neighbour's plane at the age of 12.

His commitment to perfection as a pilot was evident after he signed up to fly Spitfires in the war.

"I was looking at his review ... they said he was the most complete and competent pilot they had ever seen,'' his son said.

But the war put to the test even the best of pilots _ Matheson was shot down in 1942 over German-occupied France while escorting a formation of American bombers.

Luckily, he was found and taken in by a member of the French resistance. He stayed hidden, living with a local family and assuming a new identity to avoid capture.

But in 1944, his luck ran out.

He was arrested by the Gestapo and sent to the prison camp Stalag Luft III. In January of the previous year, dozens of prisoners there had tried to tunnel to freedom, an doomed adventure immortalized in the Steve McQueen movie "The Great Escape.'' Of 76 escapees, only three eluded capture. Most were later caught, shot or returned to the prison.

When he arrived at Stalag III, Matheson worked in a carpentry system underground. He helped dig another tunnel, but it was never used.

As the war came to a close and Allied troops drew near, Matheson was herded with other prisoners away from the prison. As they hurried away, Matheson was shot by an SS guard and left for dead, but he was rescued by farmers who dragged him to a nearby schoolhouse.

"A young German soldier who was also somewhat wounded helped care for him, and moved him away from all the air raids that went on and saved his life a number of times,'' recalled Matheson's son.

"The two of them remained good friends until that fellow died a few years ago.''

When the British soldiers came to free the town, Matheson, still severely wounded, was ferried back and forth on a stretcher to help negotiate the surrender.

Once back in Edmonton, Matheson spent the long months of recovery reading in bed and over time went to law school.

"He loved law and he loved the humanity of it,'' said his son. "Doing it was a duty, trying to make society better, trying to help.''

He was eventually appointed an Alberta Court of Queen's Bench judge.

He was a fair judge, but didn't necessarily keep his opinions to himself, longtime friend and fellow aviator Stan Reynolds recalled with a laugh.

"He had ideas on how different things, he thought, should be,'' Reynolds said. "He was not a man that was 'ifs and buts,' he was pretty definite on what his thoughts were.''

Before he became a judge, Matheson was heavily involved in politics with the Conservative party at both the federal and provincial levels, said his son, adding it wasn't unusual to see figures such as former prime minister Joe Clark and former Alberta premier Peter Lougheed around the dinner table.

"He had a strong sense of civic duty, was heavily involved with politics after the war. That, I think, coming on the heels of seeing what happens with war, he was sort of passionately patriotic.''

Edmonton Centre MP Laurie Hawn said he enjoyed Matheson's company as both a politician and fellow flying enthusiast.

"He was always full of life and full of wisdom and he was just an interesting guy to be with on all counts,'' Hawn said from Ottawa.

Matheson was committed to staying healthy so he could continue flying, said Hawn, adding the senior stayed fit enough to pass frequent physicals.

The last was just several weeks before his death, said his son.

"The doctor called us today and said I want you to know that we called him 'the anomaly' up here because he was such an amazing specimen.''

He added that his father continued to suit up for hockey with children in the neighbourhood, getting very upset when they didn't take him seriously.

"He really had his nose out of joint last year when they were divvying up who would play on which end, and somebody said, 'here, you take gramps,''' he laughed.

"He came home, he was quite indignant. 'I was last pick, never happened before.' ''

Matheson's last flight was Monday, when he headed out in his Beechcraft Bonanza to fly over the Badlands for a few hours before returning to Edmonton.

But when he didn't come home, search and rescue teams were dispatched. His downed plane was spotted Tuesday and his body was found among the wreckage on Wednesday.

A report on the cause of the crash could take up to a year.

Matheson's family is still coming to terms with his death, but are trying to keep his lessons in mind.

He travelled around the globe, visiting both poles and flying everywhere he could, said his son. After being forced to retire as a judge, he continued to work on a consultant basis, and was constantly lecturing or learning, or helping local school children with their history projects.

"We're sad, sad, but we look back and say, 'wow.' That's an amazing and full life,'' his son said.

"That's what the rest of us are striving to emulate, because it's a great way to live.''