Baka updates the great escape

The camp commanders were aware that something major was going on, but all attempts to discover tunnels failed. Of those, only six were actually involved with tunnel construction.

As time passed, the disposal of sand on the surface was discontinued as the Germans became too efficient at catching prisoners using this method. A camp extension was built that, unbeknownst to the Germans, covered the planned exit for Dick and this led to the decision to start filling the tunnel up. Perhaps one of the most surprising aspects of the whole enterprise is the number of friendly guards who co-operated in supplying railway timetables, maps and the large number of official papers that were used to create forgeries.

Genuine civilian clothes were also obtained by bribing German staff with cigarettes, coffee or chocolate. These clothes were to be used by escaping prisoners to travel away from the prison camp more easily.

The PoWs eventually ran out of places to hide the sand and the arrival of the winter snow made it impossible to scatter it over the ground. Underneath the seats in the theatre was a huge enclosed area — seat 13 was hinged and the ongoing sand problem solved. As the war progressed, the German prison camps began to be overwhelmed with American prisoners.

The Germans decided that new camps would be built specifically for the US airmen. In an effort to allow as many people to escape as possible, including the Americans, efforts on the remaining two tunnels increased. This increased activity drew the attention of the Germans, and the discovery of the entrance to Tom made it the 98th tunnel to be found in the camp. Work on Harry ceased and did not resume until January Harry, the last remaining tunnel, was finally ready in March The escape attempt had originally been planned for the summer as good weather was a large factor of success.

In early , though, the Gestapo visited Stalag Luft III and demanded increased efforts in detecting possible escape attempts. Of the or so PoWs who had worked on the tunnels, only could be included in the plan. The Allied PoWs were separated into two groups. The second group of , thought to have very little chance of success, had to draw lots to determine inclusion. The escapees had to wait about a week for a moonless night so that they could leave under the cover of complete darkness.

Finally, on Friday 24 March , the escape attempt began and as night fell, those allocated a place in the tunnel moved to Hut A setback was encountered immediately as the exit trap door of Harry was found to be frozen solid. Getting the door to open delayed the start of the escape for an hour and a half.

An even bigger problem presented itself when it was discovered that the tunnel had come up short. It had been planned that the tunnel would reach into a nearby forest but at As the temperature was below freezing and snow was heavy on the ground, any escapee would leave a dark trail while crawling to cover. The need to avoid sentries meant that instead of the planned one man every minute, the attempt was reduced to around ten per hour.

With all of these problems, it was decided that no potential escapee with a number higher than could make their attempt before daylight.

As these PoWs would be shot if caught trying to return to their own huts, the men changed into their own uniforms and got some sleep.

Housing and recreational facilities were considered to be better than those at many other German prisoner of war camps. The camp housed mainly British and American airmen whose planes had crashed on Axis territory. Many of the prisoners at Sagan were re-captured escapees. The Germans believed that security at the new camp was so tight that it would be impossible for anyone to escape.

It was realised early on that for any escape attempt to succeed it had to be well planned and organised. The Prisoners at Sagan therefore established an escape committee. Chief escape officer was Squadron Leader Roger Bushell, a former escapee who had been recaptured several times. The committee decided to build three tunnels and the plan was to effect the escape of at least prisoners.

There were two main problems to be considered — How to get rid of the dirt that was dug away and how to prevent the tunnels from collapsing. In order to prevent the tunnels from collapsing they had to be shored up with wood.

The prisoners used bed boards for this task and as the tunnels grew longer and more wood was needed many prisoners found themselves sleeping uncomfortably on beds with little support. Some even converted their beds to hammocks. The picture right shows how the bed boards were used.

Getting rid of the dirt from the tunnels was problematic because the earth removed was a different colour to the earth around the camp. Island Project Manyouyou. QQ Bilibili KuaiKan. On 0 reading lists On 0 wish lists On 0 completed lists On 0 unfinished lists On 4 custom lists. Note: You must be logged in to update information on this page. Forum Posts Click to view the forum. No topics currently in the forum, view the forum or add a new topic now. User Comments [ Order by usefulness ].

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