Stalag Luft III

Stalag Luft III (Stammlager Luft, or Permanent Camp for Airmen #3) was a German Air Force prisoner-of-war camp during World War II that housed captured air force personnel. It was near Sagan, now Żagań in Poland, 100 miles (160 km) southeast of Berlin. The site was selected because it would be difficult to escape by tunnelling, but it is best known for two famous prisoner escapes that took place there by tunnelling (see "The Great Escape" & "The Wooden Horse").

The Camp

The first prisoners, or kriegies, as they called themselves, to be housed at Stalag Luft III were British RAF and Fleet Air Arm officers, arriving in April 1942. The first compound of the camp was completed and opened in May. USAAF prisoners began arriving in significant numbers in October, 1943, followed by completion of a second and third compound by March 1944, when U.S. officers were separated from their RAF counterparts and housed separately. Eventually the camp grew to approximately 60 acres in size and housed 10,000 allied airmen.Fact|date=April 2007

The prison camp had a number of design features that made escape extremely difficult. The digging of escape tunnels, in particular, was discouraged by several factors. First, the microphones around the perimeter of the camp, which were expected to detect any sounds of digging just below the surface.

The first successful escape occurred in October 1943 in the East compound, before the North compound (where the Great Escape occurred) had been constructed. Conjuring up a modern Trojan Horse, the kriegies constructed a gymnastic vaulting horse largely from plywood from Red Cross parcels. The horse was designed to conceal men, tools, and containers of dirt. Each day the horse was carried out to the same spot near the perimeter fence, and while prisoners conducted gymnastic exercises above, from under the horse a tunnel was dug. At the end of each working day, a wooden board was placed back over the tunnel entrance and recovered with surface dirt. The gymnastics not only disguised the real purpose of the vaulting horse, but the activity kept the sound of the digging from being detected by the microphones. For three months three prisoners, Lieutenant Michael Codner, Flight Lieutenant Eric Williams, and Flight Lieutenant Oliver Philpot, in shifts of one or two diggers at a time, dug over convert|100|ft|m of tunnel using bowls for shovels and rods of metal to poke through the surface of the ground to create air holes. No shoring was used except near the entrance. On the evening of October 29, 1942, Codner, Williams, and Philpot made their escape. Williams and Codner were able to reach the port of Stettin where they stowed away on a Danish ship and eventually returned to Britain. Philpot, posing as a Norwegian margarine manufacturer, was able to board a train to Danzig (now Gdansk), and from there stowed away on a Swedish ship headed for Stockholm, and from there repatriated to Britain. Accounts of this escape, long overshadowed by "The Great Escape", were recorded in the book "The Goon in the Box" (later retitled the "The Wooden Horse") by Williams, the book "The Stolen Journey" by Philpot, and the 1950 film "The Wooden Horse".

Notable prisoners

The actor Peter Butterworth and the writer Talbot Rothwell were both inmates of Stalag Luft III. The two became friends and later worked together on the "Carry On films."

Another British actor Rupert Davies had many roles in productions at the theatre in Stalag Luft III. His most famous roles on film and TV may have been Inspector Maigret in the BBC series "Maigret" that aired over 52 episodes from 1960 to 1963 and George Smiley in the movie "The Spy Who Came in from the Cold."

Singer Cy Grant, born in Guyana (then British Guiana), served as a Flight Lieutenant in the RAF, and spent two years as a prisoner of war. After the war he qualified as a Barrister at Law, but went on to be a singer/actor/author. His was the first black face to be regularly seen on British Television, singing topical calypsos on television on the BBC "Tonight "programme. [ [http://www.afiwi.com/people2.asp?id=268&name=Cy+Grant&coun=0&cat=0&options=&keywords=&alpha_index=&offset=9Information about Cy Grant to meet citation request] ]

The writer Paul Brickhill was an inmate at Stalag Luft III. He has chronicled the life of Douglas Bader in "Reach for the Sky", the efforts of 617 "Dam Busters" Squadron, and "The Great Escape".

Professor Basil Chubb, author and political science lecturer spent 15 months here after being shot down over Germany. [http://www.tcd.ie/Political_Science/about/BasilChubb.pdf]

Justin O'Byrne, who spent more than three years as a POW, represented Tasmania in the Australian Senate for 34 years, and served as President of the Senate.cite web|url=http://parlinfoweb.aph.gov.au/piweb/TranslateWIPILink.aspx?Folder=HANSARDS&Criteria=DOC_DATE:1993-11-16%3BSEQ_NUM:110%3B|title=Condolences: Hon. Justin Hilary O'Byrne AO|author=Robert Ray|publisher=Hansard|date=1993-11-16|accessdate=2008-06-24]

The "Great Escape"

In January 1943, Roger Bushell led a plot for a major escape from the camp. The plan was to dig three deep tunnels, codenamed "Tom," "Dick," and "Harry." Each of the tunnel entrances was carefully selected to ensure they were undetectable by the camp guards. The tunnel "Tom" began in a darkened corner of a hall in one of the buildings. "Dick's" entrance was carefully hidden in a drain sump in one of the washrooms. The entrance to "Harry" was hidden under a stove. [ [http://www.kerman94.com/tunnelharry.html Interactive Map of the Tunnel "Harry" used for the Great Escape] .]

Tunnel construction

In order to keep the tunnels from being detected by the perimeter microphones, they were very deep — about 9 metres (30 ft) below the surface. The tunnels were very small, only two feet square (about 0.37 m²), though larger chambers were dug to house the air pump, a workshop, and staging posts along each tunnel. The sandy walls of the tunnels were shored up with pieces of wood scavenged from all over the camp. One main source of wood was the prisoners' beds. At the beginning, each had about twenty boards supporting the mattress. By the time of the escape, only about eight were left on each bed. A number of other pieces of wooden furniture were also scavenged.cite episode
title = Great Escape
episodelink =
series = Nova
serieslink = Nova (TV series)
airdate = 2004-11-16
season = 31
number = 582
transcripturl= http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/transcripts/3117_greatesc.html]

A variety of other materials was also scavenged. Perhaps the most-used item was the Klim can, a tin can that originally held powdered milk ("Klim" is "milk" spelled backwards), supplied by the Red Cross for the prisoners. The metal in the cans could be fashioned into a variety of different tools and other useful items such as scoops and candle holders. Candles were fashioned by skimming the fat off the top of soup served at the camp and putting it in tiny tin vessels. Wicks were readily available from old and worn clothing. But the main use of the Klim tins was in the construction of the extensive ventilation ducting in all three tunnels.

As the tunnels grew longer, a number of technical innovations made the job easier and safer. One important issue was ensuring that the person digging had enough oxygen to breathe and keep his lamps lit. A pump was built to push fresh air along the ducting into the tunnels - invented by Flight Lieutenant Thomas Nelson of 37 Squadron. The pumps were built of a number of odd items including major bed pieces, hockey sticks, and knapsacks — not to mention the ubiquitous Klim tins.

Later, electric lighting was installed and hooked into the camp's electrical grid. The tunnellers also installed small rail car systems for moving sand more quickly, much like the systems used in old mining operations. The rails were key to moving 130 tons of material in a five-month period; they also reduced the time taken for tunnellers to reach the digging faces.

With three tunnels, the prisoners were running out of places to dump sand. The usual method of disposing of sand was to discreetly scatter it on the surface. Small pouches made of old socks were attached inside the prisoners' trousers. As the prisoners walked around, the sand would scatter. Sometimes, the prisoners would dump sand into small gardens that they were allowed to tend. As one prisoner turned the soil, another would release sand while the two appeared to carry on a normal conversation.

Eventually the prisoners felt they could no longer dump sand on the surface, as the German security staff became too efficient in catching prisoners using this method. The decision was made to start filling up "Dick". Since that tunnel's entrance was extremely well-hidden, "Dick" was also used as a storage room for a variety of items such as maps, stamps, forged travel permits, compasses, and clothing such as German uniforms and civilian suits. Some genuine civilian clothes were among material obtained by bribing German staff. These materials would eventually be used by escaping prisoners to travel away from the prison camp more easily — by train, if possible.

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 U.S. airmen. In an effort to allow as many people to escape as possible, including the Americans, efforts on the remaining two tunnels increased. However, the higher level of activity drew the attention of guards, and the entrance to "Tom" was soon discovered.

Tunnel "Harry" completed

"Harry" was finally ready in March 1944, but by that time the American prisoners, some of whom had worked extremely hard in all the effort to dig the tunnels, were moved to another compound.

The prisoners had to wait about a week for a moonless night so that they could leave under the cover of complete darkness. Finally, on Friday, March 24, the escape attempt began. Unfortunately for the prisoners, the tunnel had come up short. It had been planned that the tunnel would reach into a nearby forest, but the first man out emerged just short of the tree line. Despite this, 78 men crawled through the tunnel to initial freedom, even through an air raid during which the camp's (and the tunnel's) electric lights were shut off. Finally, at 5 AM on March 25, the 79th man was seen emerging from the tunnel by one of the guards. Out of the 78 men only 5 evaded capture. Fifty men were killed and the rest were captured and sent back.

After the escape

Following the escape, the Germans took an inventory of the camp and found out just how extensive the operation had been. 4,000 bed boards had gone missing, not to mention the complete disappearance of 90 beds, 52 tables, 34 chairs, 10 single tables, 76 benches, 1219 knives, 478 spoons, 582 forks, 69 lamps, 246 water cans, 30 shovels, convert|1000|ft|m of electric wire, convert|600|ft|m of rope, and 3424 towels. 1,700 blankets had been used, along with more than 1,400 Klim tins.

Out of 76 escapees, 73 were captured. Adolf Hitler initially wanted to have them all shot as an example, but relented under pressure from Goering, and instead ordered that more than half of them should be shot. General Artur Nebe selected the 50 who were subsequently executed. It was a traumatic experience for him.cite book
last = Carroll
first = Tim
title = The Great Escapers
publisher = Mainstream Publishers
date = 2004
id = ISBN 1-84018-904-5 ]

The remaining 23 were held in the custody of the "Gestapo" before being sent off to other camps. Seventeen were returned to "Stalag Luft III", four were sent to Sachsenhausen concentration camp, where they managed to tunnel out, past the electric fences and doubled guards, and two to Oflag IV-C Colditz.

;DemographicsOf the 76 escapees, only three were able to evade capture:
* Norwegians Per Bergsland and Jens Müller, and
* Dutchman Bram van der Stok.

Müller and Bergsland made it to neutral Sweden first, by boat, while Van der Stok travelled through France before finding safety at a British consulate in Spain.

One of the Australians shot by the "Gestapo", Squadron Leader John Edwin Ashley Williams DFC, is sometimes described as a "New Zealander" or "British". There are two reasons for this confusion: Williams was born in New Zealand to Australian parents, who later returned to Australia, [ [http://www.defence.gov.au/news/raafnews/EDITIONS/4605/history/story01.htm David Edlington, "The great crime: Aussies among murder victims"] ("Air Force News", vol. 46, no. 5
April 8, 2004). Retrieved on February 6, 2008.] and; he joined the RAF, under a Short Service Commission, rather than the Royal Australian Air Force. [ [http://www.awm.gov.au/units/people_1077919.asp Australian War Memorial, 2008, "40652 Squadron Leader John Edwin Ashley Williams, DFC"] . Access date February 6, 2008.] Williams was a fighter ace and had been the Commanding Officer of No. 450 Squadron RAAF for three days, [AWM, "Ibid".] when he was captured in October 1942, during the North African Campaign.

Investigations and repercussions

At Stalag Luft III the Gestapo carried out an investigation into the escape. While the investigation uncovered no significant new information regarding the escape, the camp "Kommandant", Von Lindeiner, was removed for court-martial for involvement in a black market organisation bringing fine food and wines from Denmark.Fact|date=April 2007

The new "Kommandant", Oberst Braune, was appalled by the fact that so many escapees had been killed, and he allowed the prisoners who remained at the camp to build a memorial, to which he also contributed. It still stands today. The other 23 men who had been captured were sent to several different camps in Germany, and most remained imprisoned until the end of the war.

Shortly after learning of the deaths of the 50, the Senior British Officer of the camp, Group Captain Herbert Massey, was repatriated to England due to ill health. Upon his return, he informed the Government about the escape and the executions. In July 1944, the British Foreign Minister, Anthony Eden announced news of the deaths to the House of Commons, and declared that those responsible would be brought to justice. One of the crimes charged in the Nuremberg Trials was of the murder of the 50.Fact|date=April 2007

Several of the Gestapo officers responsible for the executions of the escapees were themselves tried and executed, or imprisoned, by the Allies after the war. A large manhunt was instigated by the Royal Air Force's investigative branch, the details of which are told in the book "Exemplary Justice". Artur Nebe, who was charged with selecting the list of airmen to be shot, was himself executed by hanging with piano wire, for his involvement in the July 20 plot to kill Hitler.

Questioning the strategy

In "The Latter Days At Colditz", Patrick Reid, who escaped from Oflag IV-C at Colditz, characterized the strategy of mass escapes as ill-judged, and not just because most of the prisoners were massacred. Reid noted that the "Great Escape" provoked the Germans into putting substantial resources into searching the area, resulting in few successes. It must be noted, however, that this was a primary goal of the escape planners, hoping that their efforts would cause substantial resources that could have been used on the fronts and for other war efforts to be channeled to and wasted on searching for kriegies and to monitor prisoner of war camps.Fact|date=July 2007

Other, slightly smaller, mass escapes by British POWs during the war met similar fates:
*the "Warburg wire job" in August 1942 from Oflag VI-B by 41 prisoners, where only three made it to freedom, and Reid doubted whether this limited success would have been possible a year later,
*an escape in June 1943 by tunnel from Oflag VII-B in Bavaria by 65 prisoners, who were all recaptured.

Other large escapes during World War II

The "Great Escape" was not the largest POW escape, and was just one of several mass breakouts during the war. For example:
* in April 1941, 28 German prisoners escaped from Angler POW camp in Canada through a convert|150|ft|m|sing=on tunnel. Canadian guards discovered the plot before all 80 hopefuls could get away.
* the escape from Oflag XVII-A Doellersheim, Germany of 131 French soldiers in September 1943. Only two succeeded in evading recapture.
* at Oflag VI-B Doessel, 20 September 1943, 47 Polish officers crawled out through a tunnel. Within four days, 20 of them had been captured and returned to the camp, from where they were transported to the Buchenwald concentration camp and executed. In the next few days 17 more were captured and taken to the Gestapo prison in Dortmund where they were executed. Only 10 managed to reach freedom.
* at Sobibór extermination camp in October 1943, about 300 prisoners escaped. Only about 50 escapees survived the war. They killed at least 11 "SS" and "Trawniki" guards in the lead-up to the break.
*in Flossenbürg concentration camp there was an uprising and mass escape in May 1944. Prisoners killed some Kapos, but "SS" guards crushed the revolt and killed about 200 prisoners. Another 40 prisoners involved in the revolt were also killed later.
* in the Cowra breakout of August 1944, 545 Japanese POWs in Australia attempted escape and/or suicide: 231 prisoners and four Australian soldiers died during the uprising. The surviving escapees were recaptured.
* in March 1945, 70 German POWs escaped from Island Farm near Bridgend, Wales. All were recaptured.
* at Jasenovac concentration camp, Croatia in April 1945, after "Ustaše" guards accelerated the killing of prisoners, 600 revolted; 520 prisoners were killed and 80 escaped.

References

* [http://www.b24.net/pow/greatescape.htm Details of the "Great Escape"] compiled by USAF 392nd Bomber Group Association.
* [http://www.wartimememories.co.uk/pow/stalagluft3.html Memories of Australian prisoner-Sgt. Alf Miners]
* "Stalag Luft III" by Arthur A Durand, Patrick Stephens Ltd 1989, ISBN 1-85260-248-1

ee also

*

General references

* William Ash, "Under the Wire", 2005 (ISBN 0-593-05408-3)
* Paul Brickhill, "The Great Escape". New York, Norton, 1950
* Alan Burgess, "The Longest Tunnel", New York, Pocket, 1991
* Albert P. Clark, "33 Months as a POW in Stalag Luft III", 2005 (ISBN 1-55591-536-1)
* B.A. "Jimmy" James, "Moonless Night", London, William Kimber, 1983
* George Millar, "Horned Pigeon"
* Ken Rees, "Lie in the Dark and Listen", Karen Arrandale
* Calton Younger, "No Flight from the Cage", 1956 (ISBN 0-352-30828-1)
* [http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/greatescape/ Great Escape] , from the "Nova" website. Accessed June 19, 2006.
* [http://www.historyinfilm.com/escape/real10.htm] History In Film website
* Foot & Langley, 'MI9', Book Club Associates 1979

External links

* [http://www.muzeum.eline2.serwery.pl/ Żagań Museum web site]
* [http://www.24hourmuseum.org.uk/nwh_gfx_en/ART29411.html Wooden horse escape kit presented to Imperial War Museum]
* [http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/greatescape/harry.html Interactive Map of the Tunnel "Harry" from website accompanying Nova documentary "Great Escape" first airing on PBS June 5, 2007]
* [http://www.B24.net B24.net]
* [http://www.stalagluftIII.net StalagLuftIII.net]
* [http://www.penguin.co.uk/nf/Book/BookDisplay/0,,9780141003887,00.html The Last Escape - John Nichol, Tony Rennell - 2002 Penguin UK]