11/07/2025
On the night of the 24 March 1944 one of the most audacious POW escapes ever was carried out from Stalag Luft III (Poland), the story of which was forever immortalised in the 1963 film "The Great Escape", starring Steve McQueen.
Although the motorcycle jump never actually happened the real story was just as dramatic.
Tunneling from the camp 76 men managed to escape but during the following two week man- hunt by the Germans all but three had been recaptured. Of the 73 recaptured 23 of them were sent to other various German prison camps. The other 50 were not so lucky. An enraged Hi**er personally ordered their ex*****on, a direct violation of the Geneva Convention. Whilst the movie depicts the men being killed in a single massacre, the Gestapo actually carried out the Fuhrer’s orders by killing the men singly or in pairs along quiet country lanes and in secluded locations.
Two Norwegians and a Dutchman managed to evade capture. The Norwegian pair made it by train to the port at Stettin. There they were smuggled onto a Swedish ship and taken back to the safety of Gothenburg. The Dutchman made it across most of occupied Europe via rail, foot and bike, aided along the way by various resistance movements. He’d eventually end up in Gibraltar and was flown from there to England, where he would rejoin the RAF and go on to fight during Operation Overlord.
