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December 2016
Hello, I'm CAPTAIN RAJU. I noticed that you recently removed some content from Lo! without adequately explaining why. In the future, it would be helpful to others if you described your changes to Wikipedia with an accurate edit summary. If this was a mistake, don't worry; the removed content has been restored. If you would like to experiment, please use the sandbox. If you think I made a mistake, or if you have any questions, you can leave me a message on my talk page. Thanks. CAPTAIN RAJU ( ✉ ) 19:53, 5 December 2016 (UTC) You have been blocked indefinitely from editing for abuse of editing privileges. If you think there are good reasons why you should be unblocked, you may request an unblock by first reading the guide to appealing blocks, then adding the following text to the bottom of your talk page:. Materialscientist (talk) 03:39, 6 December 2016 (UTC)

The "Great Escape"
Roger Bushell in his Royal Air Force uniform In March 1943, Royal Air Force Squadron Leader Roger Bushell conceived a plan for a mass escape, which occurred on the night of 24/25 March 1944.[12][38] He was being held in the North Compound with the other British and Commonwealth airmen. He was in command of the Escape Committee that managed all escape opportunities. Falling back on his legal background to represent his scheme, Bushell called a meeting of the Escape Committee to advocate for his plan. He said:

"Everyone here in this room is living on borrowed time. By rights we should all be dead! The only reason that God allowed us this extra ration of life is so we can make life hell for the Hun ... In North Compound we are concentrating our efforts on completing and escaping through one master tunnel. No private-enterprise tunnels allowed. Three bloody deep, bloody long tunnels will be dug – Tom, Dick, and Harry. One will succeed!"[39]

The senior British Officer at Stalag Luft III, Herbert Massey, authorised the escape attempt.[40] The simultaneous digging of three tunnels would become an advantage if any one of them was discovered, because the guards would scarcely imagine that another two were well underway. The most radical aspect of the plan was not the scale of the construction but the number of men intended to pass through the tunnels. Previous attempts had involved up to 20 men, but Bushell was proposing to get over 200 out, all wearing civilian clothes and some with forged papers and escape equipment. It was unprecedented in size and would require unparalleled organisation. As the mastermind of the Great Escape, Roger Bushell inherited the codename of "Big X".[39] The tunnel "Tom" began in a darkened corner next to a stove chimney in one of the buildings. "Dick"'s entrance was hidden in a drain sump in one of the washrooms. The entrance to "Harry" was hidden under a stove. More than 600 prisoners were involved in their construction.[12]

Tunnel construction[edit] The tunnels were very deep – about 9 m (30 ft) below the surface. They were very small, only 0.6 m (2 ft) square, though larger chambers were dug to house an air pump, a workshop, and staging posts along each tunnel. The sandy walls were shored up with pieces of wood scavenged from all over the camp, much from the prisoners' beds (of the twenty or so boards originally supporting each mattress, only about eight were left on each bed). Other wooden furniture was also scavenged.[41]

End of "Harry"

End of "Harry" tunnel showing how close the exit was to the camp fence

"Harry"

Entrance of "Harry" showing outline of building Other materials were also scavenged, such as Klim cans; tin cans that had originally held powdered milk supplied by the Red Cross for the prisoners. The metal in the cans could be fashioned into a various tools and items, for example 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 made from old worn clothing.[41] The main use of the Klim tins, however, was for the extensive ventilation ducting in all three tunnels.[42]

As the tunnels grew longer, a number of technical innovations made the job easier and safer. A pump was built to push fresh air along the ducting, invented by Squadron Leader Bob Nelson of 37 Squadron. The pumps were built of odd items including pieces from the beds, hockey sticks and knapsacks, as well as Klim tins.[41]

The usual method of disposing of sand from all the digging was to scatter it discreetly on the surface. Small pouches made of towels or long underpants were attached inside the prisoners' trousers; as they walked around, the sand could be scattered. Sometimes, they would dump sand into the small gardens they were allowed to tend. As one prisoner turned the soil, another would release sand while they both appeared to be in conversation.[41] The prisoners wore greatcoats to conceal the bulges from the sand, and were referred to as "penguins" because of their supposed resemblance. In sunny months, sand could be carried outside and scattered in blankets used for sun bathing; more than 200 were used to make an estimated 25,000 trips.[12] The Germans were aware that something was going on, but failed to discover any of the tunnels until much later.[citation needed] In an attempt to break up any escape attempt, nineteen of the top suspects were transferred without warning to Stalag VIIIC. Of those, only six had actually been involved with tunnel construction.

Eventually, the prisoners felt they could no longer dump sand above ground because the Germans became too efficient at catching them doing it. After "Dick's" planned exit point was covered by a new camp expansion, the decision was made to start filling it up. As the tunnel's entrance was very well-hidden, "Dick" was also used as a storage room for a items such as maps, postage stamps, forged travel permits, compasses and clothing.[43] Some guards cooperated by supplying railway timetables, maps, and many official papers so that they could be forged. Some genuine civilian clothes were obtained by bribing German staff with cigarettes, coffee or chocolate. These were used by escaping prisoners to travel away from the camp more easily, especially by train.[41]

The prisoners ran out of places to hide sand, and snow cover then made it impractical to scatter it undetected.[12] However, under the seats in the theatre there was a large empty space, but when it was built the prisoners had given their word not to misuse the materials; the parole system was regarded as inviolate. Internal "legal advice" was taken, and the SBOs decided that the completed building did not fall under the parole system. A seat in the back row was hinged and the sand dispersal problem thereby solved.[citation needed][44]

As the war progressed, German prison camps began to receive larger numbers of American prisoners.[9] The Germans decided that new camps would be built specifically for U.S. airmen. To allow as many people to escape as possible, including the Americans, efforts on the remaining two tunnels increased. However, this drew attention from guards and in September 1943 the entrance to "Tom" became the 98th tunnel to be discovered in the camp; guards in the woods had seen sand being removed from the hut where it was located. Work on "Harry" ceased and did not resume until January 1944.[12][41]

Tunnel "Harry" completed[edit] Tunnel Harry.jpg "Harry" was finally ready in March 1944. By then the Americans, some of whom had worked on "Tom", had been moved away; despite its portrayal in the Hollywood film, no American participated in the "Great Escape". Previously, the attempt had been planned for the summer for its good weather, but in early 1944 the Gestapo visited the camp and ordered increased effort to detect escapes. Rather than risk waiting and having their tunnel discovered, Bushell ordered the attempt be made as soon as it was ready.

In their plan, of the 600 who had worked on the tunnels only 200 would be able to escape. The prisoners were separated into two groups. The first group of 100, called "serial offenders," were guaranteed a place and included 30 who spoke German well or had a history of escapes, and an additional 70 considered to have put in the most work on the tunnels. The second group, considered to have much less chance of success, was chosen by drawing lots; called "hard-arsers", they would have to travel by night as they spoke little or no German and were only equipped with the most basic fake papers and equipment.[12]

The prisoners waited about a week for a moonless night, and on Friday 24 March the escape attempt began. As night fell, those allocated a place moved to Hut 104. Unfortunately for the prisoners, the exit trap door of Harry was frozen solid and freeing it delayed the escape for an hour and a half. Then it was discovered that the tunnel had come up short of the nearby forest; at 10.30 p.m. the first man out emerged just short of the tree line close to a guard tower. (According to Alan Burgess, in his book The Longest Tunnel, the tunnel reached the forest, as planned, but the first few trees were too sparse to provide adequate cover.) As the temperature was below freezing and there was snow on the ground, a dark trail would be created by crawling to cover. To avoid being seen by the sentries, the escapes were reduced to about ten per hour, rather than the one every minute that had been planned. Word was eventually sent back that no-one issued with a number above 100 would be able to get away before daylight. As they would be shot if caught trying to return to their own barracks, these men changed back into their own uniforms and got some sleep. An air raid then caused the camp's (and the tunnel's) electric lighting to be shut down, slowing the escape even more. At around 1 a.m., the tunnel collapsed and had to be repaired.

Despite these problems, 76 men crawled through to freedom, until at 4:55 a.m. on 25 March, the 77th man was spotted emerging by one of the guards. Those already in the trees began running, while a New Zealand Squadron Leader Leonard Henry Trent VC who had just reached the tree line stood up and surrendered. The guards had no idea where the tunnel entrance was, so they began searching the huts, giving men time to burn their fake papers. Hut 104 was one of the last to be searched, and despite using dogs the guards were unable to find the entrance. Finally, German guard Charlie Pilz crawled back through the tunnel but found himself trapped at the camp end; he began calling for help and the prisoners opened the entrance to let him out, finally revealing its location.

An early problem for the escapees was that most were unable to find the way into the railway station, until daylight revealed it was in a recess of the side wall to an underground pedestrian tunnel. Consequently, many of them missed their night time trains, and decided either to walk across country or wait on the platform in daylight. Another unanticipated problem was that this was the coldest March for thirty years, with snow up to five foot deep, so the escapees had no option but to leave the cover of woods and fields and stay on the roads.[12]

After the escape[edit] Nationalities of the 50 executed prisoners United Kingdom 20 British Canada 6 Canadian Poland 6 Polish Australia 5 Australian South Africa 3 South African New Zealand 2 New Zealanders Norway 2 Norwegian Argentina 1 Argentinian[45] Belgium 1 Belgian Czechoslovakia 1 Czechoslovak France 1 Frenchman Greece 1 Greek Lithuania 1 Lithuanian Following the escape, the Germans made an inventory of the camp and uncovered how extensive the operation had been. Four thousand bed boards had gone missing, as well as 90 complete double bunk beds, 635 mattresses, 192 bed covers, 161 pillow cases, 52 twenty-man tables, 10 single tables, 34 chairs, 76 benches, 1,212 bed bolsters, 1,370 beading battens, 1219 knives, 478 spoons, 582 forks, 69 lamps, 246 water cans, 30 shovels, 300 m (1,000 ft) of electric wire, 180 m (600 ft) of rope, and 3424 towels. 1,700 blankets had been used, along with more than 1,400 Klim cans.[41] Electric cable had been stolen after being left unattended by German workers; because they had not reported the theft, they were executed by the Gestapo.[46] Thereafter each bed was supplied with only nine bed boards, which were counted regularly by the guards.[citation needed]

Main article: Stalag Luft III murders Of 76 escapees, 73 were captured. Adolf Hitler initially wanted them to be shot as an example to other prisoners, along with Commandant von Lindeiner, the architect who designed the camp, the camp's security officer and all the guards on duty at the time. Hermann Göring, Field Marshal Keitel, Major-General Westhoff and Major-General von Graevenitz (head of the department in charge of war prisoners) all argued against the executions as a violation of the Geneva Conventions. Hitler eventually ordered SS head Himmler to execute more than half of the escapees. Himmler passed the selection on to General Arthur Nebe, and fifty were executed singly or in pairs.[12][47] Roger Bushell, the leader of the escape, was shot by Gestapo official Emil Schulz just outside Saarbrucken, Germany.[38] Bob Nelson is said to have been spared by the Gestapo because they may have believed he was related to his namesake Admiral Nelson. His friend Dick Churchill was probably spared because of his surname, shared with then British Prime Minister.[48] Seventeen were returned to Stalag Luft III, and four were sent to Sachsenhausen concentration camp, where they managed to tunnel out and escape three months later, although they were recaptured and returned there.[12][47] Two were sent to Oflag IV-C Colditz.

List of Allied airmen from the Great Escape[edit] Main article: List of Allied airmen from the Great Escape Successful escapees[edit] Per Bergsland, Norwegian pilot of No. 332 Squadron RAF Jens Müller, Norwegian pilot of No. 331 Squadron RAF Bram van der Stok, Dutch pilot of No. 41 Squadron RAF Bergsland and Müller made it to neutral Sweden by boat, while van der Stok travelled through France before finding safety at a British consulate in Spain.[41][47]

Investigations and repercussions[edit] See also: Stalag Luft III murders

Memorial to "The Fifty" down the road toward Żagań The Gestapo investigated the escape and, whilst this uncovered no significant new information, the camp Kommandant, von Lindeiner-Wildau, was removed and threatened with court martial. Having feigned mental illness to avoid imprisonment, he was later wounded by Soviet troops advancing toward Berlin, while acting as second in command of an infantry unit. He surrendered to British forces as the war ended, and was a prisoner of war for two years at the prisoner of war camp known as the "London Cage". He testified during the British SIB investigation concerning the Stalag Luft III murders. Originally one of Hermann Göring's personal staff, after being refused retirement, von Lindeiner had been posted as Sagan kommandant. He had followed the Geneva Accords concerning the treatment of POWs and had won the respect of the senior prisoners.[15] He was repatriated in 1947 and died in 1963 aged 82.

On April 6, 1944 the new camp Kommandant Oberstleutnant Erich Cordes informed the senior British officer that he had received official communication from the German High Command that 41 of the escapees had been shot while resisting arrest. Cordes was later replaced by Oberst Franz Braune. Braune was appalled that so many escapees had been killed, and allowed the prisoners who remained there to build a memorial, to which he also contributed; it still stands today. General Arthur Nebe, who is believed to have selected the airmen to be shot, was later executed for his involvement in the 20 July plot to kill Hitler.

The British government learned of the deaths from a routine visit to the camp by Swiss authorities as the Protecting power in May; the Foreign Secretary Anthony Eden announced the news to the House of Commons on 19 May 1944.[49][50] Shortly afterwards the Senior British Officer of the camp, Group Captain Herbert Massey, was repatriated due to ill health. Upon his return, he informed the Government about the murder of the recaptured escapees. Eden updated Parliament on 23 June, promising that, at the end of the war, those responsible would be brought to exemplary justice.[51] When the war ended, a manhunt was carried out by the Royal Air Force Police (RAFP) investigative branch.[52]

American Colonel Telford Taylor was the U.S. prosecutor in the High Command case at the Nuremberg Trials. The indictment called for the General Staff of the Army and the High Command of the German Armed Forces to be considered criminal organisations; the witnesses were several of the surviving German field marshals and their staff officers.[53] One of the crimes charged was of the murder of the fifty.[54] Colonel of the Luftwaffe Bernd von Brauchitsch, who served on the staff of Reich Marshal Hermann Göring, was interrogated by Captain Horace Hahn about the murders.[55] Several Gestapo officers responsible for the murders were executed or imprisoned.

Post-war[edit] Gordon King from Edmonton, Alberta, Canada[56] was the only prisoner still alive by September 2014 who had worked directly on the Great Escape, but was not one of the escapees. He had been number 141 to escape and operated the pump to send air into the tunnel. Speaking candidly of his low number and resulting inability to get out of the tunnel that night, he said he considered himself fortunate. King had been shot down over Germany in 1943 and spent the rest of the war as a prisoner. He participated in the Battle Scars TV series in his home town of Edmonton.[56]

Jack Harrison, who was one of the 200 men of the Great Escape, died on 4 June 2010, at the age of 97.[57][58] Les Broderick, who kept watch over the entry of the "Dick" tunnel, died on 8 April 2013 aged 91. He was in a group of three who had escaped out of the "Harry" tunnel but they were recaptured when a cottage they had hoped to rest in turned out to be full of soldiers.[59] Ken Rees, a digger, was in the tunnel when the escape was discovered. He later lived in North Wales and died at aged 93 on 30 August 2014. His book is called Lie in the Dark and Listen.[60][61]

Dick Churchill is the last of the 76 escapees still living as of March 2016; then an RAF Squadron Leader, he was among the 23 not executed by the Nazis.[62][63] Churchill, a Handley Page Hampden bomber pilot, was discovered after the escape hiding in a hay loft. In a 2014 interview at the age of 94, he said he was fairly certain that he had not been selected for execution because his captors thought he might be related to British Prime Minister Winston Churchill.[62]

Paul Royle, a Bristol Blenheim pilot, was interviewed in March 2014 as part of the 70th anniversary of the escape, living in Perth, Australia at the age of 100. He downplayed the significance of the escape and did not claim that he did anything extraordinary, saying: "While we all hoped for the future we were lucky to get the future. We eventually defeated the Germans and that was that." Royle died, aged 101, in August 2015.[63]