Eighty years ago today, 76 airmen broke free from secure Second World War prison Stalag Luft 3 in events that came to be known as ‘The Great Escape.’
Of the 76 airmen, who managed to escape, 50 were murdered on Hitler’s orders, including 20 Britons.
Captives from Britain, Commonwealth, and allied nations spent months digging three tunnels, named ‘Tom’, ‘Dick’, and ‘Harry’ beneath the heavily guarded POW camp in what was then Germany.
Using ration tins to make spades and bed boards to reinforce the tunnel, the airmen’s plan was discovered before all 200 intended prisoners escaped.
RAF Officers at Stalag Luft 3
Eden Camp
Bob Ankerson is President of the RAF’s POW Association. He said: “The men of Stalag Luft 3 remembered The Great Escape, as a demonstration of their determination to continue to fight even though they weren’t in a position to engage directly with the enemy.”
Sqn Ldr Bob Ankerson became a POW during the First Gulf War after ejecting from his Tornado fighter jet over Basra in January 1991 while flying with the RAF.
He later met men from The Great Escape who were also part of the RAF’s EX POW Association.
“Those men endured deprivation, they endured punishment, for those who escaped multiple times, they would be in solitary confinement for a significant length of time. But it didn’t dull their determination to continue their fight in whatever way they can.”
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Canadian Gordon Kidder and Briton Thomas Kirby Green were two of the men killed
IBCC
Bob also shares stories of the men killed while volunteering as a tour guide at the international Bomber Command Centre in Lincoln. 28 of the airmen killed served with Bomber Command, including Canadian Gordon Kidder, 29, and Briton Thomas Kirby Green, 26.
“Gordon, a Canadian navigator was teamed up with Thomas, a British pilot for the escape”, said Bob.
“They were recaptured in the southern part of Czechoslovakia, then they were murdered together. Now they are remembered together on the memorial walls of the centre.”
The escape was made famous by the popular 1963 film starring Steve McQueen and Richard Attenborough. The heavily fictionalised events depicted are sometimes criticised, despite being celebrated as one of the greatest pieces of cinema in history.
Today at the site of Stalag Luft 3 in Zagan, Poland, a service is being held to mark the anniversary and honour the 50 prisoners killed
POW Camp Museum
Today at the site of Stalag Luft 3 in Zagan, Poland, a service is being held to mark the anniversary and honour the 50 prisoners killed.
Marek Lazarz is Director of the POW Camps Museum Zagan in Poland. He said: “The Great Escape is one of the most spectacular events during the Second World War, at the same time it is also one of the most tragic because 50 men were executed.”
“As a museum, as historians, it is our duty to remember every anniversary of the escape.”
All the men who took part in the escape have now died, but their families and countries remember their role and sacrifice eighty years on.