“The Great Escape” airs this afternoon on France 3, the opportunity to discover the incredible true story that inspired the film!
The 1963 film “The Great Escape” shaped the history of cinema and introduced the whole world to the young 33-year-old actor Steve McQueen. The latter steals the show from Charles Bronson, Donald Pleasence or James Coburn and contributes to making this film a great classic.
This incredible escape, which seems completely surreal and Hollywood-like, is nevertheless based on a true story! The film takes place in 1943, during World War II. British, Canadian, Australian, Polish and American airmen find themselves in a Luftwaffe prison camp, Stalag Luft III.
The soldiers took advantage of their relatively comfortable living conditions to organize a collective escape through three tunnels planned for 250 people. 76 of them were able to flee before the alarm was raised. But most of the refugees were recaptured and executed by the Germans.
Reality surpasses fiction
The Stalag Luft III camp was located in Sagan in Poland, in the province of Lower Silesia, about 150 km southeast of Berlin. On the night of March 24-25, 1944, 76 British and Canadian soldiers managed to show off right in front of the Nazis. However, this place was considered untouchable.
Due to the presence of many soldiers who had already tried to escape from other camps, it should be best guarded. These elite soldiers are ready to do anything to make life impossible for the Germans. You weren't the type to sit quietly in a camp waiting for the war to end.
Squadron Leader Roger Bushell, a Royal Air Force fighter pilot, takes the lead in this mass escape plan called the Committee. This highly secure camp was built on the direct orders of Hermann Göring.
For the Air Force Commander-in-Chief, it is a “camp from which there is no escape.” To ensure this, he appointed one of his close friends to head the Stalag, the implacable Colonel Friedrich Lindeiner, a veteran of the First World War.
The soldiers are aware that even if they manage to leave the camp, they will have great difficulty reaching a country that is not under German rule. Therefore, their primary goal is to mobilize as many enemies as possible so that they cannot commit war crimes elsewhere. In the feature film, it is the character of Roger Bartlett (Richard Attenborough) who is directly inspired by Bushell.
Harry Dick & Tom Tunnels
The soldiers decide to call the three tunnels “Tom”, “Dick” and “Harry”. Captain Wally Floody has already worked in the mining industry in Kirkland Lake, Ontario and can take care of developing plans for future tunnels. Unfortunately, the latter is moved to another camp before escaping. He survived and was commissioned an Officer of the Order of the British Empire for “his courage and devotion to duty.”
Dozens of men then set about building the three tunnels in complete discretion, without attracting the attention of the guards. The task was not easy, as in addition to power supply and a railway, the materials for building a ventilation system had to be found in the tunnels.
Other prisoners were responsible for removing the soil using small bags that they hid in their pants. They spread the rubble around the yard. A total of 600 men took part in this gigantic escape operation.
MGM
To produce the tools and materials necessary for this gigantic work, the prisoners used everything they had around them: bedboards, slatted frames, mattresses, chairs, tables, knives, spoons, shovels, forks, cans, milk and electrical cables. MacGyver himself couldn't have done it better.
They even managed to bribe a few German guards to get equipment. They exchanged with them food that they had received in humanitarian packages from the Red Cross. They were also very inventive in making civilian clothes so that they could blend in with the crowd after escaping, as well as false papers.
The construction of the Dick Tunnel ultimately had to be abandoned because the tunnel proved to be too dangerous and unstable. The second, named Tom, was discovered by guards in September 1943. The Allied soldiers then decided to concentrate on the Harry Tunnel, which would lead them directly to freedom. You were lucky tonight in March 1944! An air raid in the area forces the camp management to impose a complete closure. Therefore, the guards cannot trigger searchlights.
More than 200 prisoners are ready to escape Stalag III thanks to Harry. Normally the tunnel would lead into the forest, out of sight of the guards. Unfortunately, the brave pilots discovered that their job was 10 meters short. The 110 meter long tunnel does not allow them to be hidden from view. The soldiers must therefore wait until the guard's back is turned before going out and fleeing into the forest to hide.
THE LARGEST MASS ESCAPE IN HISTORY
Very early in the morning, a security guard noticed the escape and raised the alarm. 76 prisoners were able to provide information. Very quickly a horde of guards begins to chase them. They took back 73 people, most of whom were returned to the camp. To prevent further escape attempts, the Gestapo, under the command of Adolf Hitler, ordered the execution of 50 Allied soldiers with a bullet to the back of the head (in complete violation of the Geneva Conventions). Only three soldiers managed to reach England: Sergeant Peter Bergsland, Lieutenant Jens Müller and Flight Lieutenant Bram “Bob” Van der Stok.
MGM
After the execution of the 50 prisoners, a fourth tunnel called George was dug. The latter was never used as it served as a last hope for storing equipment and weapons. The camp was eventually evacuated before the Soviet army arrived. After the war, 18 guards of Stalag III were arrested and tried by military court.
13 are executed and 5 others are sentenced to life imprisonment. Several others responsible for the massacre of 50 soldiers are hunted down and liquidated. Former SS men managed to slip through the cracks, certainly by going into exile in South America. Sagan's escape from the Stalag III camp is still considered the most spectacular in history.