It's easy to imagine that
the escape attempts from Stalag Luft
Plucky Brits and wisecracking Americans
in a game of cat and mouse
In reality,
the prisoners were starving, demoralized
For some, the physical and emotional toll
There were breakdowns and suicides
at escape,
Escape is not only a matter of duty,
not only a chance to frustrate and hamper
It was the only thing that gave men hope.
You needed stamina and strength
on one elbow, scraping away at the sand
30 feet down, diggers worked in pairs.
Digger number
pushing the earth down
could scrape it towards him
Air was pumped in along
a tube made from tin cans,
It was filthy, exhausting work.
And when they came up,
On a good day,
Elsewhere in the camp,
a whole illicit industry
Forgers faked permits and passes,
tailor made civilian outfits
Carpenters
and made tools from whatever materials
Guards were bribed with chocolates
Once tamed, a guard could be effectively
the prisoners, providing information
Eventually, after over a year of digging,
broke ground outside the camp
from the tunnel entrance in huy 104.
On the moonless night of March 24th, 1944,
76 allied officers from 12 nations
through the filthy tunnel
But the success was short lived.
The mass escape enraged Hitler, and
Thousands of German troops
73 men were recaptured as they tried
On Hitler's personal instructions.
50 Allied airmen were shot
the Gestapo.
