Researching the names of all 76 escapers during the real Great Escape.
What does the term ‘great escape’ mean to you? For many, it conjures vivid images from the iconic 1963 prisoner-of-war film set during WWII. Namely, the King of Cool, Steve McQueen, jumping a barbed wire fence on his Triumph TR6 Trophy motorcycle. But is the Great Escape a true story? And what happened to those involved? We explore the events that inspired the film and some of the fascinating records behind the names in our vast world of collections.
Is the Great Escape a true story?
The 1963 film The Great Escape takes inspiration from an incredible real-life breakout from a German prisoner of war (POW) camp during WWII. The film has become a classic, but the actual events are a thing of legend, highlighting the ingenuity, determination and bravery of a group of Allied POWs held in captivity during WWII.
Where did the real Great Escape take place?
The scene of the real Great Escape was Stalag Luft III, a German prisoner of war camp run by the Luftwaffe (the German air force) located in Żagań, Poland, close to the eastern German border. Stalag Luft III comprised Allied air force personnel, and the Germans believed it was escape-proof.
FWR Fact: In October 1943, three POWs escaped Stalag Luft III through a tunnel concealed by a wooden vaulting horse. Internees would exercise in the same spot using the horse, creating a distraction, while prisoners dug below the surface, hidden from sight. Genius.
How did the real Great Escape start?
Work on the mass escape was underway in April 1943. The brainchild of Squadron Leader Roger Bushell, the ingenious plan saw three tunnels, named ‘Tom’, ‘Dick’, and ‘Harry’, dug from the prisoners’ huts, emerging outside of the camp’s perimeter. Over 600 Allied internees worked on the escape attempt from Stalag Luft III, a staggering effort and a testament to all involved.
The tunnel named Tom was eventually discovered and destroyed by the Germans, while Dick was later abandoned and used for storage and sand disposal. The escapees would have to rely on the final tunnel: Harry.
Camp life continues
As the tunnels to freedom were dug by the prisoners, life in Stalag Luft III continued as ‘normal’. A fascinating insight into life in Stalag Luft III can be found in the various editions of The Prisoner of War magazine. The magazine was produced by the Red Cross for relatives of interned personnel, and many editions of the magazine are searchable in our Historical Documents Library. In the ‘Fun and Games’ section of the August 1943 edition, one inmate of Stalag Luft III, who was working on orchestrations for a small orchestra, wrote: ‘It is a wizard to hear one’s own work played! The camp seems to be very busy with lectures and rehearsals.’ As we know, many in the camp were busy in an entirely different capacity, working on the Great Escape.
FWR Tip: Our Historical Documents Library, free to registrants, contains hundreds of original wartime newspapers, magazines, journals, periodicals, leaflets and more, which you can search by keyword or phrase. Read about life in Stalag Luft III according to an RAF Flying Officer in the February 1944 edition of The Prisoner of War Magazine.
Who was chosen for the Great Escape?
It would be impossible for the 600 or so men involved in the escape preparation to all escape Stalag Luft III in one attempt. In fact, organisers estimated that 200 men would emerge out of the tunnels to freedom. But who would be selected? A choice had to be made: German speakers, prisoners with escape experience and those deemed to have the best chance of reaching the UK, in addition to the biggest contributors to the tunnel, were given priority in the escape. The rest drew lots to see who would join the escape party.
What happened during the escape attempt?
On the night of 24/25 March 1944, the escape plan was put into action. Dressed in civilian clothing and armed with forged documents, 76 men were able to make their way out of the camp and beyond the woods before guards discovered an escape attempt was underway. Not all got that far. Some made their way into the tunnel but not past the woods: Flight Lieutenant (later Pilot Officer) Laurence Reavell-Carter was captured immediately when number 77 was discovered escaping. While the number of escapees did not reach the estimated 200, it was an incredible feat for the incarcerated men to pull off.
What happened to the Great Escapers?
73 of the 76 escaped airmen were eventually recaptured. As retribution, 50 were shot in cold blood by the Gestapo. Some of the perpetrators were later convicted of war crimes. You can read detailed RAF Special Investigations Branch reports relating to the investigation in our WWII, Allied Prisoners of War, 1939-1945 collection.
The 23 reincarcerated Great Escapers
23 of the recaptured escapees avoided execution by the Gestapo. The majority of the POWs returned to Stalag Luft III, while a small number were sent to other camps. Their names appear in a typed document within our WWII, Allied Prisoners of War, 1939-1945 collection. The three witnesses interviewed about the escape are marked with an ‘X’ within the document. A handwritten note next to their entries reads, ‘did not escape through Harry’. The names of the 23 recaptured airmen are:
FWR Tip: F/Lt. = Flight Lieutenant, Lt. = Lieutenant, W/C = Wing Commander, F/O = Flying Officer, P/O = Pilot Officer, S/Lr. = Squadron Leader.
The 50 executed Great Escapers
The 50 executed men absent from the returned list serve to emphasise the considerable sacrifice made by the escapees on the night of 24/25 March 1944. Their fate is a poignant reminder of the brutality of the regime they were fighting against. These men were*:
*We have addressed the name discrepancies in the original list.
What happened to the final three Great Escapers?
While nearly all the escapees were recaptured, three escaped airmen made their way to safety: two Norwegians, Per Bergsland and Jens Müller, and a Dutchman, Bram van der Stok. All three men appear on a top secret ‘RAF Escapers’ list within our WWII, Allied Prisoners of War, 1939-1945 collection. Bergsland and Müller managed to reach neutral Sweden together before making their way back to the UK. Van der Stok reached the UK via Gibraltar, having travelled first through the Netherlands, Belgium, France and Spain.
Non-escapers: making vital contributions
The names of the 76 airmen involved in the 1944 escape from Stalag Luft III have become legends in WWII history, and our collections contain many fascinating references and records relating to them. But what about the airmen who worked on the breakout but didn’t escape during the main event? We encountered tantalising mentions of their involvement in the escape attempt during our research:
Nicholas Henry Joseph Tindal-Carill-Worsley (used the surname Tindal) was a document forger for the Great Escape from Stalag Luft III. Although he didn’t escape during the breakout, he made a vital contribution to the planning.
Tunnelers were essential for the escape plan, and John Leslie Axford was an active tunneler during the Great Escape preparation and was even a member of the ‘tally ho!’ organisation. The latter would gather information, kit and trade goods with the Germans, and disperse sand from the tunnels, amongst other duties.
Cyril Norman Stanley Campbell was part of the Stalag Luft III escape committee and was in charge of carpentry, while Ley Kenyon was a document forger. The latter wrote a breathtaking account of the 1944 Great Escape, published in the February 1946 edition of The War Illustrated magazine and available in our Historical Documents Library.
Researching a WWII prisoner of war in your family?
Our Allied Prisoners of War, 1939-1945 collection comprises rolls and lists of prisoners of war held in Europe and Asia. Entries vary in scope and content: lists of prisoners held in Europe generally contain the person’s prisoner number, service number, name, rank, unit and camp code. The visually impressive index cards for prisoners held by the Japanese, however, contain significant military and genealogical information, helping you confidently identify your ancestor in the records. For a detailed look at the collection and how to research WWII prisoners of war, check out our blog: Researching a WWII prisoner of war: how our Allied Prisoners of War, 1939-1945 collection can help you.
View all our POW collections by searching for ‘POW’ or ‘prisoner’ on our Browse page.
Cover Photo: © The National Archives
Sources
49 Squadron Association, Personnel Index – Detail: Reavell Carter, L, accessed March 2024.
392nd Bomb Group, Stalag Luft 3 – The Great Escape, accessed March 2024.
Ken Fenton’s War, Stalag Luft III, accessed March 2024.
Muzeum Obozów Jenieckich, Stalag Luft 3, accessed March 2024.
Royal Air Forces Association, ‘The ‘Other’ Great Escape, accessed March 2024.
Royal Air Force Benevolent Fund, About the Great Escape, accessed March 2024.