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Stalag Luft III ('''Sta'''mm'''lag'''er '''Luft''', or Permanent Camp for Airmen #3) was a ''. The second was in March 1944 and was later immortalized by the movie '' The Great Escape ''. The prison camp had a number of design features that made escape extremely difficult. The digging of Escape Tunnel s, in particular, was discouraged by several factors. First, the Barracks housing the prisoners were raised several inches off the ground to make it easier for guards to detect any Tunnel ling activity. Second, the camp itself had been constructed on land that had a very Sand y Subsoil . The sand was bright yellow, so it could easily be detected if anyone dumped it on the surface (which consisted of grey dust), or even just had some of it on their clothing. In addition, the loose, unconsolidated sand meant that the structural integrity of a tunnel would be very poor. A third defence against tunnelling was the placement of Seismograph Microphone s around the perimeter of the camp, which were expected to detect any sounds of digging just below the surface. Up until 1943, there had been as many as 30 tunnel attempts, but all failed. THE TUNNELS In January 1943, a plot for a major escape from the camp began brewing. The plan was to dig three deep tunnels, codenamed "Tom," "Dick," and "Harry." Each of the tunnel entrances was carefully selected to ensure they were undetectable by the camp guards. The tunnel "Tom" began in a darkened corner of a hall in one of the buildings. "Dick's" entrance was carefully hidden in a Drain Sump in one of the washrooms. The entrance to "Harry" was hidden under a Stove . In order to keep the tunnels from being detected by the perimeter microphones, they were very deep – about 9 metres (30 feet) below the surface. The tunnels were very small, only two feet square (about 61×61 cm), though larger chambers were dug to house the air pump, a workshop, and staging posts along each tunnel. The sandy walls of the tunnels were shored up with pieces of Wood scavenged from all over the camp. One main source of wood was the prisoners' beds. At the beginning, each had about twenty boards supporting the Mattress . By the time of the escape, only about eight were left on each bed . A number of other pieces of wooden furniture were also scavenged. A variety of other materials was also scavenged. Perhaps the most-used item was the Klim can, a Tin Can that originally held Powdered Milk ("Klim" is "milk" spelled backwards), supplied by the Red Cross for the prisoners. The metal in the cans could be fashioned into a variety of different tools and other useful items such as 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 readily available from old and worn clothing. But the main use of the Klim tins was in the construction of the extensive ventilation ducting in all three tunnels. As the tunnels grew longer, a number of technical innovations made the job easier and safer. One important issue was ensuring that the person digging had enough Oxygen to breathe and keep his lamps lit. A Pump was built to push fresh air along the ducting into the tunnels. The pumps were built of a number of odd items including major bed pieces, Hockey Stick s, and Knapsack s — not to mention the ubiquitous Klim tins. Later, Electric Light ing was installed and hooked into the camp's electrical grid. The tunnellers also installed small Rail car systems for moving sand more quickly, much like the systems used in old Mining operations. The rails apparently helped to move 130 tons of material during just five months of 1943, and also reduced the time taken for tunnellers to reach the digging faces. With three tunnels, the prisoners were running out of places to dump sand. The usual method of disposing of sand was to discreetly scatter it on the surface. Small pouches made of old socks were attached inside the prisoners' trousers. As the prisoners walked around, the sand would scatter. Sometimes, the prisoners would dump sand into small Garden s that they were allowed to tend. As one prisoner turned the soil, another would release sand while the two appeared to carry on a normal conversation. Eventually, however, the prisoners felt they could no longer dump sand on the surface, as the 'goons' (German security staff) became too efficient in catching prisoners using this method. The decision was made to start filling up "Dick". Since the extremely well-hidden entrance made it nearly impossible for the Germans to find it, "Dick" was also used as a storage room for a variety of Forged items such as Map s, Stamp s, and official-looking documents – such as travel permits – Compass es, and also clothing – such as German uniforms and civilian suits, mostly made from Allied uniforms. It is worth noting, however, that some genuine civilian clothes were among material obtained by bribing German staff. These materials would eventually be used by escaping prisoners to more easily travel away from the prison camp – by Train , if possible. As the war heated up, the German prison camps began to be flooded with American prisoners. The Germans decided that new camps would be built specifically for the U.S. Airmen . In an effort to allow as many people to escape as possible, including the Americans, efforts on the remaining two tunnels increased. However, the higher level of activity drew the attention of guards, and the entrance to "Tom" was soon discovered. "Harry" was finally ready in March of 1944, but by that time the American prisoners, some of whom had worked extremely hard in all the effort to dig the tunnels, were moved to another compound. The prisoners had to wait about a week for a Moon less night so that they could leave under the cover of complete darkness. Finally, on Friday, March 24 , the escape attempt began. Unfortunately for the prisoners, the tunnel had come up short. It had been planned that the tunnel would reach into a nearby forest, but the first man out emerged just short of the tree line. Despite this, 76 men crawled through the tunnel to initial freedom, even through an Air Raid during which the camp's (and the tunnel's) electric lights were shut off. Finally, at 5 AM on March 25 , the 77th man was seen emerging from the tunnel by one of the guards. AFTER THE ESCAPE Following the escape, the Germans took an inventory of the camp and found out just how extensive the operation had been. 4,000 bed boards had gone missing, not to mention the complete disappearance of 90 beds, 52 tables, and 34 chairs. 1,700 blankets had been used, along with more than 1,400 Klim tins. Out of 76 escapees, 73 were captured. Hitler initially wanted to have them all shot, but Himmler persuaded him not to do this, and only fifty were shot as an example. The remaining 23 were held in the custody of the Gestapo before being sent off to other camps. Seventeen were returned to ''Stalag Luft III'', four were sent to Sachsenhausen , and two to Colditz Castle . Of 76 men, only three were able to evade capture, Norwegians Per Bergsland and Jens Mûller , and the Dutchman Bram Van Der Stok . Mûller and Bergsland made it to neutral Sweden while van der Stok travelled the European countryside before finding safety in the British consulate in Spain . At Stalag Luft III the gestapo carried out an investigation into the escape. While the investigation uncovered no significant new information regarding the escape the camp commandant, Von Lineinder , was removed for court-marshal for involvement in a black market organisation bringing fine food and wines from Denmark. The new commandant, Oberst Braune , of Stalag Luft III was appalled by the fact that so many escapees had been killed (which was flatly prohibited under the Geneva Convention ), and he allowed the prisoners who remained at the camp to build a memorial, to which he also contributed. It still stands today. The other 23 men who had been captured were sent to several different camps in Germany, and most remained imprisoned through to the end of the war. Several of the Gestapo officers responsible for the executions of the escapees were themselves tried and executed, or imprisoned, by the Allies after the war. It is worth noting that Artur Nebe who was charged with selecting the list of airmen to be shot was himself executed by hanging with piano wire, for his involvement in the Plot To Kill Hitler . Actually, as , when the escapees were all recaptured. A mass escape simply provoked the Germans into putting substantial resources into searching the area; if instead, a group of around 10 prisoners had escaped, all with convincing false papers, experience suggested that maybe half would have made a "home run". SEE ALSO
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