- 6/18/2025
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00:00In the shadows of history's darkest conflict, a flame of courage burned bright behind the walls and barbed wire of prisoner of war camps.
00:12Awe-inspiring tales of valor and resilience, as captured soldiers, sailors, and airmen dared the impossible to win their freedom.
00:22They dug tunnels, stole planes, forced their way through deadly jungles, and marched huge distances pursued by death squads.
00:34Some of these stories have become the stuff of legend, but many remain shrouded in mystery, even today.
00:43These are the greatest escapes of World War II.
00:52In this episode, Koldert's Castle, a forbidding Nazi fortress that became the university of escapology.
01:06The Great Escape, and the doomed airmen of Stalag Luft III, and the most daring breakout of them all, the Warburg Wirejob.
01:22Koldert's Castle in eastern Germany, officially called Offlag 4C, a grim gothic fortress of stone and shadow.
01:36230 kilometers south of Berlin, it has a special place in World War II history.
01:43Formerly a sanatorium, in 1939 it's turned into a prisoner of war camp.
01:48A year later, it becomes a maximum security prison for Allied officers.
01:54Not just any officers, but men who've shown they'll do anything to break out of POW camps.
02:02The Nazis proudly boast Koldert's is escape-proof.
02:05That's a challenge the prisoners are happy to accept.
02:15Koldert's becomes a university of escapology,
02:18where most of the 800 prisoners from Britain, Poland, France and the Netherlands
02:25think of little else but how to get home and to rejoin the fight.
02:32Koldert's was the ultimate naughty boys' camp for Allied personnel,
02:39so it had automatically been chosen because it was perceived as being so escape-proof by the Germans.
02:46And they thought, why don't we put them in this imposing castle,
02:51make it as difficult as possible, in conditions that are really not pleasant,
02:55to wear down their morale and to crack their resolve.
02:58Koldert's is intimidating.
03:03It's a huge castle on top of a cliff, surrounded by forest and woodland, freezing in winter.
03:09This is a difficult environment for people to operate in.
03:13Very thick walls, very exposed, a lot of guards in this area.
03:18And so I think, in a lot of ways, it was escape-proof
03:21compared to some other camps in Europe at the time.
03:23If there's any way of making it out of the castle,
03:27the men imprisoned here are determined to find it.
03:32Despite being 650 kilometers from the nearest friendly territory,
03:37there were at least 300 escape attempts from Koldert's.
03:40And during peak escape season, when the weather isn't too harsh,
03:49there are attempts almost every day,
03:53by almost every method imaginable.
03:57The men cross-dress,
04:00conceal themselves in straw mattresses,
04:03tunnel into the German guard's toilet blocks,
04:06use decoys and disguises to get past their captors.
04:14At first, the escape attempts are mostly mounted by the French and Dutch,
04:19before the British prisoners decide to join in.
04:27More than 130 men managed to make it beyond the formidable walls.
04:31But only a small proportion managed to make it much further.
04:42These men were incredibly brave.
04:44Risking an escape attempt
04:46meant they were exposed to a very real risk of death.
04:50Trying to get from Germany or Austria back to the UK
04:53was a very, very long journey over some extremely harsh terrain.
04:57So the prospects of the men surviving,
05:01let alone escaping once they got out of the camps
05:03and out of Koldert's, were very small indeed.
05:07In Koldert's,
05:09the German guards have a grudging respect for the Allied officers
05:12and acknowledge their sworn duty to escape.
05:17While they're ordered to shoot escapees on sight,
05:20they rarely ever do.
05:22Only one prisoner is ever killed by the guards while trying to escape.
05:26Even though the conditions in Koldert's were not particularly pleasant,
05:30they were, of course,
05:31still aligning to the Geneva Convention in most cases.
05:34So the men had to be adequately cared for,
05:37they had to be fed,
05:38they needed to have outlets and creative pursuits
05:41in order to help while away their time in Koldert's.
05:45So you're sitting in Koldert's,
05:49you're trying to get through one day to another.
05:52Now you can have bookings.
05:54Oh, we're going to play basketball at nine o'clock.
05:57We're going to have a learn French at four o'clock.
06:02But it gets very dreary.
06:05The prisoners are fortunate with their chief jailer,
06:08Captain Reinhold Eggers,
06:09who has a good-natured disposition
06:11and is no die-hard Nazi.
06:15Instead of facing a firing squad,
06:20escapees are rounded up for a different kind of capture,
06:23being captured on camera for the castle's escape museum.
06:29Eggers collects photos and props,
06:32showcasing the prisoners' creative escape attempts and disguises
06:35to amuse important official visitors.
06:40So the chief guard at Koldert's was Reinhold Eggers.
06:44And we tend to get an impression
06:46that these guards ruled with an iron fist,
06:48that they were truly ferocious.
06:50But he was quite the opposite.
06:52He'd been a schoolteacher, he'd been in the UK,
06:55and so he had a sort of affinity with some of the prisoners.
06:59So far from being a harsh guard,
07:02he sort of took a bit of a joy, if you will,
07:05in these escapes, these attempts at escape.
07:10But as time goes on,
07:11and the escape attempts continue,
07:14the Nazis demand a far tougher regime.
07:17There are these harder repercussions brought in
07:20because every escape undermines the authority
07:22of the Nazi leadership,
07:24and it hands a propaganda victory to the Allies.
07:28Despite the crackdown,
07:30the prison population is now fully immersed
07:33in its own deadly contest.
07:36Who can plan and execute
07:38the most ingenious escape of all?
07:43Today, these tales of derring-do
07:45have achieved legendary status.
07:47The stuff of movies, books, and TV shows.
07:52But these relentless escape attempts
07:54aren't just about breaking free.
07:56The prisoners' dangerous game of one-upmanship
08:00is vital to keep their morale high
08:02and for many to help deal with grinding boredom
08:07and the mental trauma of war.
08:09The POW experience, it's a lousy one.
08:15It's associated with depression,
08:17it's associated with PTSD,
08:20demoralisation,
08:22and what you can call loss of will.
08:25And then there's all the dreams of what you've lost.
08:28You were a fighting soldier,
08:29and for many,
08:31hey, that was something.
08:32That gave you a sense of dignity,
08:34a sense of purpose.
08:36All gone.
08:37So once you start latching on
08:39to the idea of
08:42I'm going to escape,
08:44it's almost the idea
08:46that powers you
08:47rather than the actual event,
08:50because sadly,
08:51the actual event turns out
08:53all too often
08:54a complete failure.
08:55Of one POW,
09:07Chief Warden Reinhold Eggers wrote,
09:09For sheer mad yet calculated daring,
09:13the successful escape
09:15of the French cavalry lieutenant
09:16Pierre-Méresse-Lebrun
09:18will not, I think,
09:19ever be beaten.
09:20Pierre-Marie Jean-Baptiste-Méresse-Lebrun
09:25had a life and career
09:27as magnificent
09:28as his aristocratic name.
09:31An Olympic show jumper
09:32and polo champion,
09:34he seemed to live a charmed life
09:36until he was captured
09:37during the fall of France
09:38in June 1940.
09:40In no time at all,
09:42Lebrun establishes himself
09:43as the castle's most elegant
09:45and debonair officer.
09:46But his appearance is deceptive.
09:50He spends every hour
09:51plotting his escape.
09:53And on a relaxed summer's day
09:55in July 1941,
09:57he seized his opportunity.
10:00Now they'd gone out
10:01to the exercise yard
10:03and this was a really common place
10:04for escapes
10:05because in many cases,
10:06this was the only time
10:08you saw the light of the day.
10:10So as a result,
10:11this was the perfect moment
10:12to try and escape.
10:16And what Lebrun did
10:17was he took a running charge,
10:19he got one of his comrades
10:20to lift him up
10:21over the wire enclosure
10:22and apparently he leapt over
10:24with this cat-like elegance,
10:27landed and almost did
10:28like a pirouette,
10:29a cartwheel over
10:30and ultimately landed like a cat
10:34and ran off straight away.
10:36Dodging a hail of gunfire
10:38thanks to his athletic prowess,
10:42he disappears into nearby woods
10:44then walks more than 100 kilometers
10:49in the direction
10:50of neutral Switzerland.
10:57Stealing a bicycle,
10:59he pedals for five days
11:00until the tires disintegrate
11:02close to the border.
11:03Confronted by a German officer,
11:08he knocks him out
11:09and vanishes into the Swiss forests,
11:13eventually finding refuge
11:16on a local farm.
11:19Back in Kolditz,
11:21the guards find his meticulously
11:24packed belongings
11:25and a polite note
11:27asking for his suitcase
11:28to be sent to his home.
11:29The Germans,
11:32in a rare moment of chivalry,
11:34oblige his cheeky request.
11:37A fitting acknowledgement
11:39for his remarkable escape.
11:43But the guards also quickly
11:45increased the height of the fence
11:47to make sure no one else
11:49follows in the Frenchman's
11:50athletic footsteps.
11:52It was absolutely remarkable.
11:54He was able to go that far
11:55with such a simple way
11:57of getting out.
11:59For those French prisoners
12:02who couldn't go over these walls,
12:04there was always the prospect
12:05of trying to go under them.
12:07At the same time
12:08as Meirasse Le Brun
12:09was planning his acrobatic escape,
12:12his fellow officers
12:15were secretly digging
12:17Le Metro,
12:18a 140-meter-long escape tunnel.
12:22Beginning high up
12:23within the castle's clock tower,
12:25the tunnel wound down
12:27through solid rock
12:28and under the chapel
12:30through two floors
12:31of basement cellars
12:32emerging on the outer wall
12:35of Kolditz
12:36near the sheer cliff face
12:37over the river Mulder.
12:38Le Metro was an incredibly advanced tunnel,
12:43so it had its own ventilation system,
12:46it had its lights,
12:47it had all of these
12:48different provisions
12:49which were amazing
12:50considering the circumstances.
12:52And it benefited a lot
12:53from great engineering knowledge
12:55amongst the officers.
12:57Unfortunately,
12:58it was given away
12:59by one of the French personnel
13:00who had given away
13:02the secret to the German guards.
13:03and unfortunately
13:04it had to be destroyed.
13:06But it really showed
13:07the ingenuity
13:08but also the real intelligence
13:10and the persistence
13:11that these officers
13:13could wield.
13:13I think Kolditz
13:19continues to resonate
13:20with people
13:21even after all this time
13:22just because of the tales
13:23of daring.
13:24I think it fits in
13:25with what we want to believe
13:26about the war.
13:27These officers did want
13:28to get back to the front,
13:29they did want to continue
13:30the fight.
13:31These men were pillars
13:32of the community,
13:33they were leaders of men,
13:35they wanted to get back
13:36and continue
13:36the war effort.
13:37Airy Neve,
13:43later a leading
13:44British political figure
13:45and close confidant
13:46of Margaret Thatcher,
13:47proved himself a master
13:48of escape from Kolditz.
13:51While many breakout plans
13:52were courageous and daring,
13:54some were faintly ridiculous.
13:57Men dream up schemes
13:58to fly a glider
13:59or even catapult themselves
14:01to freedom.
14:03But Neve came up
14:04with the audacious idea
14:05of just walking out
14:07through the front gate
14:08under the noses
14:09of the German guards.
14:14Educated at Eton
14:15and Oxford University,
14:17Airy Neve joined
14:18the Royal Engineers
14:19in May 1938.
14:23Classic British Army
14:25officer stock,
14:26he's tall,
14:27quick-witted,
14:28well-bred.
14:32At the outbreak of war,
14:34Neve sent to France,
14:35but is captured
14:37in the fierce fighting
14:38around Calais in 1940
14:39and hauled off
14:41to a prison camp
14:42in German-occupied Poland.
14:46Eleven months later,
14:48after a failed escape,
14:50he's transferred
14:51to Kolditz.
14:53There was quite a rigid
14:54class system at Kolditz.
14:56The officers sort of
14:58transferred their
14:59previous lives with them,
15:01so much so that there
15:02were university clubs
15:04that their ranks
15:06were maintained
15:06within the prison.
15:10Not only was there
15:11a gap,
15:12a chasm between
15:13the officers
15:14and their orderlies
15:15of the other ranks,
15:16who they looked down
15:17upon and saw them
15:18mainly as their
15:20butlers almost,
15:21there was also
15:22racial divisions
15:23as well.
15:24and this was not
15:25only racial
15:26but also
15:27anti-Semitic.
15:29There was a facade.
15:32We're your officers,
15:33we are good guys,
15:35we have your interests
15:36at heart.
15:37But the men knew that
15:38they weren't really
15:40and that there was
15:41always a gap.
15:43There's us
15:44and there's them.
15:45But Niamh would have
15:47no trunk
15:48with racial divisions
15:49and announces
15:50early in his captivity
15:51that ostracized
15:53Jewish military prisoners
15:54are welcome to dine
15:55with the British officers.
15:59After just four months
16:00in the castle,
16:01Niamh makes his first
16:02attempt to escape
16:03with another officer.
16:06Airy Niamh
16:07made two attempts
16:08at escaping.
16:09The first one
16:10wasn't that great.
16:11It failed.
16:13He'd created himself
16:14a uniform
16:14but it was
16:16a theatrical uniform.
16:17The bits of
16:18random fabric,
16:19cardboard,
16:20bit of silver foil
16:21for the belt
16:22and although
16:23it might have
16:24looked alright
16:25to the naked eye,
16:26once the searchlights
16:27of the camp
16:28were on him,
16:29this uniform
16:30that he'd painted
16:30using theatrical
16:31scenery paint
16:32shone up bright green
16:34in the lights
16:35and it was quite clearly
16:36not the real thing.
16:38Four months later,
16:40in January 1942,
16:42they give it another go.
16:44This time,
16:45their plan's far more
16:46sophisticated
16:47and involves them
16:48using a theatrical
16:49production as a decoy
16:51from which to access
16:52the tunnel system
16:53under the castle.
16:55It really showed that
16:56even if you had tried
16:58to escape once,
16:59sometimes you had to
17:00refine your plan
17:01and try again.
17:02They put on fake
17:04German officer uniforms,
17:06this time meticulously made,
17:09almost identical
17:09to real ones.
17:12Past pounding,
17:13they run along
17:14the tunnels
17:15until they exit
17:17through a room
17:18used by the guards,
17:20slip over a wall
17:23and walk out
17:27of Kolditz.
17:32The thing that always
17:33makes me laugh,
17:35the idea that a prisoner
17:36could just throw on
17:36a uniform and stroll out
17:37without being challenged.
17:39But in the case of Niamh,
17:40it worked perfectly.
17:42The most brazen escape
17:44at Kolditz
17:44was complete.
17:45Two days later,
17:48the men are in Switzerland.
17:51And after a dangerous
17:52journey through France,
17:54Spain and Gibraltar,
17:56make it back to England.
18:01Niamh is the first
18:02British officer
18:03to make it all the way home
18:04from the so-called
18:05unescapable Kolditz.
18:09He's soon recruited
18:10by British intelligence,
18:12a secret department
18:13called MI9.
18:15that assists
18:16Allied airmen
18:17or soldiers
18:17trapped behind enemy lines
18:19or held as prisoners of war.
18:24Niamh spends the rest
18:25of the war
18:25helping men escape
18:26and make it home alive.
18:29Niamh was important
18:30having escaped
18:31from Kolditz
18:32and so his information
18:33about how the Germans
18:34operated,
18:35his information
18:35about their systems,
18:37the security,
18:38the ways they tried
18:40to keep prisoners
18:41in camps
18:42such as Kolditz
18:42was absolutely invaluable
18:44and his import
18:46was responsible
18:46for helping many
18:47other men
18:47to escape from camps
18:48as well.
18:51Airy Neve
18:51is not the only
18:52British officer
18:53to become as famous
18:54for his escape attempts
18:55as for his bravery
18:57in battle.
19:04Douglas Bader
19:05is an RAF pilot
19:06and officer.
19:07He loses both legs
19:10in a 1931 plane crash
19:12and is initially
19:15written off
19:16for active flying duty.
19:20But by 1940,
19:23the RAF
19:23is becoming desperate
19:24for experienced pilots
19:26and Bader
19:27and Bader is called
19:28into the front line
19:28with false legs
19:29and all.
19:31By the end of 1941,
19:33his kill rate means
19:34he's declared an ace
19:35and a hero
19:36of the Battle of Britain.
19:39He's promoted
19:39to wing commander
19:40and is flying
19:41more sorties
19:42than his able-bodied
19:43contemporaries.
19:47When he's shot down
19:49over France
19:49and taken prisoner,
19:51one of his prosthetic
19:52legs is damaged.
19:53Unlike many
19:56other POWs,
19:57the Germans
19:58treat Bader
19:58with immense respect
20:00and even allow
20:02the RAF
20:03to drop off
20:03a replacement leg
20:04for him.
20:07But they live
20:08to regret
20:08making him so mobile.
20:11Douglas Bader
20:12isn't just
20:12a highly skilled pilot.
20:14He's also
20:15a top-notch
20:16escape artist.
20:18The story
20:19of Douglas Bader
20:20is the stuff
20:20of legends.
20:22He was a double
20:22amputee spitfire ace.
20:24He was determined
20:25to be,
20:26in his own words,
20:27a bloody nuisance
20:28to the Germans.
20:29And as a result,
20:30he tried to escape.
20:33Still recovering
20:34from his injuries
20:35at the San Omer
20:36Hospital near Lille,
20:38Bader attempts
20:38to escape
20:39using tied sheets
20:42to climb out
20:42of an upper-story window.
20:46Unsurprisingly,
20:47given his condition,
20:48he's caught.
20:48And before he can
20:51cause any more
20:51trouble,
20:52is dispatched
20:53to Starlog Luft
20:543 POW camp
20:55in Poland.
20:57Undeterred,
20:58he immediately
20:59starts plotting
20:59escapes
21:00with other POWs.
21:03Transferred yet again,
21:05he becomes
21:06a leader of resistance,
21:07smuggling out
21:08letters about
21:09camp conditions
21:09and orchestrating
21:10mass breakouts.
21:14After he makes
21:15dozens of escape attempts,
21:16the exasperated Germans
21:19sent him to Kolditz.
21:22It really was
21:23an unpleasant atmosphere
21:24to be in.
21:25It was cold,
21:26it was drafty,
21:27the men were
21:28incredibly bored
21:29and they had moments
21:30where they were
21:31kind of having to deal
21:32with their traumas
21:33themselves because,
21:34of course,
21:35to be a prisoner of war,
21:36you've often been
21:37shot down or captured
21:38in truly horrific
21:39circumstances.
21:41So, yes,
21:41there is somewhat
21:42of a sense of camaraderie
21:44in that the men
21:45can speak with one another
21:46but they've also got,
21:48particularly in the case
21:49of British officers,
21:50this sense of a British
21:51stiff upper lip.
21:52And so,
21:53at the end of the day,
21:54even if you want to
21:55express your feelings
21:57and the hell
21:58you've gone through,
21:59well,
21:59everyone's gone through hell
22:01so it doesn't make you special.
22:02But here's what the history
22:06books don't say.
22:09Douglas Bader is supremely brave
22:10but he's also arrogant
22:14and selfish in the extreme.
22:17He's as much a bloody nuisance
22:19to his fellow prisoners
22:20and his long-suffering
22:21batman Alex Ross,
22:23who has to carry him
22:24up and down
22:25the stone staircases
22:26of Kolditz
22:26as he is to the Germans.
22:28It should be borne in mind,
22:30of course,
22:30that those that tended
22:31to succeed in war
22:32had to have certain qualities.
22:34They needed to have
22:35grit,
22:36determination,
22:37they needed to be assertive.
22:39But of course,
22:39sometimes
22:40this could border over
22:41into being rude,
22:42into being controlling,
22:44into thinking you know best.
22:46And Bader was one
22:47of those people.
22:48He could be incredibly rude
22:50and blunt to men
22:51he perceived
22:51as being inferior to him.
22:53He didn't want to join
22:55with other ranks.
22:56He wasn't interested.
22:57He was above that
22:58in his mind.
22:59So he was one of those men
23:01that was great
23:02but he wasn't necessarily
23:03great to be around.
23:17In the iconic Hollywood film
23:20The Great Escape,
23:22superstar Steve McQueen
23:23plays an American POW,
23:27taking part in a daring
23:29mass breakout
23:30masterminded by a British
23:31squadron leader,
23:32Roger Bushell.
23:35In the real-life
23:36Great Escape,
23:3776 airmen make it out
23:39of Starlog Luft 3
23:40in early 1944.
23:42The film of The Great Escape
23:47is phenomenally good.
23:49It's dramatic.
23:51It's exciting.
23:52But the real-life
23:54Great Escape
23:54was even more exciting
23:56than the film makes out.
23:59Starlog Luft 3
24:00is in Upper Silesia
24:02in German-occupied Poland.
24:05A site chosen
24:06because its sandy soil
24:07poses a serious challenge
24:08for any tunnelling
24:09escape attempts.
24:12To make it even harder,
24:15the camp's designers
24:16raised the barracks
24:17off the ground
24:17and installed
24:19sensitive microphones
24:20to catch sounds
24:21of any digging.
24:23The Germans are certain
24:25it's escape-proof.
24:28It houses around
24:2910,000 airmen,
24:30mainly British
24:31and American officers.
24:35Compared with other camps,
24:37the conditions
24:37are relatively relaxed.
24:40Rations are short,
24:41but prisoners
24:42can play basketball
24:43or volleyball
24:43to pass the time
24:44or work on
24:46new escape plans.
24:52Roger Bushell,
24:54who inspired
24:54Richard Attenborough's
24:55portrayal of Roger Bartlett
24:57in The Great Escape Movie,
24:59takes charge
24:59of organizing
25:00the escapees.
25:01alongside the charismatic
25:05bomber pilot
25:06Johnny Bull,
25:09Bushell conceives a plan
25:10for a mass breakout
25:11so bold and audacious
25:14it'll echo
25:15through the years,
25:17capturing the imagination
25:18of Hollywood screenwriters.
25:19Their plan is nothing short
25:26of extraordinary.
25:27200 men breaking out
25:29on a single night.
25:32Each one chosen
25:33for their language prowess,
25:35escape skills,
25:36and unwavering commitment
25:37to tunneling underground
25:39for months.
25:39The first tier
25:42were chosen
25:42because they were seen
25:44as having
25:44the greatest chance
25:45of escape.
25:46These were the men
25:47that were master forgers,
25:49men with excellent
25:50language skills,
25:51men who were already
25:52very much aware
25:53of using their
25:55engineering skills,
25:56and many other types
25:57of evasive maneuvers
25:58in order to escape
26:00Stalagluff 3.
26:01The second group
26:03were a little less specialized,
26:04but would still prove useful
26:06in the escape attempt.
26:07And the third ones really
26:09were a little bit more
26:10like chancers.
26:11But at the end of the day,
26:13everybody is chancing
26:14at this point,
26:15and it's a result
26:15that whether you are
26:17skilful or not,
26:18sometimes luck
26:19isn't on your side.
26:20So it's worth a go anyway.
26:26Three tunnels,
26:27called Tom, Dick, and Harry,
26:29each more than 90 meters long,
26:31are dug to the safety
26:32of the forest
26:33past the perimeter fence.
26:37The idea is that
26:38if one tunnel is discovered,
26:40two more stand ready
26:41as backups.
26:45The tunnels are hidden
26:46under drains or stoves
26:48and are deep enough
26:48so the buried German microphones
26:50can't hear anything.
26:54The prisoners use
26:55ingenious methods
26:56to conceal their work.
26:58from secret trap doors
27:01to layers of blankets
27:03muffling the sounds of digging.
27:05Famously,
27:06they smuggle out
27:07and scatter
27:08some of the 100 tons
27:09of sand they excavate
27:10in specially adapted
27:11trousers and coats.
27:15Lighting rigs
27:15allow work to continue
27:16around the clock,
27:18all the while
27:18protected by a team
27:19of watchers
27:20keeping a close eye
27:21on the movement
27:22of the guards.
27:22The dig takes
27:25almost 12 months
27:26during which time
27:28the tunnel
27:28nicknamed Tom
27:29is found and destroyed
27:30and Dick
27:33is abandoned.
27:36But on March 24,
27:381944,
27:39everything's ready
27:40for the great escape
27:41through Tunnel Harry.
27:44200 men
27:45nervously wait
27:46for lights out
27:46to begin their
27:47daring dash
27:48to freedom.
27:49The men
27:51that are trying
27:52to escape
27:52are going through
27:53immense psychological stress.
27:55So not only
27:56are they having
27:57to think about
27:57all of their backstories
27:59and keep them in mind
28:00for when they get out,
28:01but even just trying
28:03to get out
28:03is so dangerous.
28:05They're having to make sure
28:06that they're not going
28:06to be jostling each other
28:08and causing problems
28:09in the tunnel
28:10and increasing the chances
28:11of a collapse,
28:12but also they've got
28:13to make sure
28:13they're not spotted,
28:15that they're not shot at,
28:16and ultimately
28:16what their backup plans are
28:18should their original plans fail.
28:23At 10.30pm,
28:25Johnny Bull,
28:26with all the bravado
28:27of Steve McQueen,
28:29descends the nine-meter shaft
28:31to the tunnel
28:31directly below
28:32the Nazi guards
28:33that will take him out
28:36beyond the camp's
28:37outer fence.
28:39On the night
28:40of the great escape,
28:42things didn't go
28:44quite according to plan.
28:46For a start off,
28:47the tunnel was short.
28:50The idea had been
28:51that it would get
28:51into the trees,
28:52into the forest
28:53around the camp,
28:54but it didn't quite make it.
28:56So as the men
28:57made it through,
28:58they were actually
28:58coming out
28:59into open countryside
29:00where they could be
29:01easily spotted
29:02by searchlights.
29:03precious minutes are wasted
29:06as each prisoner
29:07now has to wait
29:08for an all-clear
29:09signaled by a rope tug
29:11before making the dash
29:14for the forest.
29:16To add to the tension,
29:18the tunnel begins to collapse.
29:19The soil is starting
29:21to sag.
29:22The weight of trying
29:23to keep those tunnels up
29:24with these makeshift equipment
29:26is really difficult.
29:28And of course,
29:28if it comes down,
29:29you could easily have
29:30many of the men
29:31trapped and buried alive.
29:33Midnight.
29:36An air raid siren sounds.
29:42Starlog Luftfree
29:43is suddenly plunged
29:44into total darkness,
29:46which means the lights
29:47in the tunnel
29:48also go out,
29:49so no one can move.
29:55After an hour,
29:56the lights come back on
29:57and the escape resumes.
29:59But Johnny Bull
30:02and Roger Bushell
30:03realise there's now
30:04not enough time
30:05for all 200 men
30:07to escape.
30:09Some would need
30:09to be sacrificed.
30:13I think for the officers
30:14in charge of the escape,
30:16it was a blow
30:16that they realised
30:17the plan was not unfolding
30:18as they wanted it to.
30:20But at the same time,
30:21these were military men
30:22and by the very nature
30:23of them being
30:24in a prison camp,
30:25they already were
30:25very experienced
30:26with combat,
30:27with leading men
30:27in difficult situations.
30:28So they were very
30:29experienced
30:30and I'm sure
30:31that they felt,
30:32well, this is the lot
30:32that we've received.
30:33We simply have
30:34to get on with it.
30:38By 5 a.m.,
30:40when the tunnel
30:40is discovered,
30:4176 prisoners
30:43have reached the trees
30:44and begin their attempt
30:45to reach a safe haven
30:46by any means possible.
30:50The Nazis swiftly
30:51mobilise to recapture them,
30:54scouring the surrounding
30:55farmland
30:56and setting up roadblocks.
30:57The Great Escape
31:00was a massive embarrassment
31:01for the Nazi leadership
31:03because at the end
31:04of the day,
31:05Stalaglof 3
31:05was designed
31:06to keep the most
31:07troublesome prisoners in.
31:09And so the fact
31:10they managed to get out
31:11caused absolute chaos
31:12because they weren't
31:13expecting it.
31:15They've already had
31:15quite a few escapes
31:17from Kolditz
31:18and the fact that
31:19Stalaglof 3
31:20is seen as being
31:20particularly escape-proof,
31:22it really blows that
31:23out of the water
31:24and it embarrasses
31:25them immensely.
31:27Within a fortnight,
31:29all but three
31:30of the airmen
31:30have been found,
31:32two from Norway
31:32and one from
31:33the Netherlands.
31:35Of the 76
31:36who got out,
31:37they're the only ones
31:38who make it to safety.
31:40The Germans
31:40were astonished
31:41not just by the number
31:43of men who escaped,
31:44but the intricate
31:45planning it took.
31:47An example
31:48will need to be set.
31:49The scale
31:51of the material
31:53required
31:54in the Great Escape
31:55is just mind-boggling.
31:57The number
31:58of planks
32:00that were stolen
32:01from beds
32:01in their thousands,
32:02it's a miracle
32:03that beds didn't collapse
32:04under the weight
32:04of the men
32:05still lying on them.
32:06The metal,
32:07the tin cans,
32:09the electrical wire,
32:10the lighting,
32:12every aspect of this
32:13was doomed to fail.
32:15There is no way
32:16that men in a prison camp
32:17would be able
32:18to gather these resources
32:19and bring them together
32:20in a way
32:21that they could construct
32:22these long
32:23and very impressive tunnels
32:24and yet it did work.
32:26Not only was the plan
32:28fairly ingenious
32:29and fairly brilliant,
32:30but the execution,
32:32the stealing of supplies,
32:34the building of the tunnels
32:35was absolutely remarkable.
32:38Adolf Hitler,
32:39under extreme pressure
32:40with the war
32:40turning against Germany,
32:42is furious.
32:44He personally orders
32:45the execution
32:46of every escapee.
32:49But his senior
32:50military commanders
32:51object.
32:52Worried about possible
32:53allied reprisals
32:54against German prisoners
32:56of war,
32:58Hitler turns to his loyal
32:59SS Reichfuhrer,
33:01Heinrich Himmler.
33:05Ever faithful
33:06to Hitler's wishes,
33:08Himmler organizes the killing
33:10of more than half
33:11of the escapees
33:12and so of the 76 men
33:16who escaped.
33:1750 are murdered
33:19by the Gestapo
33:20in cold blood.
33:22And I think
33:22what you see in there
33:23is Himmler
33:25is an example
33:26of a human being
33:28who had
33:28absolutely no feeling
33:31whatsoever
33:32for other human beings.
33:34And this is the thing
33:36about everything
33:37the Nazis did
33:38when things
33:40went against them.
33:41When anyone
33:42stood up to them,
33:43it's not just
33:44we will step in,
33:46we will punish
33:48to an extraordinary degree.
33:49Oflag 6B
34:02is an overcrowded
34:03Allied officers
34:04prisoner of war camp
34:05in northwest Germany,
34:07near a town
34:07called Warburg.
34:10It's another melting pot
34:11of ideas,
34:12plotting,
34:12and scheming.
34:15Escape here
34:16is on almost
34:16everyone's mind.
34:17And it's here
34:20that the plan
34:21for the famous
34:21Warburg wire job
34:22is conceived.
34:25The Warburg wire job
34:27is essentially
34:28what happens
34:29when you get
34:30a lot of officers
34:31together
34:32who are absolutely
34:33determined
34:33to escape
34:34from their prisoner
34:35of war camp
34:35and get back
34:36to the war effort.
34:37What made it stand out
34:39was the sheer ingenuity
34:41of the way
34:42they decided
34:42that they were
34:43going to escape.
34:46The camp
34:47is surrounded
34:47by two 4-meter
34:48barbed wire fences
34:49standing a couple
34:50of meters apart.
34:52For escapees,
34:54going under them
34:54is proving
34:55incredibly difficult.
34:58The tunnels
34:59either collapse
35:00or they are found
35:01by the Nazi guards
35:02well before they're finished.
35:06After witnessing
35:07several failed attempts
35:08to tunnel out,
35:10Major Tom Stallard,
35:11an Englishman,
35:13and Scottish Lieutenant
35:14Jock Hamilton Bailey
35:15devise a unique plan
35:18to go over
35:19the top of the fences.
35:23Called Operation Olympia,
35:25many historians believe
35:26it is World War II's
35:27most daring mass escape.
35:29This escape stands out
35:33for several reasons,
35:35but one of them
35:35is the sheer scale of it.
35:37This isn't going to be
35:38one man at a time
35:39crawling through a tunnel.
35:41It's going to be
35:41a mass run at the wire
35:43with essentially
35:44siege ladders
35:45and everybody getting out
35:47as quickly
35:47as they possibly could.
35:49So it's the sheer scale
35:50of it that makes
35:51it so interesting.
35:52Major Stallard
35:58is a natural leader.
36:01And when young
36:02Lieutenant Hamilton Bailey
36:03approaches him
36:04with what seems
36:04a wild idea
36:05in the summer of 1942,
36:08Stallard can immediately
36:09see its potential.
36:10It's an outlandish
36:12but ingenious plan.
36:15Folding ladders
36:16and a bridge
36:17big enough
36:17to get 40 men
36:18quickly over the fences.
36:20But they have
36:22problems to solve.
36:25First among them,
36:27construction work
36:28is going to be
36:28dangerously noisy.
36:31One of the things
36:32that always fascinates me
36:33about these escape stories
36:35is the most ridiculous ideas
36:37are the ones
36:38that seem to work
36:39the most effectively.
36:41Most officer-prisoner
36:42of war camps
36:43have a music room
36:44equipped with
36:45orchestral instruments.
36:46Some even have choirs.
36:48It's the perfect cover.
36:50Making something
36:53like a ladder
36:54is quite noisy.
36:56There's hammering,
36:57there's sawing
36:57and it needed
36:58to be covered up
36:59so the German guards
37:00didn't realise
37:01what was going on.
37:03So they would
37:04strike up
37:05a spontaneous
37:05band practice
37:07making a lot of noise
37:09or maybe have
37:10a choir practice.
37:11Now this wasn't
37:11necessarily
37:12a finely honed choir
37:13probably a little
37:14out of tune
37:14and rather loud
37:15but it did its job.
37:17It hid the sound
37:18of the banging
37:19and sawing.
37:20OK.
37:23OK, let's go.
37:25Get out of me!
37:27The escape happens
37:29on August 30th, 1942.
37:32Moments after
37:33power to the camp
37:34is sabotaged
37:35by the prisoners
37:36and all the lights
37:37go out.
37:40The escape
37:41takes the guards
37:42completely by surprise.
37:44It's dark
37:45and all of a sudden
37:46out of nowhere
37:47dozens of men
37:48are running
37:48towards a barbed wire
37:49carrying ladders
37:50setting them up
37:51and the duck boards
37:52over them
37:53to get them safely
37:54to the other side.
37:57Nobody has a clue
37:58what's going on.
37:59in just one minute
38:04despite heavy gunfire
38:07from confused
38:08Nazi guards
38:09who are shooting
38:09blindly into the darkness
38:1132 men
38:14managed to make
38:15it over the wire.
38:22Six escapees
38:24are quickly recaptured
38:25but by first light
38:29the Germans
38:31realize 26 men
38:32are still missing
38:33before long
38:3623 of them
38:37are caught.
38:43What's the matter?
38:48But three men
38:49spend four months
38:50on the run
38:50through Germany,
38:51Holland,
38:52Belgium
38:53and France
38:54before making it
38:55safely home to England
38:56where they are each
38:57awarded the military
38:58cross for bravery.
39:00It's seen as perhaps
39:01the most epic
39:02home run
39:02of World War II.
39:07Harry Neve
39:08who disguised himself
39:09as a German officer
39:10to stroll out
39:11through the main gate
39:11of Coles
39:12returns to England
39:14and is decorated
39:15with the military cross
39:16and serves
39:20on the International
39:21Military Tribunal
39:22at the Nuremberg Trials.
39:26The prisoners
39:27remain defiant
39:28throughout the trial
39:29seemingly confident
39:30that they will be free.
39:34Five years
39:35after the end
39:36of the war
39:36he enters politics
39:38and eventually
39:39becomes one of
39:40Prime Minister
39:41Margaret Thatcher's
39:41most trusted advisors
39:43before being assassinated
39:50by Irish terrorists
39:51in March 1979.
39:58Tom Stallard,
40:00leader of the famous
40:01Warburg wire job,
40:02leaves the army
40:03after the war
40:04and works in the wine trade
40:06for many years.
40:08He lives to be
40:09almost 80.
40:10Jock Hamilton Bailey
40:14who thought up
40:16the ladders
40:16and bridges
40:17that saw so many men
40:18go over the top
40:19at Warburg
40:19stays in the army
40:21until 1979.
40:25He then spends
40:26a decade
40:26lecturing in geology
40:27at the Royal Military
40:29College of Sciences.
40:34Johnny Bull
40:35and Roger Bushell
40:35heroes of the real life
40:38Great Escape
40:38are not so lucky.
40:42They're among the men
40:43executed by the Gestapo
40:45on Hitler's orders.
40:49After the war
40:50a military tribunal
40:52investigating the atrocity
40:53found 18 Nazis
40:56guilty of war crimes
40:5713 of whom
40:59were sentenced to death.
41:02And what of
41:03Douglas Bader
41:04double amputee
41:05fearless spitfire pilot
41:07and determined
41:09escape artist?
41:11The story of his life
41:12is an instant bestseller
41:14when it's published
41:14in 1954.
41:18And countless movies
41:20and TV shows
41:20are made about
41:21his bravery.
41:23He becomes
41:23a national hero.
41:24Do you think
41:26the days
41:27of the dogfight
41:28are really
41:29almost over?
41:30No, I don't.
41:31I think as long
41:31as you've got
41:31manned airplanes
41:32you'll have it.
41:33He continued
41:34to advocate
41:35for disabled soldiers
41:36until his death
41:37in 1982.
41:42Douglas Bader's story
41:43is so remarkable
41:45if it was fiction
41:46you wouldn't believe it
41:47that the story
41:48of a man
41:48who loses both legs
41:49in an aircraft accident
41:51then goes on
41:51to fly in the Battle
41:52of Britain
41:53and eventually
41:54parachutes out
41:55of a stricken aircraft
41:55and is captured
41:56by the Germans.
41:57I mean
41:57that's the stuff
41:59of myths and legends.
42:00It's incredible
42:01that there actually
42:02was a man
42:02that went through this
42:03and I think
42:05as a representation
42:06of what we all like
42:07to think about
42:08the Second World War
42:09the stoic British spirit
42:10never giving up
42:11in the face
42:12of impossible odds
42:13there's not many stories
42:14like Douglas Bader's.
42:15As a prisoner of war
42:19it is an allied officer's duty
42:21an obligation
42:22to try to escape
42:23and rejoin the fight.
42:25The men in the stories
42:26of escape from Warburg
42:28Kalditz
42:29and Stalag Luftfree
42:31fulfilled that duty
42:33desperate for the chance
42:35of freedom
42:35some paying for that chance
42:41with their lives.
42:42These people
42:45risked literally
42:46everything
42:47and they were
42:48so determined
42:48to get back
42:49and to continue
42:50the fight
42:51and I think
42:52for us today
42:53this has great relevance
42:54to show the perseverance
42:56and the determination
42:57of these people
42:58to continue
42:59to try and
43:00make life
43:01as good as it could be.
43:04It's incredibly important
43:06that we remember
43:06these men
43:07because of what
43:08they went through
43:09but really
43:10because of their
43:11spirit
43:12and their determination
43:13to make sure
43:15that they could get back
43:16and to continue
43:17in what they felt
43:18was right.
43:19in the stories.
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