Friday, September 15, 2017

"I Had No Idea Till That Fateful Night"-The Last Survivor of the Great Escape Celebrates His 100th Birthday

"The plan for the Great Escape took shape in the spring of 1943 when Squadron Leader Roger Bushell RAF, who had been a lawyer in his civilian life, hatched a strategy for a major breakout.

Bushell, who came to be known by the codename Big X, created an Escape Committee and inspired the camp's Allied prisoners in an attempt to get in excess of 200 out.

Some 600 men helped dig three tunnels, which were referred to as Tom, Dick and Harry, with the hope that one would succeed.

Tunnel Tom started in a darkened corner of one of the building's halls, while Dick's entrance was hidden in a washroom drain sump and Harry's was under a stove.

The plan was for the escapees to come out the other end with civilian clothes, forged papers and escape equipment.

On the night of March 24 to 25 March 1944, 76 men took advantage of a moonless night to attempt get away through tunnel Harry."