Escape Engineering During the Second World War over 232,000 western prisoners were held captive in German

camps. It was said to be a soldiers duty to attempt escape and cause as much havoc behind enemy lines as possible, the idea being that more Germans would be taken off the lines to chase the escaped prisoners. With this tactic in mind, thousands of escape attempts were made during the war, many successful but most unsuccessful. The ingenius plans of some of the prisoners and the intuitive plots they schemed were truly incredible but were never fully respected. When we think of prisoners escaping camps, digging tunnels springs to mind. Films like The Great Escape have firmly placed this stereotype in our minds. Unfortunately this method was rarely successful; the prison guards would find the tunnels dug by prisoners. The main problem was where to hide all the removed dirt. Even making a tunnel as small as a man could fit through, several hundred sacks of dirt would have to be disposed of. However, some prisoners managed the task. A camp in northern Austria was home to some 2,000 French prisoners of war. They had made several attempts to tunnel their way out but had all been discovered. One plan did succeed and it started with getting permission to construct an open air theatre halfway between the barracks and the camp outer boundary. To the prisoners this meant less distance to tunnel whilst the guards hoped it would keep the prisoners happy and occupied. This also solved the dirt removal issue as the prisoners could hide it under the seats. After months of work creating a tunnel barely half a metre wide, ventilated by used tins of peas, one hundred and thirty two prisoners escaped in one evening. Most of the guards were of course in the theatre enjoying the dramatics production, oblivious to the escapees under their seats. Even the four prisoners performing took off last during the final scene change, leaving the Germans alone in an empty theatre. Other prisoners took advantage of holes and tunnels that were already in place. Most camps allowed the prisoners to participate in sporting activities, again the reason being to distract the men and keep them from escaping. In one of these camps, Southern Germany, the playing field was adjacent to the main camp, surrounded by a much lesser fence, easy to pass. There was a small hatch in the centre of the pitch, a drain that the Germans had blocked up, but still large enough to fit a person inside. During a rugby match, the scrum would position itself over the hatch and one person would slip inside, they would wait until night fall and make their escape. The problem was that after the first attempt in which the escapee was unfortunatly caught, the Germans bolted the hatch. However the prisoners created replica bolts made from sugar glass. This sugar glass was made from boiling water and sugar that had been scraped off the top of iced buns and casting the bolts in sand. These bolts were so convincing that when the German guards briefly looked they didnt question anything. Of course the prisoner could then break out and quickly replace the broken glass bolt with a genuine one. Two Dutch Lieutenants, Hans Larive and Francis Steinmetz, were the first to use this method successfully. They waited until dark on August 15th 1941, made their escape and managed to catch a train to Gottmadingen. From there it took three days on foot to reach the neutral Swiss border. Two more prisoners used this method before the Germans decided to fill in the hole after discovering the tactics used by the men. One of the biggest issues for escapees was not escaping the POW camp itself, but getting through hostile territory to neutral borders. Nearly 95% of all escapees were caught and returned to camps, although later on in the war many escapees would be executed on sight. Much of the prisoners

success was down to expertly made fake uniforms or civilian clothes, perfectly faked papers, excellent logistical techniques and convincing linguistic skills.
Figure 1

The Mannequin

At Oflag IV-C, better known as Colditz Castle, the Kommandant of the Guard was so impressed with the equipment crafted by the inmates that he created the Kommandant Museum to show the other officers of separate camps what to look out for and teach them how to suspect escape attempts. The security officer Reinhold Eggers published articles in a paper for German POW camps to show off the prisoners work. Pictured (fig. 1) is one of the Kommandants prized possessions, one of the mannequins used by the Dutch during roll calls and head counts so that an escaped prisoner was apparently present. These were crafted from clay, with fish pate smeared onto the face to look like skin. These mannequins would often give prisoners two or three days head start before the alarm was raised. Pierre Mairesse Leburn escaped by simply vaulting over the fence of the playing fields, stealing a bicycle and cycling to Switzerland in eight days, still wearing his prison cloths with no papers or money. This was due to the success of the mannequin, allowing him to get away on an otherwise risky escape attempt. Oflag IV-C was home to the most audacious prisoners. This was a camp for officers. Conditions were fair and home comforts were provided in the form of large rations, red cross parcels and the ability to send for shopping in the town. These officers were from the top ranks of many allied armies and contained physicists, mathematicians, doctors and astronomers. No task was a task too complex. One of the more impressive attempts was carried out by nine French officers who dug the longest and most complex escape tunnel in the history of the war. The tunnel started underneath the old clock tower. This had been used by previous escapees who had been caught. The entrance was subsequently blocked at the base of the tower. Though this left a secure shaft that extended 8.6

metres into the ground being the space where the weighted chains hung that pulled the clocks mechanism. Work began in 1940 when the men set to work digging a further 4 metres below ground. They then tunnelled horizontally towards the chapel where they crawled under the floorboards. They had to cut through the oak floor beams with improvised hand saws, each beam taking weeks to cut through. From here they could dig down towards the moat which would eventually lead into the surrounding town. However, in early 1943 the Germans found the tunnel as they heard the digging during the night when the castle was quiet. Even after knowing the French were digging somewhere it took nearly two more weeks to find the entrance, where they caught the culprits red handed. The officers were captured, after three years of work and only two metres left to dig to freedom. This tunnel was seen as the most complex ever dug with full electric lighting, airrecycling system and width and height large enough for a grown man to kneel in.

Figure 2 (A) (B)

(C)

The most historic, most ambitious and near ludicrous plan for escape from Oflag IV-C was the Colditz Cock glider. Two prisoners, Bill Goldfinch and John William Best, embarked on the project after finding a book on aircraft design in the prison library. Goldfinch was in the Royal Engineers before joining the RAF when he was shot down and captured. Best was also in the RAF and was captured after his plane ran out of fuel and crashed off the coast of Greece. Both were seasoned escapees, they took part in a major tunnelling escape out of the Stalag Luft III camp, famous for the film The Great Escape. Best, Goldfinch and another prisoner, Henry Lamond, were captured in Poland after escaping via a tunnel dug under the wire. Best and Goldfinch were sent to Colditz where they carried out many other escape attempts. Along with twelve other prisoners, they set about planning the escape. Firstly they needed a place to build the glider. They selected an old attic in which they created a fake wall, effectively shortening the roof space by 7ft. The plan was to then break a hole in the gable end, labelled A (fig. 2) and create a runway by placing tables on the roof B. They even created an electrical alarm system to warn the prisoners of any approaching guards. Even the tools for this project were advanced and quite complex. These included saws made from old gramophone springs with teeth filed into them. Planes created from scavenged wood, table knives and even a

two inch blade that was acquired from by a guard. Gauges, squares, spirit levels and drills were all constructed from old parts scavenged, bribed or crafted by hand. The materials needed to make the glider were even harder to acquire. Thirty ribs in the fuselage were needed, these were created from wooden bed slats, broom handles and old floorboards. The glider was designed to have electronic controls in order to operate the two flaps on either wing. The wires were scavenged from lighting electrics and the motors from old gramophones. The final frame would be coated in bed sheets. This then had Ration Millet layered on it (a porridge like ration meal). The starch in the millet pulled the cotton fabric taught, and turning the sheets into a skin. The final design was a two seated glider with a total wingspan of 32ft but to fly it was calculated that it would need a maximum velocity of 30mph. To do this the glider would be attached to a pulley system where a bath tub full of concrete would be dropped labelled C (fig. 2). The double pulley system would mean that the glider would travel twice the speed of the bath. To limit friction the runway would be covered in grease. When construction began the prisoners had to work hard not to appear to be working on something of such a large scale. Best even became a ghost prisoner whilst working on the glider. He hid under floorboards and in cupboards so as to trick the Germans he had escaped whilst his comrades brought him food and concealed him. This gave him time to work and provided the Germans with a distraction.
Figure 2

The scheduled flight for the Colditz Cock was in Spring 1945 under the cover of darkness from an air raid blackout. However, the war began to turn, rations became low and the prisoners grew weak and hungry. The completion of the glider was delayed and by the time it was finished the allies were at the doorstep. Goldfinch and Best decided it best to have the glider used as an escape aircraft if the SS decided to massacre the prisoners upon occupation. Instead, the Castle was liberated on 16th April 1995 by the US army. Only one known photo of the glider was taken by an American soldier (fig. 3), after that it was handed over to the Russians and has not been recovered. Since then several replicas have been created. Goldfinchs designs were kept and a 1/3 scale model was flown from the roof. After that, RAF Odiman hosted full size replica flow by John Lee, a top RAF pilot. Goldfinch, Best and many other of the veterans watch the flight. This was filmed and published as part of a three part documentary on Channel 4. Both gliders worked howing that the origional Colditz Cock glider could have flown. With the success of the flight it was shown that this

incredible feat of engineering could happen in crude workshops with makeshift tools under the fear and opression of prison life. The replicas were created in professional workshops with proper tools and under a good working environment. These stories show just how incredible some of the prisoners were, their genius and ingenuity all used to create havoc behind enemy lines. Some of these are only just coming to light and few people appreciate the work that happened behind the front line with the soldiers whose war was never over. It is believed nearly 5000 prisoners of war were killed trying to escape, most would have spend months creating their plans, forging fake documents and cloths, smuggling goods with the fear of discovery allways looming. Few escapees survive to this day, and few will ever have their stories heard. We hear of people like Jack Churchill who fought through the war with a longbow and sword, a true hero. However, the prisoners captured and placed in pow camps were among the true heros of the war. It is important that these people are remebered and are given all the respect that they deserve.

Sources www.odt.co.nz www.dailymail.co.uk www.wikipedia.com www.bbc.co.uk The Last Escape John Nichol & Tony Rennell