The True Story of the Great Escape: Stalag Luft III, March 1944

The True Story of the Great Escape: Stalag Luft III, March 1944

by Jonathan F. Vance, Simon Pearson
The True Story of the Great Escape: Stalag Luft III, March 1944

The True Story of the Great Escape: Stalag Luft III, March 1944

by Jonathan F. Vance, Simon Pearson

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Overview

The real history behind the classic war movie and the men who plotted the daring escape from a Nazi POW camp.
 
Between dusk and dawn on the night of March 24th–25th 1944, a small army of Allied soldiers crawled through tunnels in Germany in a covert operation the likes of which the Third Reich had never seen. The prison break from Stalag Luft III in eastern Germany was the largest of its kind in the Second World War. Seventy-nine Allied soldiers and airmen made it outside the wire—but only three made it outside Nazi Germany. Fifty were executed by the Gestapo.
 
In this book Jonathan Vance tells the incredible story that was made famous by the 1963 film The Great Escape. It is a classic tale of prisoners and their wardens in a battle of wits and wills. The brilliantly conceived escape plan is overshadowed only by the colorful, daring (and sometimes very funny) crew who executed it—literally under the noses of German guards. From the men’s first days in Stalag Luft III and the forming of bonds among them, to the tunnel building, amazing escape, and eventual capture, Vance’s history is a vivid, compelling look at one of the greatest “exfiltration” missions of all time.
 
“Shows the variety and depth of the men sent into harm’s way during World War II, something emphasized by the population of Stalag Luft III. Most of the Allied POWs were flyers, with all the technical, tactical and planning skills that profession requires. Such men are independent thinkers, craving open air and wide-open spaces, which meant that an obsession with escape was almost inevitable.” —John D. Gresham

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781784384395
Publisher: Greenhill Books/Lionel Leventhal, Limited
Publication date: 11/12/2020
Sold by: Barnes & Noble
Format: eBook
Pages: 392
Sales rank: 373,999
File size: 5 MB

About the Author

Professor Jonathan Vance teaches military history and Canadian history at Western University, Canada. He is the author of more than 10 acclaimed works.

Table of Contents

Glossary and Guide to Abbreviations ix

Maps xii

Foreword xvii

Prologue xxi

1 The First to Fall 1

2 Learning the Escaping Game 15

3 The Dulag Luft Tunnel 35

4 They Came to Sagan 43

5 Through the Wire 61

6 An International Community 74

7 The Plan is Hatched 92

8 North Compound Opens 110

9 Sinking the Traps 130

10 The Delousing Party 147

11 Tunnel Success and Failure 176

12 X Organization Regroups 193

13 Travel Plans are Made 214

14 The Ferrets Strike 233

15 Beyond the Wire 252

16 Battling the Elements 268

17 The Train Travelers 288

18 Götterdämmerung 307

19 'The Air Ministry Regrets …' 339

Epilogue 359

Suggested Reading 366

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