"The Great Escape" a Zagan Travel Page by alancollins

If you have never seen the movie The Great Escape, you will have no idea what I’m talking about. Sorry but some information for those who have not seen the film. The movie, The Great Escape is loosely based on an escape by 76 Allied prisoners of war from a camp called Stalag Luft III that was situated at Sagan. The film which was released in 1963 and stars a number of well known actors including Steve McQueen, Richard Attenborough and James Garner. The film having been financed by Hollywood required some American prisoners involved in the escape. In truth there were no Americans involved in the escape, from the camp, because they were moved to another compound. The film also glosses over the fact that these were allied officers from many European and Commonwealth Countries. The depiction of the escape tunnels is fairly accurate and the escape tunnel being 10 feet short of the woods. The film shows that 76 prisoners escaped, 50 were caught and executed, 3 made home runs and the rest were returned to Sagan or other camps, and this is again all accurate.
The Great Escape

Stalag Luft III was located at Sagan which is located 100miles south east of Berlin. At the time this was Germany and the local population were not too friendly towards escaped prisoners of war. At the end of the war, at the Potsdam Conference, it was decided by the Allies to move Poland’s Borders approximately 150 miles westward. So the camp is now in Poland and the town’s name has changed to Zagan. The camp was opened in 1942 and was for the incarceration of air force officers. The compound contained 15 wooden huts each raised 2 feet off the ground to make escape by a tunnel more difficult. The local subsoil was bright coloured sand making it difficult to hide. The huts were divided into 18 rooms each about 15 feet square, each room became the living, dining and bedroom for 8 people, with a stove in one corner on a tile base. There were also 3 small rooms for 2 people who could pull rank. Each block had a washroom, toilet and a small kitchen with a 2 burner coal stove. After several major expansions, Stalag Luft III eventually grew to hold 10,000 PoWs and it had a size of 59 acres, with 5 miles of perimeter fencing and it held 7,500 Americans and 2,500 Allied prisoners.

When the prisoners started to arrive at the camp during 1942 it was quickly realized that there were a large number of experts who had the combined skills to escape from the camp. This escape was like no other, instead an escape by a small number of prisoners a plan was hatched for 250 to escape at the same time. It was decided to start work on 3 tunnels ‘Tom, Dick & Harry’. Tom was found by the Germans during the summer of 1943 and blown up. Dick was abandoned after if was realized another compound was going to be built where the exit to the tunnel would have been. The tunnel was used to hide materials and was not discovered. It still exists today if you know where to find it. The tunnel that was finally used ‘Harry’ had its entrance located in the huts foundation and was hidden inside the hut by the stove. It was sunk down 30 feet or 9 metres to avoid hidden microphones and collapse of the tunnel. The main problem was how to get rid of the sand and this was achieved but ‘Penguins’ who carried the sand hidden under their trousers in pouches and they disposed of it areas of high density walking. Vast quantities of bed boards were used to shore up the tunnels that easily collapsed because of the sand. A hand pump was constructed to provide ventilation and the air was piped to the diggers via milk cans fitted together. Harry was 102m in length and the escape took place overnight 24/25th March 1944. The tunnel was 10 feet short of the woods and the escape progressed until 4.45am when shots were heard and the game was up.
A Great Escape website