The Great Escape tunnel found and excavated

[awp101]

I don't think this has been posted before:

TUNNEL REVEALED AFTER 67 YEARS. . . . THE GREAT ESCAPE.
Untouched for almost seven decades, the tunnel used in the Great Escape has finally been unearthed.

The 111-yard passage nicknamed Harry by Allied prisoners was sealed by the Germans after the audacious break-out from the POW camp Stalag Luft III in western Poland ..


Despite huge interest in the subject, encouraged by the film starring Steve McQueen, the tunnel remained undisturbed over the decades because it was behind the Iron Curtain and the Soviet authorities had no interest in its significance.


But at last British archaeologists have excavated it, and discovered its remarkable secrets.

The rest of the story here: http://best-of-stories-etc.blogspot.com ... FUA-66oaSp

[damienph]

How cool is that? That is still one of my all time favorite movies. I saw it when it first came out in the theater, '64 or '65?

I didn't realize that no Americans were involved. That was one of my favorite Steve McQueen movies.

[Pitchy]

Interesting

[olyinaz]

Amazing! Thanks for the link!

Oly

[Sixgun]

Ain't that somethin"! That was a time when men were men. How 600 men kept the secret to themselves during the dig shows the honor that was standard critiria in a better time. If that happened today you know there would be some rat who would cheese out the other guys so conditions would be better for him.----------Sixgun

[AJMD429]

My "Uncle Steve" was a 'guest' there DURING the Great Escape.

He's not actually an 'uncle', but we always called him that, because he was one of my Dad's closest friends.

What was really cool one time was when I was in college I'd walk to their house nearby there and visit and mooch his wife's home-cooking, and he'd show me his war souvenirs (including his metal foot brace ). He was an American pilot, and the camp was evidently divided into an American and a British section, or something like that.

Uncle Steve.jpg

Anyway, one time he got out a book that looked just like a 'high-school yearbook', and had the cover embossed with a subtle trim around the edge that went from a pair of pilots-wings up top, around the edge and down to a couple 'ball and chain' balls, and you could see that the upper end of the chain was around the eagle's feet.

Inside the yearbook there were pictures of each 'unit' or hut or whatever, with the men all standing in front of their hut. There were pictures of the 'mess hall' and other sort of stuff like that, and a section where each guy had his individual picture and name and probably some brief biographical information. There were pictures of them with sports teams playing, and I think there was even a section where there was a 'band' shown, and other such recreational things.

THEN there was what would be like the "Senior Class Project" section - only the 'project' was . . . the tunnel. There were photographs of the 'trolleys' and different ones of the guys doing the various other things like the forged documents and so on.

My second-cousin has that now, I think, as Uncle Steve passed away, but I need to see if he has it and would be willing to have it professionally copied. Obviously a priceless document.

As for Uncle Steve, he was in the American section, as I understand it, and it was the British who actually escaped.

[Borregos]

Very interesting, thanks for posting

[bdhold]

that's too cool - thanks for the post.

[Old Time Hunter]

Awesome...when men were men and women wore skirts.

[piller]

Proof that the British fighting men were worthy of respect. Salute to all those involved.

[kaschi]

Kinda interesting until you realize how far Western Poland (that area was Germany then) lies from Germany's border to Switzerland (several hundred miles!) where Steve McQueen, I believe it was, tried to jump the border fence with the motorcycle.

[Birdman]

That's an interesting article. 3 out of 77 ain't good odds but I'll bet they figured an attempt for freedom was better than staying in prison. AJMD, what a peice of history that book is. You should check into that. I hope your cousin realizes what he has.

[gundownunder]

Thanks for posting.

Those men would have had some serious intestinal fortitude, I don't think I could keep my pants clean if I was crawling through a 2ft tunnel 30 ft underground. Popping your head out of the hole on the other end you'd feel a bit like a ground dog in a shooting gallery.

I haven't seen the movie in a decade or so, might have to dig it out and enjoy it again.

[DadsMod12]

This story is just one of many that prove they are the Greatest Generation.

[gak]

+1 thanks for the post - very interesting read.
Also one of my favorite movies I'll have to dig out for a new viewing.
My father, a B-17 (etc) pilot himself (thankfully stateside as a pilot instructor), had a best bud who was shot down piloting a B-17 and incarcerated in one of the Stalags. I "knew" this man through my folks mentioning when I was a kid. Well, advancing forward several years I was reading a book ("Flying Fortress," one of the definitive accounts, highly recommended) and lo and behold here is a short paragraph on dad's friend talking about how they organized/performed entertainment schemes to distract their captors away from escape endeavors (tunnel construction etc) - which we all knew was true from Hogan's Heroes of course My dad was delighted with the mention of his friend (I gave him a copy of the book for his birthday, and he in turn gave me the original pilot's/operating manual on the B-17 - a more than even exchange!)

Back to the Stalag prisoners, a +1 had to have been - or became - a breed apart.