About
Many hundreds of prisoners of war at Stalag Luft 3 were involved in the Great Escape, one way or another, whether as tunnellers, forgers, tailors, security, or as dispersal penguins, and all of them contributed to the final escape effort in their own way. These hundreds of people came from all across the globe, from many different countries, signing up to serve in the Allied forces to fight Nazi tyranny and wished to continue that fight in whichever way they could even as prisoners of war.
The idea of a mass breakout by RAF prisoners of war at the Stalag Luft 3 camp in Silesia was devised by Squadron Leader Roger Bushell, a South African Airforce officer with 92 Squadron. After months of planning for the escape of 200 officers through one of the three tunnels which had been partially dug, the eventual escape used tunnel ‘Harry’ as soon as it was completed. On the night of the 24-25th March 1944 seventy-six men managed to exit the tunnel before it was discovered and the alarm raised.
Predominantly British, the Great Escape comprised 13 different nationalities with 4 from across the Commonwealth, including Australia, Canada, South Africa and New Zealand, as well as from eight different occupied European countries; namely Poland, Czechoslovakia, Norway, France, Belgium, Netherlands, Greece, and Lithuania. In short, the true story of the Great Escape was a far more international affair than is currently appreciated and understood.
Nonetheless, it was a fundamentally British affair, and as such, it should be recognised formally in the United Kingdom. Whilst there exists a memorial to the Great Escape at the former site of the Stalag Luft 3 camp outside Zagan in what is now Poland, there is still no monument or official memorial site to this globally famous event in the UK.
More than eighty years after the events of the Great Escape took place, with all participants having now sadly passed away, it is time this oversight of recognition to these extraordinarily brave men is corrected.
Support
However, despite its worldwide notoriety over 80 years after this event took place there is no official memorial to the Great Escape in the United Kingdom. While some individuals are recognised in their hometowns, at the former air bases from which they flew, or by their families with private memorials, the United Kingdom provided no such recognition to the Great Escapers, their efforts, and the ultimate sacrifice so many of them made.
This epic event should never be forgotten and a permanent memorial in the UK will honour the many hundreds who helped in the preparation of the breakout, the 76 who took part in the escape through the tunnel and amongst them the the 50 who were murdered on Hitlers orders after recapture.
Background
Amongst the many, many striking examples of the crucial role which was played by the RAF during the Second World War, arguably three stand out as being exceptional for our nations’ survival and ultimate victory and which are indelibly etched into the memory of the wartime and postwar (pre millennial) generations: -The Battle of Britain, The Dambusters Raid and The Great Escape.
The Great Escape remains today one of the most famous events of the Second World War, due in part to the global success of the 1963 film of the same name. While the latter has famously glamourised the story, it is often forgotten that there was a true story and a tragedy behind the film in which the lives of real people were not just impacted but in the case of fifty of the Great Escapers, were brutally ended.
The Great Escape stands as a testament to extraordinary bravery and ingenuity with very real lessons and examples which are applicable to younger generations today.
The glaring lack of any official memorial to the Great Escape in the United Kingdom needs to be rectified. While some individuals are recognised in their hometowns, at the former air bases from which they flew, or by their families with private memorials, the authorities in the United Kingdom provided no such recognition to the Great Escapers, their efforts, and the ultimate sacrifice so many of them made.
The Great Escape Memorial Team
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David Churchill
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