I was 13, maybe 14, when I stumbled across one of the books that was to loom large in my life. It was a dog-eared, paperback copy of Paul Brickhill's The Great Escape — the epic true story of the mass breakout by allied airmen from Stalag Luft III, a German prisoner of war camp in World War II. The story had everything for an adventure-loving teenage boy: hundreds of hardened POWs digging three tunnels beneath a supposedly escape-proof camp, with everything from bed boards to stolen electric wire "requisitioned" for the effort. The watchtowers at the real-life Stalag Luft III. ( Supplied: IWM (HU 21018) On the night of March 24, 1944, 76 men crawled out of one of the tunnels (named Harry) and made their bid for freedom. Three made it back to England, 23 were recaptured and locked up again, and 50 were executed by the Gestapo, on direct orders from Adolf Hitler. It was a shattering end to the ultimate boy's own tale. The secrets of Tom, Dick and Harry On the 75th anniversary of the escape, I'm delighting in re-reading Brickhill's book (for perhaps the 20th time) and again savouring a story of bravery and ingenuity. One of grim determination in the face of seemingly impossible odds. On paper, the Germans' plan to put all the repeat-offender escapees in the one heavily fortified camp seemed like a good one. Dense barbed wire and imposing watchtowers were the surface-level deterrents, while loose, sandy soil and underground listening devices put paid to the shallow tunnels the prisoners had become extremely adept at digging. Enter Squadron Leader Roger Bushell, or Big X, the head of the camp's escape committee. Squadron Leaders Robert Stanford Tuck and Roger Bushell (Big X) in Stalag Luft III. ( Supplied: IWM (HU 1605) After narrowly avoiding a Gestapo firing squad on his most recent escape attempt, Bushell was determined to inflict a mighty blow on the enemy in the form of a mass breakout unlike any seen so far in the war. His plan was for three tunnels (Tom, Dick and Harry) to be dug simultaneously, with the aim of hundreds of POWs getting out and forcing the Germans to divert stretched resources to track them down. What followed was a veritable escape industry that operated under the noses of the camp guards, nicknamed "ferrets" by the POWs. False identity papers were forged, air force uniforms were converted into business suits, and German language lessons abounded. A map of Stalag Luft III shows the location of the escape tunnels. ( Supplied: Ley Kenyon All the while, the digging continued. The dirt was dispersed in attics, and casually spread on the camp grounds through bags hidden in the prisoners' trousers. Seven tense hours In September 1943, disaster struck when the guards discovered tunnel Tom. All efforts were then concentrated on Harry, and by late March, 1944 the 102-metre tunnel was complete. The night of the escape provided one final element of drama: the tunnel fell several metres short of the thick woods where the exit had been planned (a massive surveying error). A diagram of the Harry tunnel where the prisoners escaped. ( Supplied: Ley Kenyon What followed were seven tense hours of the escapers gingerly climbing out of the hole, a stone's throw from a guard tower, and shuffling across the snowy ground to cover. Just before dawn, their luck ran out when a stunned guard almost fell into the tunnel. The jig was up, but not before 76 POWs had fled into the night. And this is where the celebrated 1963 film dramatically parts company with what really happened. More fiction than fact There was no hair-raising theft of a German fighter plane for an aborted flight to Switzerland, and the daredevil Steve McQueen character trying to leap to freedom on a motorcycle was a complete fiction. The escape routes were much more mundane and low-key, mainly involving cross-country hikes under cover of darkness. Loading A nationwide manhunt rounded up all but the three who made it home, and a furious Hitler initially ordered they all be shot. Talked down by his Nazi lieutenants, he settled on the figure of 50. Over the next few weeks — again, unlike in the movie — the marked men, including five Australians, were taken out in pairs and small groups and gunned down by Gestapo agents. It was, in the end, a huge price to pay, and decades down the track several escape survivors were still expressing doubts whether the effort was really worth it. Now, 75 years later, we remember all of these brave men, particularly those who paid with their lives. The anniversary is unfolding with a touch of sadness with the death over the last month of the last two known Great Escape survivors. Former Squadron Leader Dick Churchill, one of the handful to be recaptured and sent back to captivity, died at the age of 99. Jack Lyon, a former RAF navigator who acted as lookout on the night, made it to 101. The escape veterans may now be gone, like so many of those who fought in World War II, but their heroic exploits live on. And, nearly 40 years since first picking up Paul Brickhill's book, I am still entranced by the greatest escape of them all.<doc-sep>In a 1979 newspaper interview with his son, journalist Tim Zillessen, Flying Officer Zillessen said: "One day, a member of the escape organisation walked me round the circuit of the camp and told me my talents were just suitable for a particular job they needed doing - that was the anti-ferret".<doc-sep>Charles Clarke, 95, lays a wreath at monument to dead soldiers by the exit of the Harry tunnel top stories direct to your inbox SUBSCRIBE Invalid email Sign up to receive our rundown of the day'sdirect to your inbox When you subscribe we will use the information you provide to send you these newsletters. Sometimes they'll include recommendations for other related newsletters or services we offer. Our Privacy Notice explains more about how we use your data, and your rights. You can unsubscribe at any time. They came from as far away as Australia, Canada and the US to stand beside "Harry", the escape tunnel dug underground, and honour the 76 brave men from 13 countries who broke out of Stalag Luft III in March 1944. Only three made it home and 50, including the mastermind, Squadron Leader Roger Bushell, were executed on Hitler's orders. The rest were recaptured and put back behind the wire. Yesterday 50 British personnel led by RAF Police Corporal Paddy Flint marched one by one past Harry, each bearing a photograph of one of the murdered prisoners. Cpl Flint, 41, from Nairn, near Inverness, carried a picture of his relative, Sqn Ldr Bushell, and said: "This means absolutely everything. I first read the book about The Great Escape when I was eight but I only saw Roger's grave for the first time on Friday. It is a struggle emotionally at times but it is good to be here and ensure what happened is remembered. They should be remembered." The commemorations of the escape, immortalised in the 1963 movie starring Steve McQueen, began yesterday 130 miles away at Poznan Old Garrison Cemetery in western Poland, where 48 of the executed escapees are buried. They continued in the afternoon outside the remains of Stalag Luft III, in Zagan, where the foundations of the prison huts can be seen in the forest and where Harry's exit emerges agonisingly short of the trees, in full view of a recreated watchtower. Polish soldiers fire off a salute at Stalag Luft III in honour of the Great Escape heroes yesterday A crowd of several hundred witnessed a flypast by an RAF Hercules and four Polish F-16 Fighting Falcons while RAF and Polish Air Force personnel formed guards of honour. The RAF Police attended because their unit tracked down the Nazis behind the murders after the war, with 14 executed as war criminals. The Chief of the Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal Sir Stephen Hillier, praised the "courage and sacrifice" of the men who strove for freedom. Among the VIPs yesterday was Air Commodore Charles Clarke, 95, who as a teenage RAF officer in 1944 acted as a lookout while the tunnel was being dug. Air Commodore Charles Clarke recounts Great Escape 1944 He said that during the ceremony he thought of the 50 murdered men. He said: "They were a remarkable crowd." Despite being in a wheelchair, he was determined to lay a wreath, being helped to his feet at the monument by the exit from Harry. And he told of the aftermath of the breakout. He said: "The next day the Germans paraded us so many times, counting and recounting us, and we moved around to confuse them, much to their annoyance. They cut our rations, there were a lot more parades and the weather was atrocious." Our reporter John at the exit of the original Harry tunnel Soon after, the new camp commandant informed the senior British officer that 50 of the men had been shot while escaping. Air Cdre Clarke said: "The group captain asked how many were injured. The commandant said, 'None'. So was it worth the murder of 50 men? No. But it was worthwhile. It was a demonstration of what could be achieved by desperate men." Other guests included Laurence Green, whose grandfather Pilot Officer Bernard Green, then 56, broke out, only to be recaptured a few hours later and survive the war. Mr Green said: "It was incredibly moving." Mr Clarke had acted as a lookout while the tunnel was being dug in 1944 'He tried to bluff his way past a soldier, but his German was terrible...' TO the rest of Stalag Luft III he was known simply as "Pop". But this decorated First World War veteran, who joined the RAF to get away from a failing marriage, was at 56 to become the oldest member of a band of PoWs who became world famous - the Great Escapers. Yesterday his grandson told how Pilot Officer on Probation Bernard Green was motivated by a desire to do his bit for his country. Laurence at a memorial to the escape dead Standing beside the site of "Harry", the famous tunnel through which 76 men escaped one deep frozen morning in 1944, retired schoolteacher Laurence Green, 69, said his grandfather had been one of the "hard-arses". They were men who had little chance of getting back to Britain but whose escape was intended to disrupt the Nazi war effort by distracting huge numbers of troops. The escape inspired the cult 1963 movie starring Steve McQueen.And it led to 50 of the escapers, including the mastermind, Squadron Leader Roger "Big X" Bushell, being executed on Hitler's orders. Laurence, who has written a book about his grandfather, Great War To Great Escape, said: "My grandfather was in the group whose aim was to reach the Resistance in Prague.They wanted to divert as many German soldiers from the war effort as possible. "It was a forlorn mission with no hope of getting home. He escaped in the early hours of March 24, 1944, in freezing conditions and was captured in the early evening. "He tried to bluff his way past a soldier but his German was terrible. "He and some other recaptured escapers were held in an unheated police station. Small groups were taken out to be shot and he had no idea why he was spared... he was the first to be taken back to camp." Cambridge theology graduate Bernard had fought in the First WorldWar at the Somme and Passchendaele. He was wounded twice, was mentioned in despatches and won the Military Cross. In 1939 he could quite legitimately have sat out the Second World War - not least because his experiences in the First World War had made him very quiet and retiring. Bernard 'Pop' Green in WWI Laurence believes he was almost certainly suffering from PTSD. Laurence, from near Totnes in Devon, said: "My grandfather was a 'penguin'. He had baggy trousers and distributed the soil dug from the escape tunnels around the camp." Pop could have dined out on his heroics but chose not to do so. Laurence said: "Grandfather never talked about it, never, ever, ever. The fact that a lot of his friends were murdered affected him deeply." Great War To Great Escape by Laurence Green, published by Fighting High, £17.99. Laurence has written a book about his grandfather Veterans voice their memories of battle THE voices of Second World War veterans and their relatives are being recorded to mark the 75th anniversary of some of the conflict's most momentous battles. Their stories will be captured for an online archive created by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission. Among the contributors to Voices of Liberation is 99-year-old Victor Gregg, who was captured at the Battle of Arnhem in 1944. "I was never out of a frontline unit so I can presume that I've seen it all - the best things that man can do and probably the worst," he said. Reconstructed guard tower overlooking the path of the Harry tunnel exit at Stalag Luft III In another poignant recording, Alan Gaudern, 74, who was born on D-Day, reads the last letter from his father - who died without meeting his son on July 11 1944 - to Alan's mother Ethel. It says: "If I don't come back I want you know how much I owe to you and thank you for our lovely life together and to let you know it isn't my wish that you remain a widow, if you really fall in love again."<doc-sep>
FORBIDDING: Stalag Luft III THE Great Escape is one of our best-loved films, most famous for the nail-biting escape sequence in which Hollywood star Steve McQueen - or rather, his stunt double Bud Ekins - attempts to leap a barbed wire fence on a Triumph Trophy motorbike. The real-life story is at least as remarkable as the film. This Sunday sees the 75th anniversary of the escape attempt from Stalag Luft III in 1944. Its meticulous planning and ingenuity allowed dozens of Allied prisoners-of-war to escape under the noses of the Nazis and is one of the greatest stories to come out of the SecondWorldWar. The 1963 film classic's jaunty theme tune is still whistled today. Amazingly, bearing in mind what Hollywood usually does to wartime events, even experts praise the movie's realism. The author Jonathan Vance, who wrote a new edition of The True Story Of The Great Escape, out this week, says the movie is surprisingly true to life. "I've always been a huge fan of the film," says Vance. "It's remarkably realistic, particularly in its recreation of the details of camp life." That said, Vance accepts the character played by McQueen was a total fabrication. Or, as former RAF PoW Wing Commander Ken Rees puts it: "It's always said that he was based on me, apart from him being a 6ft tall American and me a Welshman of about 4ft 3in who can't ride a motorbike." One of the three escapers who made it home, Bram Vanderstok McQueen’s attempt to jump over a German barbed wire fence on his motorbike remains the film's iconic scene. But, says Vance, in reality the weather during the escape was terrible. "McQueen couldn't have jumped his motorcycle if there had been a foot of snow, as there was in March 1944." The true story of the Great Escape began in 1942 when Stalag Luft III was constructed in eastern Germany - now Poland - as an escape-proof camp for rebellious prisoners-of-war who'd tried breakouts before from other camps. It was thought the sandy soil would make it near impossible to dig tunnels. But the next year, three British prisoners used daily exercises on a vaulting horse to cover up their construction of a tunnel as it edged to the perimeter fence. This scenario became the basis of The Wooden Horse movie of 1950. The Great Escape Trailer - (1963) It was in early 1944 that RAF Squadron Leader Roger Bushell decided on the mass breakout.This became the story of The Great Escape, involving over 600 prisoners digging tunnels with some 200 selected to break free. The prisoners were not just Britons. This week sees the publication of Escape From Stalag Luft III, the memoirs of Bram "Bob" Vanderstok, a Dutch prisoner who joined the escape team. Bram's son Robert, who wrote the foreword, explains what made his dad and his comrades so determined to get out. "All of the men involved in the Stalag Luft III breakout knew the risks involved," says Robert. "Most would have clearly felt that their role as patriotic servicemen required their continued resistance. Simply sitting out the war was anathema to them." Three tunnels were constructed, codenamed Tom, Dick and Harry. The sandy soil was shored up with wooden planks from the prisoners' beds. Digging tools were improvised from tin cans of powdered milk supplied by the Red Cross, and lamps fuelled by fat scooped off the camp's soup. Improvised pumps brought fresh air into the tunnels. Excavated sand was painstaking scattered round the camp from pouches inside their trousers. Regular inspections by the Gestapo made it increasingly likely that the escape tunnels would be revealed, so Bushell pushed for the breakout to be earlier than planned. With Tunnel Harry finished, a moonless night on March 24 was chosen. Steve McQueen on the motorbike used in the iconic film scene But when the first prisoners emerged, the tunnel was just short of the nearby forest, exposing them to the guns of the German guards. An Allied air raid shut down the tunnel lighting and in the middle of the night it collapsed. Still, 76 prisoners crawled to freedom before the 77th man was spotted. Pandemonium ensued. All were caught bar three. One was Bram, who had served in the RAF. With the help of the resistance, he made it across Europe to a British consul in neutral Spain, then freedom in Gibraltar. Adolf Hitler was so embarrassed that he ordered all the captured men be shot.