Great Escapes (10 page)

After two days of travelling through the snow they arrived at Leipzig and bought two railway tickets to Ulm. They had acquired the money by selling Red Cross chocolates and cigarettes to the German guards back at Colditz. Cash from the escape fund of the escape committee had also supplemented them. Safely aboard the train the two men settled down for the 100-mile journey and a chance to get warm. Once at Ulm, they went to purchase tickets to the small town of Singen, which was close to the frontier, but after showing their travel documents they were arrested by the railway police. Despite this setback, the two men managed to convince the police that they were genuine Dutch foreign workers and they were taken to the office that dealt with foreign workers.

Placed in a room whilst further checks were made, the two men quickly made their escape through a window. They hid in a forest nearby until the following day when they jumped aboard a train going to the small town of Stockach near Ludwig. They then headed across country and through forests towards Singen. The snow had ceased, but the temperature continued to drop. Hungry, frozen and on the point of exhaustion, they were stopped by some elderly woodcutters who were on their way to work. Neave and Lutyen identified themselves as ‘Polish’ labourers from a nearby labour camp, but this was met with disbelief because none of the woodcutters knew of any labour camp in the area. Realising they had been rumbled the two men headed off into the forest, whilst the woodcutters went for the police. For the rest of that day and through the night, the pair struggled through the deep snow.

As dawn broke, they stumbled upon a small hut deep in the forest and after smashing a window to get in, collapsed into a deep sleep. Waking at dusk, somewhat refreshed, they ate what was left of their meagre chocolate ration and planned their last leg of their journey to freedom. They had been given a rough map of the area by one of the inmates of Colditz just before they left. Looking around the hut, they discovered a couple of white coats and some shovels. Putting the coats under their clothes and carrying the shovels, the two men set off for the frontier trying to give the impression that they were returning from the forest after work.

As they approached the lights of Singen, they were stopped by two young boys in Hitler Jugend uniforms, who demanded to know who they were. Anthony Lutyen explained that they were workers from Westphalia who were staying in Singen. All the time Airey Neave gripped the handle of his shovel tightly and admitted later that he would have had no compunction in killing the two boys had there been no option. Satisfied with their explanation, the two boys admitted that they were on the lookout for two British prisoners of war who were on the run and trying to cross the frontier that night.

Watching the two boys cycle off through the snow, the men heaved a sigh of relief, and glancing down at their compasses, headed to the north of Singen. They tramped through more forests, then swung south until they crossed the railway and then on to the road to Schaffhausen. Then in the light of the moon they could see the German frontier post just 100yds away. Putting their shovels down and donning the white coats, the two men edged their way closer. The temperature was falling rapidly and both men were beginning to suffer from exposure and frostbite.

Airey Neave and Anthony Lutyen could hear the voices of the frontier guards clearly. To get to the frontier they would have to cross the road and then get across an area of no-man’s land before reaching the Swiss border. Suddenly clouds obscured the moon and the wind got up, blowing snow into drifts. Taking advantage of this the two men crawled across the road slowly, under the fence and through the deep snow covering no-man’s land. The white coats and the driving snow prevented the guards from spotting them.

After struggling for over an hour, they suddenly reached the Swiss border fence and clambered over. A few yards further on was a road, which they knew led to the small town of Ramsen, Switzerland. With renewed effort, bolstered by the realisation that they had made it, they walked into the town and handed themselves in, with great relief, to a Swiss frontier guard. They were taken into a guardhouse and given hot drinks before the Swiss police arrived to take them away and place them under ‘hotel arrest’. The following morning they were taken to Berne where, eighty-four hours after escaping from Colditz, Airey Neave was drinking tea with the British Military Attaché.

One of the most dramatic and daring escapes made from a prison camp during the Second World War was the one made from
Stalag Luft III
in Sagan, Eastern Germany.

This was to be the site of the famous escape using the ‘Wooden Horse’.
Stalag Luft III
was a prisoner of war camp for air force personnel and was situated inside Poland. When the first inmates arrived they found a camp situated in a bleak inhospitable landscape which, on the face of it, offered very little opportunities to escape. The camp had been built in a clearing inside a pine forest that stretched for more than 20 miles.

Stalag Luft III
was meant to be the most secure of all prison camps, a
Sonderlager
(Special Camp), one that had been set up to house those prisoners who had a record of escapes and attempt escapes. The prisoners were kept in barrack blocks that had been built on concrete pillars with just a 3in gap between them. The huts were some 100m distance from a 10ft inner perimeter wire that was topped with razor wire. Then there was a 7ft gap between the inner and 10ft outer wire, which in turn was again topped with razor wire. The gap between the two fences was also layered with razor wire, and strategically placed seismographs were planted to detect any tunnelling that might be going on. Then, 15ft in front of the inner wire, was stretched a trip wire that the prisoners were forbidden to cross unless given permission to do so.

Guard towers, manned continuously by two men, were fitted with machine guns and searchlights and placed strategically along the perimeter. This gave the guards an overall view of the camp and enabled them to spot any unauthorised movement by the inmates. Between the ‘Goon’ towers, as the prisoners called them, guards patrolled day and night.

It was to this camp that Flight Lieutenant Eric Williams and Captain Michael Codner came. Williams and Codner had been inmates of another prisoner of war camp and had escaped, but had been recaptured in Poland. They immediately started to make plans to escape again, as most of the other inmates did, but soon realised that this camp was not going to be an easy one from which to gain freedom.

The location of the barracks in relation to the outer perimeter wire made the idea of tunnelling out of the question. A number of tunnels had been tried and failed, but if they could find a way of making a tunnel shorter, then it would be feasible. Ideas for escape were always welcome and would be given consideration by the escape committee. If they merited further investigation then plans would be put into action to see if they were feasible or not. Most were dismissed out of hand because they were either too complicated or too bizarre. There were also the ‘ferrets’ – German soldiers who constantly searched the camp looking for clues that might lead them to an escape attempt. At night they would even climb over the perimeter wire so as to enter the camp without anyone knowing. Then they would look and listen for any information that might help them. Some even had a sense of humour and would report to the ‘duty pilot’ as they left. This was a prisoner whose job it was to watch the main gate constantly and report who went in and who went out.

Then one of the major tunnels that were being started in the washhouse was discovered. It was an ingenious idea because the washhouse was in constant use and watch could be kept on the guards without attracting attention. A section of the brick floor had been removed and a shaft dug. The lid to the tunnel consisted of a wooden frame with bricks attached that could be placed over the hole at a moment’s notice. It was during constant searching about by the ‘Ferrets’ that it was discovered after the prisoners had dug a tunnel some 40ft towards the wire.

It was Eric Williams who came up with the idea of a ‘Trojan Horse’. His plan was to build a vaulting horse 4ft 6in high with sloping sides down to a base 5ft long and 3ft wide. The top would be padded with bedding, and there would be four slots in the sides, which were constructed from Red Cross tea chests, and which enabled two poles to be inserted to carry it out into the compound.

The idea was that the ‘horse’ would be carried out into the compound and placed at a predetermined spot. Inside the horse would be one of the inmates who would then start burrowing down. There would be a rota of ‘diggers’ and they would dig down to a depth of 5ft and then dig a further 70ft to beyond the wire. The German guards, conscious of anything out of the usual, looked upon the project with deep mistrust. After all, every one of the prisoners was a known escapee from other prisoner of war camps, and so it was felt it was in their nature to try and escape.

The escape committee met and after a long and detailed discussion decided to give it a try. A lot had to be considered, after all, what were they to do with the earth that was removed from the tunnel? Arrangements had to be made to disperse the soil in such a way that it wouldn’t be spotted by the guards. Dumping it under the barracks was out of the question, as the guards made regular examination of the ground beneath the barracks, and they would soon spot any additional sandy soil deposited there.

Eric Williams and Michael Codner set to work ‘acquiring’ the tools required to build the horse. The materials for building the horse came from the partially finished shower block that the Germans had been in the process of constructing for the past eighteen months. During the night, guards with dogs patrolled the whole compound, so to get to the shower block a distraction had to be arranged. One of the prisoners created a disturbance at the far end of the camp to draw off the guards and their dogs. Whilst this was in process, the two men slipped out of their hut, over the wire surrounding the building site, and quickly picked up what they required.

Dragging the timber behind them, they dodged the searchlights and carried it all back to their hut. As they reached the hut, the shutters were flung open and willing hands were ready to grab the timber and nails if needed. Fortunately they made the hut in darkness and the two men slipped underneath and buried the timber and nails in the sand.

The following morning Eric Williams went to see the camp CO, Wing Commander Cameron, and explained his idea to him. ‘Wings’ as he was known, was enthusiastic and set about designing the horse on his drawing board. With this done, Eric Williams and Michael Codner set about constructing the horse using the tools that had been ‘acquired’ or borrowed. In the meantime a gymnastic class had been organised with a large number of volunteers who were prepared to do two hours of exercise every morning and sometimes in the afternoon.

Williams and Codner questioned two prisoners who had escaped and been recaptured at the port of Danzig. They wanted to know the best method of travelling and it was decided that the railway was without doubt the best way. One of the two men, an Australian, emphasised the point that the best method was to get aboard a goods train, because the travel documents that they made in the camp would not pass close scrutiny. The passenger trains were always kept under close watch and the identity and travel documents of foreign workers were examined closely.

Then came a stroke of luck. One of the Australians had cultivated a relationship with one of the guards, keeping him supplied with cigarettes and chocolate. He had even persuaded him to bring some eggs in exchange for chocolate. The guard, not the brightest of people, had been wounded fighting on the Russian Front and was terrified of being sent back. The Australian gradually weeded information out of him regarding the trains and the position regarding foreign workers travelling. Foreign workers needed a special permit to travel as well as a permit from the chief of police in the area in which they lived and permission from the firm for which they worked. After much wheeling and dealing, the Australian finally threatened the guard with exposure for having been trading with prisoners. This offence meant he could be sent back to the Russian Front or even shot, so the guard was persuaded to bring the passes for him to see. They obviously could not keep them, but one of the prisoners was an excellent artist and he made very detailed drawings of the passes.

With this additional information, plans were set to go into full swing with the escape attempt. With the horse finished everything was set for work to begin. Then one sunny morning the canteen doors opened and a group of prisoners dressed in shorts and shoes ran out and lined up by the trip wire. The four strongest men of the group carrying the vaulting horse followed them. They placed the horse at a spot 10yds from the trip wire and slipped out the carrying poles. The instructors, Williams and Codner, then demonstrated to the rest of the men the kind of vaulting they wanted them to do. They then leapfrogged over the horse followed by the rest of the class.

The German guards watched with increased curiosity and suspicion, wondering what the prisoners were up to. They were aware that this might be an attempt to divert their attention away from somewhere else where an escape attempt was being made. The guards in the towers scanned the surrounding areas within the compound but could see nothing unusual. The Kommandant made a brief appearance but satisfied that it was a harmless activity to keep the men fit and occupied, returned to his office.

The job now was to convince the guards that there was nothing untoward about the activities surrounding the horse. So as to alleviate any lingering suspicions, one of the men had been primed to be awkward, and was constantly making a mess of his vaulting. Then when he attempted to make a two-handed straddle of the horse, he clattered into it knocking it over. Everyone laughed, including guards, who could see that the inside of the horse was empty. This happened several times during the following two hours, before the men called it a day and returned the horse to the canteen. Just before leaving, the last one of the men to leave tied a thin black piece of cotton thread across the door. In the morning it was discovered to have been broken, the Germans had been and examined the horse.