A Short History of Stalag Luft III and the Great Escape

Stalag Luft III was built in the vicinity of Zagan , Poland and was specifically for Aircrew PoW's captured by the Germans during WWII. It was controlled directly by the High Command of the Luftwaffe. At first, the majority of the prisoners were British RAF Officers and American pilots. Only later, in June 1942 did other nationalities join the camp, being French, Polish, Belgian, Dutch, Canadian, Australian, Lithuanian, Norwegian, New Zealand, South African, Greek and Czechoslovakian pilots.

By 1944 Luft III accommodated 10,494 people. Perhaps the large number of PoW's helped to conceal the amount of attempted escapes. The biggest of them was ‘The Great Escape' organized by a secret "X" Committee which was established by the prisoners in spring 1943 and led by Sqn Ldr Roger Bushell.

The Great Escape took place in the night of 24 March 1944 . Seventy six prisoners made it outside through a 111-meter tunnel, 10 meters deep. After the escape was revealed and the alarm was raised, four prisoners were caught by the tunnel outlet. A big hunt began on the whole territory of the Reich. Consequently, only 3 of the prisoners managed to avoid the traps and chases, the remaining 73 were caught by the Nazis. It was the biggest escape ever from the Zagan camp and in pursuance of Hitler's personal order called "Zagan Befehl", 50 of the escapees were murdered.

In Association with: 

Border Oak Design and Construction Ltd. The Royal Air Forces ex-POW Association.
Dr Howard Tuck – Minerva Specialist Programmes. The Great Escape Memorial Project, Canada.