The Great Escape

I first saw the movie as a child in the 1960's, and became fascinated with the subject, which lead me to this book. The details of the escape are described in minute detail. The drawings included, made by Kenyon, one of the camp artists, are very informative and clear. They show such things as the layout of the camp and its tunnels as well as the stooge system for protecting the forgers from approaching Germans. One can sense every emotion from Brickhill's writing: The cursing of the diggers when buried by sandfalls while excavating the tunnels, the frustration of those attempting to remove the outer cover of tunnel Harry's exit shaft, the shock of the discovery that Harry's exit was as much as 30 feet short of the woods, the fury of the Germans at discovery of the mass escape, etc. One can also see that the evacuation of 200 POWs through one tunnel in one night, even without setbacks (such as the air raid) turned out to be an impossible goal. Most men in the tunnel took much longer than 2-3 minutes to get through it. In fact, several got stuck several times. A major factor leading to the rapid capture of most of the "hardarsers" (those striking out on foot) was the snow on the ground. It forced most of the men to walk on or near the roads, where they were easily spotted and apprehended for questioning. Brickhill also devotes some detail to the pursuit of the German murderers of 50 of the escapees. He recounts the lack of cooperation of the Soviet-imposed Communist puppet government of Poland, in which the previously-German Stalag Luft III campsite had found itself after the establishment of the Oder-Neisse line as the postwar boundary of Poland. (Of course, Brickhill could not have foresawn the fact that after Communism fell in Poland after 45 years, the Polish officials were free to express an avid interest in the onetime site of the camp).

This is an exceptional book for many reasons. The main escape is truly one of the more tense scenes I've ever read, and it is truly incredibile, but there are more dimenstions to this book. Brickhill gives us a first-hand account of life in a German POW camp. He goes into great detail jury-rigged engineering involved. From building the tools, to digging dunnels, to forging documents, to designing air pumps, all in a covert way in a prison camp environment. An interesting them was that they were escaping to a far more dangerous place then the prison camps. WWII Germany was not a safe place to be picked up by the Gestapo if you were an Allied soldier. Brickhill's complete research into the fate's off all the people involved on the German and Allied sides caps of the book perfectly. I also highly recommend seeing the NOVA special on PBS about The Great Escape after reading this book. They show excavations of the tunnels as well as interviews with the soldiers.

By now, everyone knows the story. I bought the film version on DVD a while back. I laughed a lot and enjoyed the film greatly (I think it's well done). The tale is immense in scope, so I figured I'd read the book. I was in for a huge surprise. Half of the film's ideas come from Brickhill's prelude, and have nothing to do with the actual escape (or camp!). This meant only one thing: Brickhill's tale, thick as it is, is going to be completely original and that much more satisfying a read. Paul Brickhill was the boss of a small group of prisoners who worked as stooges (watching out for Germans espying on their prisoners' doings). He writes fluidly and very well, and his obvious post-war research is superb (he tells the German angle in some parts). The book is easy to read, has moments of humor, and the descriptions are fantastic and there is never, ever, a dull moment from page one. Little did I realize how much the film throws out the horrors of Nazi Germany (or seemingly takes it in stride). The film plays out escaping as a game, and even in the book, characters try to escape constantly. While the Geneva Convention includes a clause that states escaping should not be prosecuted severely, as it is a logical reaction to imprisonment, the reader will recall that Nazis don't necessarily believe in anything other than the word "kill." Therein lies the terror. There is no Steve McQueen here, and, while there is a cooler, it's the least of the prisoners' fears. There isn't a small group of characters that the story revolves around. There are hundreds of people, and Paul introduces them at varying and strategic places within the story. You learn about new escapees up to the very last chapter. Everyone is a hero in his own way. And while I was reading, I admittedly "forgot" about the Nazi terror and was constantly thrilled to see what would happen next, not realizing how everyone's lives were really in constant danger. Chapter 19 is one of the most frightening moments in the book. It is also the introduction of Hitler, and some of his own decisions regarding the Britons, the Americans, and even the Germans themselves. Brickhill's fears aren't of being caught and thrown into a cooler. It is of being caught by the Kriminalpolizei, or the Gestapo, or of starving while eating illegally small portions of German rations (at one point, the prisoners are fed filthy water condensed on a motorcar engine). This book is quite simply amazing. Do not expect the quasi-solo efforts of the brilliant escapes and happy fortunes as occurs in the book "Papillon." Expect frustrations, anger, impatience and, most of all, the miraculous teamwork that results into a years-long plan: the great escape. I read the 1966 Fawcett Crest edition (see "customer images"), which includes an introduction by Brickhill's Stalag Luft III cohort George Harsh, and new illustrations from fellow prisoner Ley Kenyon, based on his own original drawings from the war.

I'm writing you about a man named Steve Martin who came to my house last evening to show me his collection of 'Great Escape' original material. As you know, my father was the first Canadian Prisoner of war and was #68 of the 76 who escaped. This is how he came to call me up for this meeting. I was completely blown away by his collection. He has a rare letter from BIG X, Roger Bushell, who of course was the leader of escape. He has a tile from the Harry tunnel, that the stove was resting on, tons of stuff on Wally Floody, who engineered the escape and became friends with Steve. Also pictures of George Harsh, if you're a historian you should know this name or research it, and Johnny Dodge [the artful dodger]. The list go on. He even has sand from the tunnel. He's 42yrs old and when he was 12 he read Paul Brichman's 'The Great Escape' and got hooked and has been collecting ever since . He's gone to their reunions and has several letters and autographs. He has a museum of history pertaining to the 'Great Escape'. I can't even get close to telling you what he showed me and he said that was nothing compared to his complete set. I urged him to get a web page set up to which he has very little experience with computors. This man has a gold mine and needs direction. I don't know how interested you'd be in this project but if you know of someone who would be please let me know. His phone number is#905-824-7367. If this amazing part of history is at all intriguing to you, you'll be as blown away as I was. Nonie Crete

220 Allied POWs would have been swarming all over the Third Reich before the Germans realized they were missing. Unfortunately, only 76 managed to escape through a tunnel under Stalag Luft III that had taken a year to dig. Of those 76, only 3 managed to make their way back to Britain. Twelve found themselves back in Stalag Luft II in a matter of days. Eight wound up in concentration camps. The remaining 50 were shot by the Gestapo, on orders from Hitler himself. Among the 50 was South African-born RAF Squadron Leader Roger Bushell, a.k.a. "Big X", the originator of the escape plan. The Great Escape is an incredible read. While the book is narrated from third person omniscience, its author was anything but detatched from the story. Paul Brickhill mentions his own role in the escape only very briefly in the foreword to the work. A key element of the escape plan, as Brickhill recounts in great detail, was the forging of official papers required for freedom of movement across the Reich. Brickhill led the gang of "stooges" that warned the forgers when camp guards approached. He found himself barred from participating in the actual escape when Big X learned of his acute claustrophobia. That fear may well have saved his life. After the war, Brickhill interviewed several of his other fellow survivors to assemble the grand narrative. The result is a riveting tale that ranks among the greatest war stories ever written, fact or fiction. You've seen the movie. Now read the book!