1 unsuccessful attempts
1.1 death of michael sinclair
1.2 red cross tea chest
1.3 mattress
1.4 bed sheet rope
1.5 french lady
1.6 canteen tunnel
1.7 french tunnel
1.8 colditz cock glider
unsuccessful attempts
most escape attempts failed. pat reid, later wrote experiences in colditz, failed escape @ first , became escape officer, charged coordinating various national groups not ruin each other s escape attempts. escape officers not permitted escape. many tried unsuccessfully escape in disguise: airey neave twice dressed guard, french lieutenant boulé disguised in drag, british lieutenant michael sinclair dressed german sergeant major rothenberger [an nco in camp garrison], when tried organize mass escape, , french lieutenant perodeau disguised himself camp electrician willi pöhnert ( little willi ):
on night of 28 december 1942, 1 of french officers deliberately blew out fuse on lights in courtyard. had anticipated pöhnert summoned, , while fixing lights, lieutenant perodeau, dressed identically pöhnert , carrying tool box, walked casually out of courtyard gate. passed first guard without incident, guard @ main gate asked token — tokens issued each guard , staff member @ camp guardhouse avoid type of escape — no hope of bluffing way out of this, perodeau surrendered.
dutch sculptors made 2 clay heads stand in escaping officers @ roll call. later, ghosts , officers had faked successful escape , hidden in castle, took place of escaping prisoners @ roll call in order delay discovery long possible.
camp guards collected escape equipment established kommandant s escape museum . local photographer johannes lange took photographs of would-be escapers in disguises or re-enacting attempts camera. along lange photographs, 1 of 2 sculpted clay heads displayed proudly in museum. security officer reinhold eggers made them regular part of das abwehrblatt, weekly magazine german pow camps.
the death of michael sinclair
there 1 confirmed fatality during escape attempts: british lieutenant michael sinclair in september 1944. sinclair attempted repeat of 1941 french on wire escape. security officer eggers warned him after sinclair fired upon guards. bullet hit sinclair on elbow , ricocheted through heart.
the germans buried sinclair in colditz cemetery full military honours — casket draped union jack flag made german guards, , received seven-gun salute. post-war awarded distinguished service order, man receive escaping during world war ii. buried in grave number 10.1.14 @ berlin war cemetery in charlottenburg-wilmersdorf district of berlin.
the red cross tea chest
because of small stature, flight lieutenant dominic bruce known ironically medium-sized man . arrived @ colditz in 1942 (after attempting escape spangenberg castle disguised red cross doctor). when new commandant arrived @ colditz in summer of same year, enforced rules restricting prisoners personal belongings. on 8 september, pows told pack excess belongings , assortment of boxes delivered carry them storage. dominic bruce seized chance , packed inside red cross packing case, 3 feet square, file , 40-foot (12 m) rope made of bed sheets. bruce taken storeroom on third floor of german kommandantur , night made escape. when german guards discovered bed rope dangling window following morning , entered storeroom found empty box on bruce had inscribed die luft in colditz gefällt mir nicht mehr. auf wiedersehen! — air in colditz no longer agrees me. see later! bruce recaptured week later trying stow aboard swedish ship in danzig.
the mattress
in late 1940, british officer peter allan (real name, anthony murray allan) found out germans moving several mattresses castle camp , decided way out. let french officers moving mattresses know 1 little bit heavier. allan, fluent german speaker schooling in germany before war, prior attending tonbridge school, dressed himself in hitlerjugend (hitler youth) uniform, stuffed reichsmarks in pockets, , had himself sewn 1 of mattresses. managed himself loaded onto truck, , unloaded empty house within town. cutting himself out of mattress several hours later, when hear silence, climbed out of window garden , walked down road towards freedom.
along 161 km (100 mi) route vienna via stuttgart got lift senior ss officer. allan recalled ride scariest moment of life, vulgar, needed new pair of trousers. allan had been aiming reach poland, after reaching vienna found out of money. @ time americans had not yet entered war, allan decided ask american consulate assistance. refused. allan s stepmother, lois allan (founder of fuzzy felt toys in uk), citizen , felt provide sanctuary because of this. allan had been on run @ point 9 days. broke, exhausted, , hungry, fell asleep in park. upon waking discovered no longer walk owing starvation. afterwards picked , returned colditz, spent next 3 months in solitary confinement.
the bed sheet rope
photo of bed sheet rope used in tea chest escape colditz dominic bruce.
on 12 may 1941, polish lieutenants miki surmanowicz , mietek chmiel, attempted rappel down 36 m (120 ft) wall freedom on rope constructed out of bed sheets. in order position, both men put solitary confinement. after forcing open door , picking locks, made way courtyard, climbed narrow ledge. ledge able cross guard house roof, , climb through open window on outer wall. reusing bed sheet rope, lowered towards ground. caught when german guards heard hobnailed boots of 1 of escapers scraping outside of guardhouse wall. guard spotted escapers shouted hände hoch!! (hands up!!) men descending rope.
the french lady
on 5 june 1941, while returning park castle, british prisoners noticed passing lady had dropped watch. 1 of british called out her, lady kept walking instead of retrieving watch. aroused suspicion of german guards and, upon inspection, revealed french officer, lieutenant chasseurs alpins bouley, dressed respectable woman.
the canteen tunnel
early in 1941, british prisoners had gained access sewers , drains ran beneath floors of castle. entrance these manhole cover in floor of canteen. after initial reconnaissance trips, decided drain should extended, , exit made in small grassy area overlooked canteen window. here, planned climb down hill, , drop down below steep outside east wall of castle. knowing sentry on duty on night of escape, pooled resources , collected 500 reichsmark bribe (100 of paid front). plan took 3 months of preparation. on evening of 29 may 1941, pat reid hid in canteen when locked night. removed bolt lock on door , returned courtyard. after evening meeting, chosen escapers slipped canteen unnoticed. entered tunnel , waited signal proceed. unknown prisoners, had been reported bribed guard. waiting on grassy area hauptmann priem , guard force.
pat reid recalls:
climbed out on grass , rupert barry, behind me, started follow. shadow cast on wall of kommandantur, , @ moment noticed second shadow beside own. held gun. yelled rupert voice behind me shouted, hände hoch! hände hoch!. turned face german officer levelling pistol @ me.
behind him in tunnel 7 british , 4 polish officers. on order remaining men backed tunnel evade detection, germans waiting them outside canteen. not wanting give captors satisfaction, british burst laughter came out.
hauptmann priem ends story:
, guard? kept 100 marks; got leave, promotion , war service cross.
the french tunnel
nine french officers organized long-term tunnel-digging project, longest ever attempted out of colditz castle. deciding exit should on steep drop leading down towards recreation area, outside eastern walls of castle, began scout possible location entrance. problem solved lieutenants cazaumayo , paille, had gained access clock tower in 1940.
the inner courtyard of colditz castle used prison yard when castle pow camp oflag iv-c during world war ii. french prisoners used bell tower (left) access wine cellar tunneled under chapel (behind tree).
their tunnel began @ top of chapel s clock tower , descended 8.6 metres (28.2 ft) ground using shaft contained ropes , weights clock. found weights used hang down shaft, , chains, had been removed. left empty shaft extended clock cellars below. after previous escape attempts cazaumayo , paille, doors (one on each floor) had provided access tower, had been bricked in order prevent further escape attempts. however, sealing tower germans had in essence provided secure location escape tunnel work done without notice. french time gained access tower attics, descended 35 m cellars, , began work on horizontal shaft in june 1941. shaft work continue further 8 months.
the horizontal shaft towards chapel progressed 4 m (13 ft) before hit rock hard dig. decided dig upwards towards chapel floor. here tunnel continued underneath wooden floor of chapel distance of 13.5 m (44.3 ft). this, 7 heavy oak timbers in floor, measuring 0.5 m (1.3 ft) square, had cut through. homemade saws, assembled german table knives, employed task. completed, tunnel dropped vertically far corner of chapel further 5.2 m (17 ft). tunnel proceeded out towards proposed exit 2 further descents, separated shafts in tough stone foundations of castle. tunnel ran horizontal distance of 44 m (144 ft), reaching final depth of 8.6 m (28.2 ft) below ground.
french prisoners, incarcerated in colditz castle during second world war, spent 8 months digging escape tunnel. 5.2m vertical shaft, located in corner of chapel, small part of construction.
tunneling continued 1942. germans knew french digging somewhere, based on noise of tunnelling reverberating through castle @ night. french thought entrance undetectable. however, on 15 january germans searched sealed-off clock tower. noises heard below, , after lowering small boy down shaft, 3 french officers found. after searching cellar thoroughly, entrance tunnel discovered mere 2 m (6.5 ft) short of completion. french convinced had been betrayed 1 of own countrymen, denied guards demanded french pay repair damage (estimated @ 12,000 reichsmark).
the tunnel had electric lighting along whole length, powered electricity chapel. allowed tunnellers see doing , signal arrival of sentries. entrance tunnel in wine cellar concealed 5 large stones covering small door, left little trace of hole. debris transported in sacks hoisted clock tower castle s attics. wine cellar regularly cleaned , redusted using dust harvested attic, hide reddish clay dust not present in cellar ordinarily.
the colditz cock glider
the known photo of original cock glider taken unknown american gi in april 1945.
a replica of colditz glider seen @ imperial war museum in london, england.
in 1 of ambitious escape attempts colditz, idea of building glider dreamt 2 british pilots, jack best , bill goldfinch, had been sent colditz after escaping pow camp. encouraged 2 army officers, tony rolt , david walker, had arrived in camp. tony rolt recommend chapel roof, since noticed obscured view of germans.
the two-man glider assembled bill goldfinch , jack best in lower attic above chapel, , launched roof in order fly across river mulde, 60 m (200 feet) below. runway constructed tables , glider launched using pulley system based on falling metal bathtub full of concrete, accelerate glider 50 km/h (30 mph).
prisoners built false wall hide space in attic built glider out of stolen pieces of wood. since germans accustomed looking down tunnels, not secret workshops, prisoners felt safe detection. however, still placed lookouts, , created electric alarm system, warn builders of approaching guards.
hundreds of ribs had constructed, predominantly bed slats, every other piece of wood pows obtain. wing spars constructed floor boards. control wires made electrical wiring taken unused portions of castle. glider expert, lorne welch, reviewed stress diagrams , calculations made goldfinch.
the resulting glider 109 kg (240 lb) two-seater, high wing, monoplane design. had mooney-style rudder , square elevators. wingspan, 9.75 m (32 ft), , fuselage length 6 m (19 ft). prison sleeping bags of blue , white checked cotton used skin glider, , german ration millet boiled , used seal cloth pores. war ended before glider finished.
although colditz cock never flew, concept fictionalized, depicting successful flight , escape, in 1971 tv movie birdmen starring doug mcclure, chuck connors, rené auberjonois, , richard basehart.
a replica of colditz glider built 2000 channel 4 (uk) 3-part (150 minute total) escape colditz documentary, , flown john lee on first attempt @ raf odiham best , goldfinch in tearful attendance. housed @ imperial war museum in london. channel 4 material edited 60 minutes , shown in in 2001 nazi prison escape on nova television series.
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