TFH 3/24-25: Stalag Luft III - The Fifty

On March 24, 1944 the Great Escape began. This night, the determined Allied Prisoners of War in the North Compound of Stalag Luft III escaped through the tunnel that they dug and concealed from their Nazi captors. Seventy-six Allied airmen escaped via the tunnel until the escape was discovered and thwarted in the early morning hours of March 25th. Of the 76, three men evaded capture and reached neutral territory. 23 were recaptured and reimprisoned. The remaining 50 were recaptured and murdered in cold blood by their Nazi captors.

Read the true story of the escape, in the wonderful book by Paul Brickhill (he was a witness to the events as a prisoner in the camp).

I'll be watching the dramatized, yet historically accurate, movie version tonight.

Wikipedia has a good overview of the history of Stalag Luft III, and the Great Escape.

And finally, taken from this site, we here at Their Finest Hour remember the Fifty and their sacrifices for the cause of Freedom:

BIRKLAND, Henry - Flight Lieutenant, RCAF [Age 25]
BRETELL, Edward Gordon - Flight Lieutenant, RAF(VR) [29]
BULL, Leslie George - Flight Lieutenant, RAF [Unk.]
BUSHELL, Roger Joyce - Squadron Leader, RAF [33]
CASEY, Michael James - Flight Lieutenant, RAF [Unk.]
CATANACH, James - Squadron Leader, RAAF [22]
CHRISTENSEN, Arnold George - Flight Lieutenant, RNZAF [21]
COCHRAN, Dennis Herbert - Flying Officer, RAF(VR) [23]
CROSS, Ian Kingston Pembroke - Squadron Leader, RAF [25]
ESPELID, Halidor - Lieutenant, Norway [23]
EVANS, Brian Herbert - Flight Lieutenant, RAF [24]
FUGELSANG, Nils - Lieutenant, Norway [Unk.]
GOUWS, J. S. - Lieutenant, SAAF [24]
GRISMAN, William Jack - Flight Lieutenant, RAF [29]
GUNN, Alistair Donald Mackintosh - Flight Lieutenant, RAF(VR) [24]
HAKE, Albert Horace - Warrant Officer, RAAF [27]
HALL, Charles Piers - Flight Lieutenant, RAF(VR) [Unk.]
HAYTER, Anthony Ross Henzell - Flight Lieutenant, RAF [23]
HUMPHREYS, Edgar Spottiswoode - Flight Lieutenant, RAF(VR) [29]
KIDDER, Gordon Arthur - Flight Lieutenant, RCAF [29]
KIERATH, Reginald Victor - Flight Lieutenant, RAAF [29]
KIEWNARSKI, Antoni - Major, Poland [45]
KIRBY-GREEN, Thomas Gresham - Squadron Leader, RAF [Unk.]
KOLANOWSKI, Wlodzimirez - Flying Officer, Poland [30]
KROL, Stanislaw Z. - Flying Officer, Poland [27]
LANGFORD, Patrick Wilson - Flight Lieutenant, RCAF [24]
LEIGH, Thomas Barker - Flight Lieutenant, RAF [25]
LONG, James Leslie Robert - Flight Lieutenant, RAF(VR) [Unk.]
McGARR, Clement Aldwyn Neville - Lieutenant, SAAF [Unk.]
McGILL, George Edward - Flight Lieutenant, RCAF [Unk.]
MARCINKUS, Romas - Flight Lieutenant, RAF(VR) [Unk.]
MILFORD, Harold John - Flight Lieutenant, RAF(VR) [Unk.]
MONDSCHEIN, Jerzy Tomasc - Flying Officer, Poland [35]
PAWLUK, Kazimierz - Flying officer, Poland [27]
PICARD, Henri Albert - Flight Lieutenant, RAF(VR) [Unk.]
POHE, Porokoru Patapu - Flying Officer, RNZAF [29]
SCHEIDHAUER, Bernard W. M. - Sous-Lieutenant, France [22]
SKANZIKAS, Sortis - Pilot Officer, Greece [22]
STEVENS, R. J. - Lieutenant, SAAF [24]
STEWART, Robert Campbell - Flying Officer, RAF(VR) [33]
STOWER, John Gilford - Flight Lieutenant, RAF(VR) [Unk.]
STREET, Denys Oliver - Flight Lieutenant, RAF(VR) [21]
SWAIN, Cyril Douglas - Flight Lieutenant, RAF [Unk.]
TOBOLSKI, Pawel Whilem - Flying Officer, Poland [38]
VALENTA, Arnost - Flight Lieutenant, RAF(VR) [Unk.]
WALENN, Gilbert William - Flight Lieutenant, RAF(VR) [28]
WERNHAM, James Chrystall - Flight Lieutenant, RCAF [27]
WILEY, George William - Flight Lieutenant, RCAF [Unk.]
WILLIAMS, John Edwin Ashley - Squadron Leader, RAF [24]
WILLIAMS, John Francis - Flight Lieutenant, RAF(VR) [26]