The Great Escape

The year was 1942, and the world was at war. The Nazi regime, fueled by an insatiable thirst for power and control, had overrun much of Europe. Among their earliest targets were the Allied prisoners of war, taken from the beaches of France and the deserts of North Africa. As the war dragged on, the Nazis grew increasingly frustrated by the number of successful escapes from their prison camps, a seemingly never-ending stream of Allied airmen and soldiers who managed to evade capture and make their way back to freedom. In response, the Nazis made the decision to relocate a group of the most notorious escape artists to a new, state-of-the-art prison camp specifically designed to be escape-proof. Stalag Luft III, as it was known, was built with the most advanced security measures of the time - layers of barbed wire, electrified fences, and heavily armed guards patrolled the perimeter 24 hours a day. The prisoners, barely held off at bay by the regime's tight grip, were told that this would be their last stop, their last chance to break free before the war finally ended. And yet, even as the Nazi's boasting echoes through the concrete walls of Stalag Luft III, an idea begins to form in the minds of the prisoners - the seeds of a most clever and daring plan. Among them is the indomitable Squadron Leader Roger Bartlett, a seasoned veteran of the war and a master of disguise. There's also the soft-spoken but fiercely determined Flight Lieutenant (now Group Captain) Roger Bushell, a young pilot with a gift for leadership and the skill to rally his fellow prisoners behind a common goal. Rounding out the core group of plotters is the irrepressible Flying Officer Nicholas ("Big X") Brookes, a veteran war pilot and escape artist, and Lieutenant Colonel "Hoffman" Richard Humphreys, an ex-schoolmaster turned prisoner-of-war, who has an innovative and audacious brain. As the prisoners familiarize themselves with the layout and layout of the camp, they start secretly studying the maps and architectural diagrams of the new facility, keenly observing the guards and scrutinizing their behavior, creating personalized 'Maps of Reality' that they use as research for their meticulous preparations for the escape. Meanwhile, back in England, Royal Air Force intelligence has been following the numerous recent escape attempts at Stalag Luft III, suspecting that hundreds of prisoners have been secretly making arrangements for "The Great Escape". Without knowing the exact date of the escape, Britain's Prime Minister Winston Churchill creates plans for rescue missions of pilots who had escaped Stalag Luft III, planning to assign special crews comprised of highly experienced pilots. With every passing day, the prisoners of Stalag Luft III become increasingly convinced that their bid for freedom will come to fruition. They set about gathering resources, tools, and information needed to carry out their daring plan. Working quietly in the dead of night, the escape artists embark on a elaborate construction project in the tunnels beneath the camp. Operating beneath the radar of the prison guards, they burrow a secret network of narrow tunnels that stretch deep into the German countryside, ultimately culminating in five individual escape points - tunnels A, B, C, D, and 'Harry,' that take the shape of a 'man cut' 1,615 yard beneath the main tunnel - named after a nickname used for British soldiers. The tunnels remain hidden in the midst of over 10,000 piles of German-gathered timber. Stalag Luft III's notorious compound B, part of one corner of the Stalag's camp's wooden-slatted compound B complex stands in line at ground level on edge of the tunnel. The highly resourceful prisoners also set about inventing ingenious disguises, designed to foil the guards and carry the prisoners to temporary safe houses hidden deep within the prison perimeter. For instance, a well-known German actor George Gompertz imitates the mock British uniform design while "Old Charley" becomes incredibly effective to the prisoners' disguised plans, the forged German documents and identification badges fabricated through minute attention and craftsmanship detail, serve well planned and creative tools aiding their great escape attempt.