1 00:00:03,335 --> 00:00:05,001 {\an1}- A Nazi POW camp in the heart of the Third Reich. 2 00:00:05,126 --> 00:00:07,585 {\an1}- Stalag Luft III was a specially designed camp 3 00:00:07,751 --> 00:00:08,960 {\an1}to incarcerate those men 4 00:00:09,085 --> 00:00:12,001 {\an1}who had undergone escape activities. 5 00:00:12,085 --> 00:00:13,168 {\an1}[dramatic music] 6 00:00:13,251 --> 00:00:14,960 {\an1}- Crawling with spies. 7 00:00:15,085 --> 00:00:18,001 {\an1}- A standard German tactic to deal with escapes 8 00:00:18,085 --> 00:00:22,210 {\an1}and disturbances was to occasionally insert a mole. 9 00:00:22,335 --> 00:00:26,043 {\an1}- One brave British officer organizes an audacious escape. 10 00:00:26,126 --> 00:00:28,793 {\an1}- Bushell also hopes that a mass escape 11 00:00:28,918 --> 00:00:32,251 {\an1}will divert resources away from the fighting on the front. 12 00:00:32,376 --> 00:00:33,585 {\an1}♪ ♪ 13 00:00:33,710 --> 00:00:35,043 {\an1}- Can he and his men break 14 00:00:35,168 --> 00:00:37,543 {\an1}Hitler's iron grip and tunnel to freedom? 15 00:00:37,668 --> 00:00:38,876 {\an1}- The tunnel wasn't long enough. 16 00:00:39,001 --> 00:00:42,126 {\an1}And they were right beneath one of the observation towers. 17 00:00:42,251 --> 00:00:44,876 {\an1}- That wasn't the only problem of the night. 18 00:00:45,043 --> 00:00:46,543 {\an1}- About 1:30 in the morning... 19 00:00:46,668 --> 00:00:49,043 {\an1}♪ ♪ 20 00:00:49,168 --> 00:00:50,668 {\an1}They had a collapse. 21 00:00:53,626 --> 00:00:56,001 {\an1}♪ ♪ 22 00:00:56,085 --> 00:00:59,001 {\an1}- Some of the greatest stories ever told 23 00:00:59,085 --> 00:01:01,251 {\an1}start behind bars. 24 00:01:01,376 --> 00:01:02,543 {\an1}♪ ♪ 25 00:01:02,668 --> 00:01:04,710 {\an1}Locked up in the most notorious prisons 26 00:01:04,793 --> 00:01:06,501 {\an1}in the world, 27 00:01:06,585 --> 00:01:11,043 {\an1}spied on by guards and fellow prisoners. 28 00:01:11,168 --> 00:01:14,543 {\an1}It takes a devious mind to find a way out. 29 00:01:14,668 --> 00:01:16,376 {\an1}♪ ♪ 30 00:01:16,501 --> 00:01:19,126 {\an1}It could lead you to freedom, 31 00:01:19,251 --> 00:01:21,335 {\an1}or it could cost you your life. 32 00:01:21,418 --> 00:01:23,251 {\an1}♪ ♪ 33 00:01:23,418 --> 00:01:27,501 {\an1}But wouldn't you try when you have nothing left to lose? 34 00:01:27,626 --> 00:01:34,376 {\an1}♪ ♪ 35 00:01:34,543 --> 00:01:37,376 {\an1}[dark music] 36 00:01:37,543 --> 00:01:39,585 {\an1}♪ ♪ 37 00:01:39,751 --> 00:01:42,210 {\an1}Stalag Luft III, 38 00:01:42,376 --> 00:01:47,585 {\an1}a most notorious Nazi prison camp of World War II. 39 00:01:47,710 --> 00:01:48,710 {\an1}It holds Allied airmen 40 00:01:48,876 --> 00:01:53,001 {\an1}who have already tried to break out of other POW camps. 41 00:01:53,126 --> 00:01:56,418 {\an1}This one is designed to be different. 42 00:01:56,585 --> 00:01:58,668 {\an1}Escape-proof. 43 00:01:58,793 --> 00:02:00,001 {\an1}♪ ♪ 44 00:02:00,085 --> 00:02:02,210 {\an1}The barracks are up on stilts, 45 00:02:02,335 --> 00:02:05,876 {\an1}making it hard to hide a tunnel entrance. 46 00:02:05,960 --> 00:02:09,085 {\an1}The dirt is soft like sand, 47 00:02:09,210 --> 00:02:12,376 {\an1}so tunnels are highly unstable. 48 00:02:12,543 --> 00:02:15,460 {\an1}And there's an array of seismograph microphones 49 00:02:15,585 --> 00:02:18,543 {\an1}listening for the sounds of digging. 50 00:02:18,710 --> 00:02:19,710 {\an1}♪ ♪ 51 00:02:19,793 --> 00:02:22,918 {\an1}If you try an above-ground escape route, 52 00:02:23,043 --> 00:02:25,543 {\an1}there are two barbed wire fences, 53 00:02:25,710 --> 00:02:28,668 {\an1}armed guards manning the watch towers 54 00:02:28,751 --> 00:02:32,085 {\an1}24 hours a day. 55 00:02:32,210 --> 00:02:34,418 {\an1}And even before you get to the fences, 56 00:02:34,543 --> 00:02:37,585 {\an1}there is a warning trip wire. 57 00:02:37,751 --> 00:02:41,751 {\an1}Anyone who attempts to cross this line 58 00:02:41,876 --> 00:02:43,668 {\an1}will be shot on sight. 59 00:02:43,751 --> 00:02:45,585 {\an1}♪ ♪ 60 00:02:45,751 --> 00:02:49,168 {\an1}But one man is determined to escape 61 00:02:49,251 --> 00:02:52,710 {\an1}and bring hundreds of airmen with him. 62 00:02:52,835 --> 00:02:55,751 {\an1}He envisions a prison break so massive, 63 00:02:55,876 --> 00:02:58,501 {\an1}it could destabilize the German front 64 00:02:58,585 --> 00:03:02,335 {\an1}and turn the tide of the war against the Nazis. 65 00:03:02,418 --> 00:03:04,751 {\an1}This man is 33-year-old 66 00:03:04,876 --> 00:03:08,501 {\an1}RAF squadron leader Roger Bushell. 67 00:03:08,626 --> 00:03:13,585 {\an1}♪ ♪ 68 00:03:13,751 --> 00:03:15,960 {\an1}- Roger Bushell was South African by birth, 69 00:03:16,085 --> 00:03:17,710 {\an1}from an English family. 70 00:03:17,793 --> 00:03:20,335 {\an1}He joined the Royal Auxiliary Air Force, 71 00:03:20,418 --> 00:03:23,460 {\an1}and he was a squadron leader when the war began. 72 00:03:23,585 --> 00:03:24,710 {\an1}Amongst his first assignments 73 00:03:24,835 --> 00:03:29,126 {\an1}was to lead a unit of his squadron over to France 74 00:03:29,251 --> 00:03:33,835 {\an1}to shadow the evacuation of Dunkirk. 75 00:03:33,918 --> 00:03:37,835 {\an1}And Bushell's air war ended almost before it began 76 00:03:37,918 --> 00:03:40,626 {\an1}because he was shot down relatively early in the day 77 00:03:40,751 --> 00:03:43,085 {\an1}on one of his first missions. 78 00:03:43,210 --> 00:03:45,710 {\an1}- Bushell was captured by Nazi forces... 79 00:03:45,835 --> 00:03:47,668 {\an1}♪ ♪ 80 00:03:47,751 --> 00:03:51,335 {\an1}But no POW camp is able to hold him. 81 00:03:51,418 --> 00:03:53,793 {\an1}- Roger Bushell was one of the higher-ranking 82 00:03:53,918 --> 00:03:56,668 {\an1}Air Force prisoners at the beginning, and that, 83 00:03:56,793 --> 00:04:00,710 {\an1}coupled with his immensely strong personality, 84 00:04:00,835 --> 00:04:02,043 {\an1}kind of propelled him 85 00:04:02,210 --> 00:04:04,876 {\an1}to the front of the escape organizations. 86 00:04:05,043 --> 00:04:08,210 {\an1}- As long as there are prisoners during the war, 87 00:04:08,376 --> 00:04:12,251 {\an1}there are plans made by some of them to escape. 88 00:04:12,418 --> 00:04:14,960 {\an1}Some of these dashes to freedom are organized 89 00:04:15,085 --> 00:04:19,168 {\an1}by groups of soldiers, and some are solo attempts 90 00:04:19,250 --> 00:04:23,293 {\an1}by prisoners desperate to break free. 91 00:04:23,418 --> 00:04:25,710 {\an1}- He escaped a number of times, 92 00:04:25,835 --> 00:04:28,375 {\an1}but the one that really got him into trouble, 93 00:04:28,460 --> 00:04:31,585 {\an1}he and a colleague escaped from a train, 94 00:04:31,710 --> 00:04:34,293 {\an1}and his colleague was Czech, and so their intention 95 00:04:34,418 --> 00:04:37,500 {\an1}was to head towards Czechoslovakia. 96 00:04:37,625 --> 00:04:41,168 {\an1}- In Czechoslovakia, Bushell and his colleagues 97 00:04:41,293 --> 00:04:43,210 {\an1}find shelter with a local family 98 00:04:43,335 --> 00:04:46,585 {\an1}sympathetic to the Allies' cause. 99 00:04:46,750 --> 00:04:48,668 {\an1}- The only thing that went wrong 100 00:04:48,750 --> 00:04:50,668 {\an1}was they found themselves in Czechoslovakia 101 00:04:50,793 --> 00:04:55,210 {\an1}at roughly the time the Reich commissar, Reinhard Heydrich, 102 00:04:55,293 --> 00:04:57,835 {\an1}was assassinated, and the entire country 103 00:04:57,918 --> 00:05:01,876 {\an1}went into a kind of police operation lockdown. 104 00:05:02,001 --> 00:05:04,876 {\an1}Everyone who was remotely suspicious was swept up, 105 00:05:05,001 --> 00:05:06,876 {\an1}including Roger Bushell. 106 00:05:07,001 --> 00:05:09,460 {\an1}- Bushell and the other soldier are caught, 107 00:05:09,585 --> 00:05:10,793 {\an1}and his link to the Czech family 108 00:05:10,918 --> 00:05:14,918 {\an1}is eventually uncovered by anonymous sources. 109 00:05:15,043 --> 00:05:17,793 {\an1}- And the family that sheltered these two airmen 110 00:05:17,918 --> 00:05:21,835 {\an1}were executed down to the last person. 111 00:05:21,918 --> 00:05:22,875 {\an1}Bushell learned this. 112 00:05:23,000 --> 00:05:26,418 {\an1}He was, by all accounts, not only outraged, 113 00:05:26,543 --> 00:05:29,875 {\an1}but almost broken. 114 00:05:29,960 --> 00:05:33,085 {\an1}It sharpened his hatred of Nazis, 115 00:05:33,210 --> 00:05:35,375 {\an1}which became almost pathological, 116 00:05:35,543 --> 00:05:38,668 {\an1}and it made him almost obsessively determined 117 00:05:38,750 --> 00:05:42,085 {\an1}to do whatever he could to undermine, disrupt, 118 00:05:42,250 --> 00:05:45,585 {\an1}disturb the Nazi regime. 119 00:05:45,750 --> 00:05:47,585 {\an1}- Bushell is taken to the one place 120 00:05:47,750 --> 00:05:51,668 {\an1}that Nazis know can hold him: Stalag Luft III. 121 00:05:51,793 --> 00:05:54,668 {\an1}[dramatic music] 122 00:05:54,793 --> 00:05:58,375 {\an1}♪ ♪ 123 00:05:58,500 --> 00:05:59,710 {\an1}- Stalag Luft III was a brand-new camp, 124 00:05:59,793 --> 00:06:02,543 {\an1}and what it was intending to do was bring in people who tried 125 00:06:02,668 --> 00:06:05,085 {\an1}to escape from other camps from across Germany. 126 00:06:05,210 --> 00:06:09,335 {\an1}- It's considered escape-proof by the Nazi regime, 127 00:06:09,418 --> 00:06:11,835 {\an1}but that doesn't scare Bushell. 128 00:06:11,960 --> 00:06:13,710 {\an1}As soon as he arrives, 129 00:06:13,835 --> 00:06:16,375 {\an1}Bushell is already thinking about escaping. 130 00:06:16,500 --> 00:06:19,625 {\an1}- He is very quickly made the leader 131 00:06:19,750 --> 00:06:22,500 {\an1}of the camp's escape committee, 132 00:06:22,625 --> 00:06:24,793 {\an1}known as the X Organization. 133 00:06:24,918 --> 00:06:28,835 {\an1}He becomes the Big X of the committee. 134 00:06:28,960 --> 00:06:32,043 {\an1}- Roger was Big X, and I think that was a title 135 00:06:32,168 --> 00:06:36,418 {\an1}he wore quite proudly and that was never challenged. 136 00:06:36,543 --> 00:06:40,168 {\an1}- Bushell is clearly the mastermind of the escape, 137 00:06:40,293 --> 00:06:42,835 {\an1}but he doesn't act alone. 138 00:06:42,960 --> 00:06:44,293 {\an1}♪ ♪ 139 00:06:44,418 --> 00:06:46,460 {\an1}Jerzy Mondschein 140 00:06:46,585 --> 00:06:48,335 {\an1}is the engineer. 141 00:06:48,418 --> 00:06:50,543 {\an1}Tim Walenn 142 00:06:50,710 --> 00:06:53,210 {\an1}is the document forger. 143 00:06:53,335 --> 00:06:58,043 {\an1}Only a few other men know the full scope of the plan. 144 00:06:58,168 --> 00:07:01,460 {\an1}Bushell is in command of the escape committee, 145 00:07:01,585 --> 00:07:05,710 {\an1}but now he needs an actual escape plan. 146 00:07:05,835 --> 00:07:08,251 {\an1}- Tunnelling is the most conventional, 147 00:07:08,418 --> 00:07:10,460 {\an1}and therefore the most expected, 148 00:07:10,585 --> 00:07:11,835 {\an1}means of escape. 149 00:07:11,960 --> 00:07:13,543 {\an1}The Germans are actively looking 150 00:07:13,668 --> 00:07:14,668 {\an1}for tunnels in the camp. 151 00:07:14,793 --> 00:07:17,543 {\an1}And there are dozens of attempts to tunnel out. 152 00:07:17,625 --> 00:07:19,500 {\an1}Bushell and the other men know this, 153 00:07:19,625 --> 00:07:21,668 {\an1}so he comes up with an audacious plan 154 00:07:21,793 --> 00:07:26,543 {\an1}to simultaneously construct not one, not two, 155 00:07:26,625 --> 00:07:29,960 {\an1}but three tunnels, the idea here being that 156 00:07:30,085 --> 00:07:33,543 {\an1}if the Germans were to discover one tunnel and destroy it, 157 00:07:33,710 --> 00:07:37,168 {\an1}it was highly unlikely that they would ever assume 158 00:07:37,250 --> 00:07:41,375 {\an1}that one or two other tunnels of the same magnitude 159 00:07:41,500 --> 00:07:44,793 {\an1}were being constructed at the same time. 160 00:07:44,918 --> 00:07:46,375 {\an1}- The Nazis have a special team 161 00:07:46,543 --> 00:07:49,625 {\an1}in charge of discovering escape attempts, 162 00:07:49,750 --> 00:07:53,043 {\an1}elite soldiers nicknamed Ferrets. 163 00:07:53,210 --> 00:07:55,500 {\an1}- The Ferrets have been brought in specifically 164 00:07:55,625 --> 00:07:57,710 {\an1}by the Luftwaffe as part of their plan 165 00:07:57,875 --> 00:08:00,460 {\an1}to make a kind of escape-proof camp, 166 00:08:00,585 --> 00:08:03,126 {\an1}specially trained guards who had experience 167 00:08:03,251 --> 00:08:05,210 {\an1}with prisoners in the past. 168 00:08:05,293 --> 00:08:08,460 {\an1}And the Ferrets were tremendously effective. 169 00:08:08,585 --> 00:08:11,210 {\an1}They were worthy adversaries for the prisoners. 170 00:08:11,376 --> 00:08:12,918 {\an1}And I think both sides 171 00:08:13,043 --> 00:08:14,835 {\an1}maybe not enjoyed this battle of wills, 172 00:08:14,960 --> 00:08:18,918 {\an1}but they certainly entered into it with great spirit. 173 00:08:19,043 --> 00:08:20,585 {\an1}- One of the things that Roger Bushell 174 00:08:20,710 --> 00:08:22,543 {\an1}and his mates worked out 175 00:08:22,668 --> 00:08:27,125 {\an1}was how important it was to have absolute secrecy. 176 00:08:27,250 --> 00:08:28,625 {\an1}- The tunnels were code-named 177 00:08:28,750 --> 00:08:30,085 {\an1}Tom, Dick, and Harry. 178 00:08:30,250 --> 00:08:32,918 {\an1}- Tom, Dick, and Harry. 179 00:08:33,043 --> 00:08:35,418 {\an1}You have to love British humor. 180 00:08:35,543 --> 00:08:38,250 {\an1}- They wanted to make sure that the prisoners didn't go, 181 00:08:38,418 --> 00:08:39,710 {\an1}"How's the tunnel going?" 182 00:08:39,835 --> 00:08:42,000 {\an1}They might say, you know, "How's Dick today?" 183 00:08:42,125 --> 00:08:42,960 {\an1}"How's Tom today?" 184 00:08:43,085 --> 00:08:44,710 {\an1}"How's Harry today?" 185 00:08:44,876 --> 00:08:47,376 {\an1}- The guards aren't the only ones meant to be fooled 186 00:08:47,460 --> 00:08:49,668 {\an1}by the code names. 187 00:08:49,751 --> 00:08:52,626 {\an1}- A standard German tactic to deal with escapes 188 00:08:52,751 --> 00:08:55,168 {\an1}and disturbances was to occasionally insert 189 00:08:55,251 --> 00:08:57,376 {\an1}in a prison camp a mole. 190 00:08:57,501 --> 00:08:58,710 {\an1}This was someone who would come in 191 00:08:58,876 --> 00:09:01,126 {\an1}with a transport of prisoners, who looked like a prisoner, 192 00:09:01,251 --> 00:09:03,210 {\an1}talked like a prisoner, seemed to be a prisoner, 193 00:09:03,376 --> 00:09:06,626 {\an1}but was working for the enemy. 194 00:09:06,751 --> 00:09:09,543 {\an1}And the POWs knew this was likely to happen. 195 00:09:09,710 --> 00:09:12,168 {\an1}And so it became standard practice 196 00:09:12,293 --> 00:09:15,710 {\an1}that whenever a new transport of prisoners came in, 197 00:09:15,876 --> 00:09:17,335 {\an1}every single one of them had to be vouched for 198 00:09:17,418 --> 00:09:18,710 {\an1}by someone already in the camp. 199 00:09:18,793 --> 00:09:21,835 {\an1}Whether someone who had been on the same squadron as them 200 00:09:21,918 --> 00:09:25,335 {\an1}or went to the same school or were from the same town. 201 00:09:25,418 --> 00:09:27,668 {\an1}If they couldn't find that person, they would say, 202 00:09:27,793 --> 00:09:30,043 {\an1}"Where you from?" "Oh, I'm from Brighton." 203 00:09:30,126 --> 00:09:32,293 {\an1}So half an hour later, another prisoner 204 00:09:32,418 --> 00:09:33,210 {\an1}who they knew were from Brighton 205 00:09:33,335 --> 00:09:34,460 {\an1}would just sort of turn up 206 00:09:34,585 --> 00:09:37,335 {\an1}and ask a bunch of questions about what Brighton was like. 207 00:09:37,418 --> 00:09:39,710 {\an1}"Where were the good pubs? What were the good streets? 208 00:09:39,793 --> 00:09:40,793 {\an1}Where were the good bars?" 209 00:09:40,918 --> 00:09:43,210 {\an1}And would know in a matter of minutes 210 00:09:43,293 --> 00:09:44,543 {\an1}whether the supposed airman 211 00:09:44,710 --> 00:09:46,085 {\an1}was actually from Brighton or not. 212 00:09:46,210 --> 00:09:48,210 {\an1}If it was clear that this individual 213 00:09:48,293 --> 00:09:50,043 {\an1}was not who he claimed to be, 214 00:09:50,210 --> 00:09:51,876 {\an1}typically, the response of the prisoners 215 00:09:51,960 --> 00:09:53,876 {\an1}was to let the Germans know, 216 00:09:54,001 --> 00:09:56,043 {\an1}"We have this fellow. We know he's not one of us. 217 00:09:56,126 --> 00:09:57,210 {\an1}"He's one of you. 218 00:09:57,293 --> 00:09:59,751 {\an1}"Remove him by 6:00 219 00:09:59,918 --> 00:10:02,376 {\an1}or we won't be responsible for his well-being." 220 00:10:02,460 --> 00:10:04,376 {\an1}And that always worked. 221 00:10:04,460 --> 00:10:05,710 {\an1}♪ ♪ 222 00:10:05,876 --> 00:10:08,543 {\an1}- Weeding out moles is a big part of the plan 223 00:10:08,626 --> 00:10:10,501 {\an1}because of the sheer number of prisoners 224 00:10:10,585 --> 00:10:13,460 {\an1}involved in the escape attempt. 225 00:10:13,585 --> 00:10:15,793 {\an1}- The other audacious part of Bushell's plan 226 00:10:15,918 --> 00:10:17,543 {\an1}is the sheer number of soldiers 227 00:10:17,668 --> 00:10:20,543 {\an1}that he plans to evacuate from the camp. 228 00:10:20,668 --> 00:10:24,543 {\an1}Most prison breaks involve a dozen men. 229 00:10:24,626 --> 00:10:30,460 {\an1}He proposes to free upwards of 200 POWs. 230 00:10:30,585 --> 00:10:32,543 {\an1}- The plan was 200 men to escape, 231 00:10:32,668 --> 00:10:36,085 {\an1}but 600 men to actually enable them to escape. 232 00:10:36,251 --> 00:10:37,501 {\an1}- The hope, of course, 233 00:10:37,585 --> 00:10:39,460 {\an1}is to free as many people as possible, 234 00:10:39,585 --> 00:10:43,626 {\an1}but Bushell also hopes that a mass escape 235 00:10:43,751 --> 00:10:47,210 {\an1}will force the Germans to begin an extensive manhunt 236 00:10:47,335 --> 00:10:49,085 {\an1}that will divert resources 237 00:10:49,210 --> 00:10:50,960 {\an1}away from the fighting on the front 238 00:10:51,085 --> 00:10:53,418 {\an1}and towards the recapture of dozens, 239 00:10:53,543 --> 00:10:55,460 {\an1}or even hundreds, of prisoners. 240 00:10:55,585 --> 00:10:57,626 {\an1}♪ ♪ 241 00:10:57,751 --> 00:11:00,376 {\an1}- Roger Bushell believed that an escape of 200, 242 00:11:00,460 --> 00:11:04,460 {\an1}250 airmen would create such chaos in Germany, 243 00:11:04,585 --> 00:11:07,043 {\an1}such chaos within the Nazi regime, 244 00:11:07,168 --> 00:11:09,293 {\an1}that it would have incalculable damage 245 00:11:09,418 --> 00:11:12,085 {\an1}on the German leadership. 246 00:11:12,210 --> 00:11:14,210 {\an1}- But Bushell knows 247 00:11:14,335 --> 00:11:16,418 {\an1}that persuading more than 200 airmen 248 00:11:16,585 --> 00:11:19,668 {\an1}to risk death by attempting an escape 249 00:11:19,751 --> 00:11:21,626 {\an1}is a tall order. 250 00:11:21,751 --> 00:11:24,501 {\an1}So he gathers them inside this hut 251 00:11:24,585 --> 00:11:27,793 {\an1}and makes the speech of his life. 252 00:11:27,918 --> 00:11:31,043 {\an1}"Everyone here in this room is living on borrowed time," 253 00:11:31,210 --> 00:11:32,710 {\an1}he says. 254 00:11:32,876 --> 00:11:36,001 {\an1}"By rights, we should all be dead. 255 00:11:36,085 --> 00:11:39,668 {\an1}"The only reason God allowed us this extra ration of life 256 00:11:39,793 --> 00:11:43,043 {\an1}"is so we can make life hell for the Hun. 257 00:11:43,210 --> 00:11:47,793 {\an1}"Three bloody deep, bloody long tunnels will be dug. 258 00:11:47,918 --> 00:11:52,085 {\an1}"Tom, Dick, and Harry. 259 00:11:52,210 --> 00:11:53,918 {\an1}One will succeed." 260 00:11:54,043 --> 00:11:58,335 {\an1}♪ ♪ 261 00:12:02,585 --> 00:12:05,543 {\an1}[dramatic music] 262 00:12:05,668 --> 00:12:06,668 {\an1}♪ ♪ 263 00:12:06,793 --> 00:12:09,626 {\an1}- Digging your way out of Stalag Luft III 264 00:12:09,751 --> 00:12:12,835 {\an1}is almost impossibly hard. 265 00:12:12,918 --> 00:12:16,668 {\an1}First, any tunnel needs to be more than 300 feet long 266 00:12:16,751 --> 00:12:19,460 {\an1}to make it to the safety of the forest. 267 00:12:19,585 --> 00:12:21,876 {\an1}Then you have the unstable sand, 268 00:12:22,001 --> 00:12:24,001 {\an1}the seismograph microphones, 269 00:12:24,126 --> 00:12:25,501 {\an1}the lack of digging equipment, 270 00:12:25,626 --> 00:12:29,168 {\an1}and, of course, the Ferrets. 271 00:12:29,251 --> 00:12:31,835 {\an1}The job of these elite Nazi soldiers 272 00:12:31,918 --> 00:12:33,876 {\an1}is to spy on the POWs 273 00:12:34,043 --> 00:12:37,251 {\an1}and root out any tunnel before it's complete. 274 00:12:37,376 --> 00:12:42,251 {\an1}So the Allied airmen set up a spy network of their own... 275 00:12:42,418 --> 00:12:44,210 {\an1}to spy on the spies. 276 00:12:44,335 --> 00:12:50,085 {\an1}♪ ♪ 277 00:12:50,251 --> 00:12:51,918 {\an1}- Bushell's organization quickly realized 278 00:12:52,043 --> 00:12:54,210 {\an1}that the only way to deal with the Ferrets 279 00:12:54,335 --> 00:12:56,710 {\an1}was to essentially keep them monitored 280 00:12:56,835 --> 00:12:59,543 {\an1}every second they were in the compound. 281 00:12:59,668 --> 00:13:00,918 {\an1}- Having what they call stooges, 282 00:13:01,043 --> 00:13:02,585 {\an1}these people who stooged around, 283 00:13:02,710 --> 00:13:04,210 {\an1}they kept an eye on things. 284 00:13:04,293 --> 00:13:06,376 {\an1}So you'd have a huge organization. 285 00:13:06,501 --> 00:13:09,835 {\an1}- The stooges are vital to the organization. 286 00:13:09,918 --> 00:13:11,835 {\an1}But these watchful eyes 287 00:13:11,960 --> 00:13:15,043 {\an1}are also being kept in the dark by Bushell. 288 00:13:15,168 --> 00:13:19,210 {\an1}Only Mondschein, Walenn, and a handful of other men 289 00:13:19,335 --> 00:13:22,126 {\an1}know the full scope of the plan. 290 00:13:22,251 --> 00:13:25,543 {\an1}- Nobody was allowed to know anything more 291 00:13:25,626 --> 00:13:28,001 {\an1}than they absolutely needed to know. 292 00:13:28,085 --> 00:13:31,168 {\an1}So there was this plan hatched to dig these tunnels, 293 00:13:31,293 --> 00:13:33,918 {\an1}but perhaps only four or five people knew about it. 294 00:13:34,085 --> 00:13:37,793 {\an1}Somebody was asked, "If that person over there 295 00:13:37,918 --> 00:13:40,918 {\an1}"takes his cap off and puts it back on again, 296 00:13:41,043 --> 00:13:42,376 {\an1}"I would like you to turn your cap around 297 00:13:42,460 --> 00:13:44,876 {\an1}and turn it the other way; that's your job." 298 00:13:45,043 --> 00:13:46,876 {\an1}And he didn't know what that was for, 299 00:13:47,043 --> 00:13:49,085 {\an1}but the point was that that was a signal 300 00:13:49,251 --> 00:13:52,668 {\an1}to somebody else to scratch their armpit, 301 00:13:52,793 --> 00:13:55,126 {\an1}and that that was a signal for somebody else 302 00:13:55,251 --> 00:13:59,168 {\an1}to go into the camp and say, "There's a guard coming." 303 00:13:59,293 --> 00:14:01,376 {\an1}♪ ♪ 304 00:14:01,501 --> 00:14:03,710 {\an1}Nobody knew why they were scratching their armpits 305 00:14:03,876 --> 00:14:05,210 {\an1}or turning their caps around, 306 00:14:05,293 --> 00:14:08,626 {\an1}but it was a vital piece of the jigsaw, 307 00:14:08,751 --> 00:14:10,293 {\an1}and Roger Bushell knew 308 00:14:10,418 --> 00:14:13,126 {\an1}how to get communication channels going 309 00:14:13,251 --> 00:14:14,835 {\an1}so that if anybody was caught, 310 00:14:14,918 --> 00:14:16,835 {\an1}they just didn't know anything. 311 00:14:16,960 --> 00:14:20,043 {\an1}- With his counter-spy network in place, 312 00:14:20,126 --> 00:14:23,501 {\an1}Bushell turns his attention to the dig. 313 00:14:23,585 --> 00:14:26,668 {\an1}[dramatic music] 314 00:14:26,751 --> 00:14:28,210 {\an1}♪ ♪ 315 00:14:28,335 --> 00:14:30,501 {\an1}- The soil around the prison was quite sandy, 316 00:14:30,585 --> 00:14:32,668 {\an1}which is easy to excavate, 317 00:14:32,751 --> 00:14:35,085 {\an1}but it's very difficult to stabilize. 318 00:14:35,210 --> 00:14:37,835 {\an1}Just think about sand running through your fingers. 319 00:14:37,960 --> 00:14:40,043 {\an1}They came up with this ingenious scheme 320 00:14:40,210 --> 00:14:44,210 {\an1}of removing slats from the beds in the prison, 321 00:14:44,376 --> 00:14:46,751 {\an1}and they would smuggle these boards over to the room 322 00:14:46,876 --> 00:14:48,210 {\an1}where they were doing the tunnel, 323 00:14:48,293 --> 00:14:50,751 {\an1}and then they would use the boards to support the ground. 324 00:14:50,876 --> 00:14:52,001 {\an1}- How are you gonna join them together? 325 00:14:52,085 --> 00:14:54,710 {\an1}Where were you gonna get hammer and nails from? 326 00:14:54,835 --> 00:14:56,251 {\an1}"Oh, we can't use hammer and nails, 327 00:14:56,376 --> 00:14:57,626 {\an1}'cause that'll be too noisy." 328 00:14:57,751 --> 00:15:00,876 {\an1}The POWs needed bed boards 329 00:15:01,043 --> 00:15:03,793 {\an1}to fit perfectly along the tunnel, 330 00:15:03,918 --> 00:15:07,293 {\an1}and they needed a technique that would enable these boards 331 00:15:07,418 --> 00:15:10,376 {\an1}to be assembled in terrible conditions, 332 00:15:10,501 --> 00:15:12,835 {\an1}in the dark or the near darkness. 333 00:15:12,960 --> 00:15:15,043 {\an1}It had to be an easy system to use. 334 00:15:15,210 --> 00:15:17,876 {\an1}And what they did was they took the bed boards 335 00:15:18,001 --> 00:15:19,918 {\an1}like this one and-- 336 00:15:20,043 --> 00:15:21,168 {\an1}well, this is not a bed board. 337 00:15:21,251 --> 00:15:22,376 {\an1}It's just a little replica. 338 00:15:22,460 --> 00:15:27,793 {\an1}They would cut these little bits out of the ends, 339 00:15:27,918 --> 00:15:30,543 {\an1}and then what they could do 340 00:15:30,626 --> 00:15:33,668 {\an1}is they could make hundreds of these bed boards 341 00:15:33,751 --> 00:15:35,668 {\an1}all looking identically the same. 342 00:15:35,793 --> 00:15:38,001 {\an1}They fit beautifully together 343 00:15:38,126 --> 00:15:40,668 {\an1}like kind of a tongue-and-groove system. 344 00:15:40,793 --> 00:15:42,210 {\an1}They had to be really careful 345 00:15:42,293 --> 00:15:45,043 {\an1}to make sure they didn't knock anything out of place, 346 00:15:45,168 --> 00:15:49,043 {\an1}because soon as you knock it out of place, 347 00:15:49,168 --> 00:15:50,585 {\an1}you get a collapse. 348 00:15:50,710 --> 00:15:52,335 {\an1}And they had lots of collapses. 349 00:15:52,418 --> 00:15:54,293 {\an1}- The tunnel was about 350 feet long, 350 00:15:54,418 --> 00:15:56,585 {\an1}but the shafts needed to be supported as well, 351 00:15:56,751 --> 00:16:00,876 {\an1}so you're talking about 400 feet or so of opening. 352 00:16:01,043 --> 00:16:03,626 {\an1}- It means lots and lots of bed boards-- 353 00:16:03,751 --> 00:16:05,960 {\an1}thousands of bed boards we're talking about here 354 00:16:06,085 --> 00:16:08,543 {\an1}that would have to be harvested. 355 00:16:08,710 --> 00:16:11,168 {\an1}- The beds aren't the only creature comforts 356 00:16:11,293 --> 00:16:14,626 {\an1}the prisoners sacrificed for the escape plan. 357 00:16:14,751 --> 00:16:17,585 {\an1}[soft rattling] 358 00:16:17,710 --> 00:16:20,168 {\an1}[upbeat music playing] 359 00:16:20,251 --> 00:16:22,501 {\an1}- They were allowed to play music in their huts. 360 00:16:22,585 --> 00:16:25,626 {\an1}♪ ♪ 361 00:16:25,751 --> 00:16:30,126 {\an1}Inside the gramophone record player was a spring. 362 00:16:30,251 --> 00:16:32,960 {\an1}It's metal, and when you unwind it, 363 00:16:33,085 --> 00:16:35,876 {\an1}it's really hard and really strong. 364 00:16:36,001 --> 00:16:39,043 {\an1}[dramatic music] 365 00:16:39,126 --> 00:16:42,793 {\an1}And what you could do is you could stretch this out 366 00:16:42,918 --> 00:16:46,751 {\an1}and then, with a file, cut teeth into it. 367 00:16:46,918 --> 00:16:49,293 {\an1}[imitates saw scraping] 368 00:16:49,418 --> 00:16:51,210 {\an1}That's your saw. 369 00:16:51,335 --> 00:16:54,668 {\an1}- With their main tool set figured out, 370 00:16:54,793 --> 00:16:57,210 {\an1}now they just have to dig. 371 00:16:57,335 --> 00:17:01,085 {\an1}And dig...and dig. 372 00:17:01,251 --> 00:17:03,668 {\an1}- So what Bushell and co. also wanted to do 373 00:17:03,793 --> 00:17:05,709 {\an1}is dig a tunnel that was so deep 374 00:17:05,834 --> 00:17:10,251 {\an1}that it would not be picked up by any kind of microphones. 375 00:17:10,418 --> 00:17:12,876 {\an1}- These tunnels need to be deep. 376 00:17:12,959 --> 00:17:16,293 {\an1}They need to be 30 feet below ground. 377 00:17:16,418 --> 00:17:20,209 {\an1}That is a significant depth to tunnel down to 378 00:17:20,376 --> 00:17:24,043 {\an1}before beginning to tunnel out beyond the camp wall. 379 00:17:24,168 --> 00:17:25,376 {\an1}That could be hundreds of feet. 380 00:17:25,543 --> 00:17:28,459 {\an1}So that in and of itself is a significant undertaking. 381 00:17:28,584 --> 00:17:31,543 {\an1}The excavated sand, once excavated, 382 00:17:31,668 --> 00:17:33,960 {\an1}also takes up significantly greater volume 383 00:17:34,085 --> 00:17:36,376 {\an1}than it does when it's compacted in the ground. 384 00:17:36,501 --> 00:17:38,001 {\an1}♪ ♪ 385 00:17:38,085 --> 00:17:39,751 {\an1}- Based on the size and the length, 386 00:17:39,876 --> 00:17:43,585 {\an1}it's about 125 tons of material was removed 387 00:17:43,710 --> 00:17:46,001 {\an1}and had to be disposed of. 388 00:17:46,085 --> 00:17:48,376 {\an1}The hard part was how to dispose of the ground 389 00:17:48,460 --> 00:17:50,376 {\an1}without the Germans noticing. 390 00:17:50,501 --> 00:17:54,251 {\an1}♪ ♪ 391 00:17:54,376 --> 00:18:00,668 {\an1}- What comes up must-- well, in this case, disappear. 392 00:18:00,751 --> 00:18:04,501 {\an1}But where in a heavily patrolled Nazi prison camp 393 00:18:04,585 --> 00:18:08,710 {\an1}will the POWs dispose of literally tons of sand 394 00:18:08,793 --> 00:18:10,585 {\an1}without being caught? 395 00:18:10,710 --> 00:18:16,335 {\an1}♪ ♪ 396 00:18:20,751 --> 00:18:23,543 {\an1}[dramatic music] 397 00:18:23,626 --> 00:18:29,251 {\an1}♪ ♪ 398 00:18:29,376 --> 00:18:31,876 {\an1}- The tunnels are underway. 399 00:18:32,043 --> 00:18:34,210 {\an1}Squadron leader Bushell and his team, 400 00:18:34,335 --> 00:18:35,960 {\an1}the X Organization, 401 00:18:36,085 --> 00:18:37,918 {\an1}are smuggling thousands of bed boards 402 00:18:38,085 --> 00:18:39,043 {\an1}out of their prison huts 403 00:18:39,168 --> 00:18:42,001 {\an1}to keep the tunnels from collapsing, 404 00:18:42,085 --> 00:18:43,293 {\an1}and they're digging deep enough 405 00:18:43,418 --> 00:18:47,751 {\an1}to stay out of range of the seismograph microphones, 406 00:18:47,918 --> 00:18:50,876 {\an1}but there's still one problem: 407 00:18:50,960 --> 00:18:53,543 {\an1}what to do with all this dirt. 408 00:18:53,668 --> 00:18:54,710 {\an1}♪ ♪ 409 00:18:54,835 --> 00:18:57,460 {\an1}[tense music] 410 00:18:57,585 --> 00:19:01,085 {\an1}- All sorts of things became difficult with a long tunnel. 411 00:19:01,251 --> 00:19:04,710 {\an1}Firstly, the sheer quantity of sand 412 00:19:04,876 --> 00:19:07,876 {\an1}that you've got to remove and dispose of. 413 00:19:07,960 --> 00:19:09,335 {\an1}- The yellow sands 414 00:19:09,418 --> 00:19:11,376 {\an1}that the prisoners had to deal with, 415 00:19:11,501 --> 00:19:13,335 {\an1}it's only when you start to dig into the ground 416 00:19:13,418 --> 00:19:14,918 {\an1}that you really realize, 417 00:19:15,043 --> 00:19:17,876 {\an1}"Wow, that stuff shines like gold." 418 00:19:18,001 --> 00:19:20,876 {\an1}Here is a vial of the sand 419 00:19:21,001 --> 00:19:23,376 {\an1}from the camp at Stalag Luft III. 420 00:19:23,501 --> 00:19:26,835 {\an1}The fact that it's so golden was a real challenge 421 00:19:26,918 --> 00:19:30,085 {\an1}to find places to get rid of it. 422 00:19:30,210 --> 00:19:32,376 {\an1}The Ferrets would be on a constant lookout 423 00:19:32,501 --> 00:19:35,293 {\an1}for any sign of this golden, shining sand 424 00:19:35,418 --> 00:19:37,710 {\an1}across the floor of the camp. 425 00:19:37,835 --> 00:19:39,210 {\an1}♪ ♪ 426 00:19:39,293 --> 00:19:42,001 {\an1}[dramatic music] 427 00:19:42,126 --> 00:19:47,668 {\an1}A naval aviator had the idea of using long pouches of sand 428 00:19:47,751 --> 00:19:51,210 {\an1}made out of long johns down the trousers. 429 00:19:51,293 --> 00:19:54,710 {\an1}- They disposed of the sand by sprinkling the sand 430 00:19:54,793 --> 00:19:56,960 {\an1}out of bags that were up their trousers, 431 00:19:57,085 --> 00:19:58,793 {\an1}and they were sprinkling the sand out 432 00:19:58,918 --> 00:20:01,710 {\an1}over these vegetable gardens. 433 00:20:01,876 --> 00:20:03,626 {\an1}♪ ♪ 434 00:20:03,751 --> 00:20:06,293 {\an1}- Few prisoners knew about the tunnels. 435 00:20:06,418 --> 00:20:11,001 {\an1}Even fewer knew the locations of the entrances. 436 00:20:11,126 --> 00:20:14,168 {\an1}- One of the most important things about the tunnels 437 00:20:14,293 --> 00:20:16,293 {\an1}is the entrance. 438 00:20:16,418 --> 00:20:19,085 {\an1}One of the significant things that the Germans tried to do 439 00:20:19,210 --> 00:20:21,710 {\an1}was to put the huts so they were on stilts, 440 00:20:21,793 --> 00:20:25,126 {\an1}and therefore, getting down through the floor of the hut, 441 00:20:25,251 --> 00:20:27,626 {\an1}down to the floor of the camp, 442 00:20:27,751 --> 00:20:29,793 {\an1}would mean anybody looking at it 443 00:20:29,918 --> 00:20:32,335 {\an1}would observe the activity. 444 00:20:32,418 --> 00:20:34,835 {\an1}- The huts were raised off the ground. 445 00:20:34,960 --> 00:20:37,376 {\an1}Plumbing and other essential infrastructure 446 00:20:37,501 --> 00:20:39,501 {\an1}enters through the floor. 447 00:20:39,585 --> 00:20:42,585 {\an1}Grates are cemented into a four-sided barrier 448 00:20:42,751 --> 00:20:46,293 {\an1}to keep these wires and pipes away from the elements. 449 00:20:46,418 --> 00:20:49,376 {\an1}The prisoners made sure to place their opening 450 00:20:49,460 --> 00:20:54,251 {\an1}directly above this small brick and concrete sub wall. 451 00:20:54,376 --> 00:20:57,376 {\an1}- It was supporting things like washrooms, 452 00:20:57,501 --> 00:21:00,085 {\an1}and this meant that they had a concrete stilt 453 00:21:00,251 --> 00:21:01,335 {\an1}with bricks around it. 454 00:21:01,460 --> 00:21:04,501 {\an1}And if you were capable of digging down into that, 455 00:21:04,626 --> 00:21:06,501 {\an1}you would then go straight down into the ground, 456 00:21:06,585 --> 00:21:09,210 {\an1}and you wouldn't be visible, because you go right through 457 00:21:09,376 --> 00:21:13,543 {\an1}the heart of one of those concrete supports. 458 00:21:13,626 --> 00:21:17,168 {\an1}- The trap door was the weakest part of any tunnel 459 00:21:17,251 --> 00:21:19,210 {\an1}because it was constantly used, 460 00:21:19,335 --> 00:21:21,668 {\an1}so it had to be in an accessible area. 461 00:21:21,793 --> 00:21:26,918 {\an1}And yet it was exactly what the Ferrets were looking for. 462 00:21:27,043 --> 00:21:28,293 {\an1}- One of the advantages 463 00:21:28,418 --> 00:21:30,043 {\an1}of a camp like Stalag Luft III-- 464 00:21:30,126 --> 00:21:31,293 {\an1}in fact, any POW camp-- 465 00:21:31,418 --> 00:21:33,793 {\an1}is you've got a range of expertise. 466 00:21:33,918 --> 00:21:37,126 {\an1}And in that, there was a Polish engineer 467 00:21:37,251 --> 00:21:39,793 {\an1}who was flying with the RAF, 468 00:21:39,918 --> 00:21:44,376 {\an1}and he had the capability of crafting concrete 469 00:21:44,460 --> 00:21:46,168 {\an1}such as you've never seen. 470 00:21:46,251 --> 00:21:49,210 {\an1}He was able to craft slabs of concrete 471 00:21:49,376 --> 00:21:52,043 {\an1}which would act as the trap doors. 472 00:21:52,168 --> 00:21:56,168 {\an1}The one that's most ingenious is underneath a stove. 473 00:21:56,251 --> 00:21:58,460 {\an1}♪ ♪ 474 00:21:58,585 --> 00:22:00,543 {\an1}The huts would have these stoves. 475 00:22:00,668 --> 00:22:03,751 {\an1}They would sit on kind of like ceramic tiles 476 00:22:03,876 --> 00:22:05,793 {\an1}so that they would be heat-resistant. 477 00:22:05,918 --> 00:22:07,876 {\an1}And what they realized was underneath that 478 00:22:08,001 --> 00:22:09,960 {\an1}was also one of these piers 479 00:22:10,085 --> 00:22:12,710 {\an1}they could pierce down through and not be visible. 480 00:22:12,835 --> 00:22:16,210 {\an1}- They figured out how the wood-burning stove 481 00:22:16,293 --> 00:22:19,168 {\an1}could actually be running with a fire in it, 482 00:22:19,251 --> 00:22:23,418 {\an1}and they could lean it back, men could go down the hole, 483 00:22:23,543 --> 00:22:26,043 {\an1}and they could put the stove back again and lean back 484 00:22:26,168 --> 00:22:29,168 {\an1}and be reading a book and having a cup of tea. 485 00:22:29,293 --> 00:22:31,293 {\an1}- Dick's trap was in a shower drain. 486 00:22:31,418 --> 00:22:33,876 {\an1}♪ ♪ 487 00:22:34,001 --> 00:22:35,376 {\an1}- If you look at Tom, 488 00:22:35,501 --> 00:22:37,543 {\an1}Tom in hut 123, this was-- 489 00:22:37,710 --> 00:22:40,751 {\an1}there was a concrete floor next to a chimney. 490 00:22:40,876 --> 00:22:43,210 {\an1}♪ ♪ 491 00:22:43,293 --> 00:22:44,918 {\an1}And it was kind of dark, 492 00:22:45,085 --> 00:22:48,001 {\an1}and what the Polish engineer was able to do 493 00:22:48,126 --> 00:22:51,376 {\an1}was to create a concrete slab, like a paving slab, 494 00:22:51,501 --> 00:22:55,418 {\an1}and then chip out an area of the concrete 495 00:22:55,543 --> 00:22:58,543 {\an1}and match them up absolutely perfectly. 496 00:22:58,626 --> 00:23:01,876 {\an1}- But, sadly, sometimes even perfect is not enough 497 00:23:01,960 --> 00:23:04,835 {\an1}to keep the Nazi Ferrets off your back. 498 00:23:04,918 --> 00:23:09,710 {\an1}♪ ♪ 499 00:23:09,793 --> 00:23:12,876 {\an1}- The Ferrets carried with them long metal rods, 500 00:23:12,960 --> 00:23:15,376 {\an1}which they would use to poke into the sand 501 00:23:15,501 --> 00:23:17,543 {\an1}to see if they could come up against tunnels. 502 00:23:17,668 --> 00:23:20,543 {\an1}They didn't know that the tunnels were 30 feet deep. 503 00:23:20,668 --> 00:23:23,543 {\an1}They hoped these rods could pick up things. 504 00:23:23,626 --> 00:23:26,501 {\an1}And apparently this one Ferret was sitting in the hut 505 00:23:26,626 --> 00:23:29,043 {\an1}where the tunnel mouth was in a routine search, 506 00:23:29,168 --> 00:23:32,335 {\an1}was just idly bouncing this metal probe on the floor, 507 00:23:32,418 --> 00:23:34,210 {\an1}and it happened to hit the edge of the frame 508 00:23:34,293 --> 00:23:35,460 {\an1}where the tunnel mouth was. 509 00:23:35,585 --> 00:23:39,418 {\an1}[dramatic music] 510 00:23:39,543 --> 00:23:42,501 {\an1}It dislodged a small piece of the cement 511 00:23:42,585 --> 00:23:44,293 {\an1}that had been put in to cover up the tunnel mouth. 512 00:23:44,418 --> 00:23:45,710 {\an1}The Ferret got down on his knees, 513 00:23:45,793 --> 00:23:47,876 {\an1}and he could see a little crack running around the edge. 514 00:23:48,043 --> 00:23:49,210 {\an1}He started to bang it a little more. 515 00:23:49,335 --> 00:23:51,543 {\an1}Within a few minutes, he knew there was a trap there, 516 00:23:51,626 --> 00:23:54,210 {\an1}and that was-- that was the end of Tom. 517 00:23:54,376 --> 00:23:57,210 {\an1}♪ ♪ 518 00:23:57,335 --> 00:23:59,918 {\an1}- The discovery of Tom will finally put Bushell's 519 00:24:00,043 --> 00:24:03,043 {\an1}three tunnel strategy to the test. 520 00:24:03,126 --> 00:24:08,210 {\an1}Will the Nazis stop searching, or will they turn up the heat? 521 00:24:08,376 --> 00:24:13,460 {\an1}♪ ♪ 522 00:24:17,585 --> 00:24:19,376 {\an1}[dramatic music] 523 00:24:19,543 --> 00:24:23,043 {\an1}- One of the Ferrets has discovered Tom. 524 00:24:23,168 --> 00:24:27,043 {\an1}Now Bushell and his team await the consequences. 525 00:24:27,168 --> 00:24:30,543 {\an1}- Then the Germans actually discovered the Tom tunnel. 526 00:24:30,626 --> 00:24:32,210 {\an1}They blew it up with explosives. 527 00:24:32,335 --> 00:24:33,793 {\an1}[booming] 528 00:24:33,918 --> 00:24:38,668 {\an1}- But the genius of Bushell's original plan shines through. 529 00:24:38,751 --> 00:24:41,043 {\an1}- The camp staff believed, 530 00:24:41,210 --> 00:24:44,043 {\an1}having seen how remarkably well-engineered Tom was, 531 00:24:44,168 --> 00:24:45,085 {\an1}they had no belief 532 00:24:45,251 --> 00:24:46,543 {\an1}that the prisoners could have another tunnel. 533 00:24:46,668 --> 00:24:48,085 {\an1}They assumed that all of the effort, 534 00:24:48,210 --> 00:24:49,210 {\an1}all of the material, 535 00:24:49,293 --> 00:24:51,876 {\an1}all of the resources had been poured into Tom. 536 00:24:51,960 --> 00:24:53,835 {\an1}So for a while, they actually stopped looking 537 00:24:53,960 --> 00:24:55,085 {\an1}'cause they assumed they had found 538 00:24:55,210 --> 00:24:57,668 {\an1}what the prisoners had been working on for so long. 539 00:24:57,793 --> 00:25:00,001 {\an1}So this gave X Organization a bit of breathing room 540 00:25:00,126 --> 00:25:02,960 {\an1}to do some catching up, to work ahead a bit. 541 00:25:03,085 --> 00:25:05,543 {\an1}♪ ♪ 542 00:25:05,710 --> 00:25:09,043 {\an1}- Well, Bushell's instinct to dig three tunnels 543 00:25:09,168 --> 00:25:11,251 {\an1}proves to be right. 544 00:25:11,376 --> 00:25:13,710 {\an1}Not only is Tom tunnel discovered, 545 00:25:13,876 --> 00:25:17,835 {\an1}but the Nazis begin clearing trees for a camp expansion, 546 00:25:17,918 --> 00:25:22,668 {\an1}ruining the exit site for the tunnel codenamed Dick. 547 00:25:22,793 --> 00:25:25,876 {\an1}Bushell decides to stop construction on Dick 548 00:25:26,001 --> 00:25:29,918 {\an1}and use it as a place to dump sand. 549 00:25:30,043 --> 00:25:33,835 {\an1}Tunnel Harry is now their only hope. 550 00:25:33,918 --> 00:25:40,668 {\an1}♪ ♪ 551 00:25:40,793 --> 00:25:43,126 {\an1}- Probably of all the bits of ingenuity 552 00:25:43,251 --> 00:25:46,335 {\an1}that these POWs used in digging these tunnels 553 00:25:46,460 --> 00:25:47,710 {\an1}was the ventilation system. 554 00:25:47,835 --> 00:25:50,043 {\an1}- As you're constructing, you're getting further away 555 00:25:50,210 --> 00:25:51,751 {\an1}from an oxygen source. 556 00:25:51,876 --> 00:25:55,251 {\an1}So you have to construct within the tunnel 557 00:25:55,418 --> 00:25:57,210 {\an1}a means of delivering oxygen. 558 00:25:57,335 --> 00:25:59,168 {\an1}- The Red Cross was the prisoners' lifeline, 559 00:25:59,293 --> 00:26:01,835 {\an1}and they sent in food packages and clothing 560 00:26:01,918 --> 00:26:03,043 {\an1}and all sorts of necessities. 561 00:26:03,126 --> 00:26:06,210 {\an1}The tunnellers learned very early in the war 562 00:26:06,376 --> 00:26:09,126 {\an1}that the canned milk that came in Red Cross parcels 563 00:26:09,251 --> 00:26:11,710 {\an1}were perfectly shaped and sized 564 00:26:11,793 --> 00:26:15,210 {\an1}to be made into an air system for the tunnel. 565 00:26:15,335 --> 00:26:17,835 {\an1}- They're called Klim cans, 566 00:26:17,918 --> 00:26:22,085 {\an1}because the brand name of this powdered milk was Klim. 567 00:26:22,251 --> 00:26:25,793 {\an1}And K-L-I-M is "milk" spelled backwards. 568 00:26:25,918 --> 00:26:29,126 {\an1}- So you take off the tab, and off comes the lid, 569 00:26:29,251 --> 00:26:30,126 {\an1}and this means, of course, 570 00:26:30,251 --> 00:26:34,376 {\an1}that it's capable of fitting together one tin 571 00:26:34,460 --> 00:26:36,876 {\an1}with another by sort of forcing the tin on. 572 00:26:37,001 --> 00:26:40,793 {\an1}You remove the base, you force this into the next tin, 573 00:26:40,918 --> 00:26:43,543 {\an1}and you build an air line. 574 00:26:43,668 --> 00:26:47,376 {\an1}- Now they needed a system to pump air through the line. 575 00:26:47,501 --> 00:26:48,835 {\an1}[dramatic music] 576 00:26:48,960 --> 00:26:52,376 {\an1}- They designed a bellows system based on two kit bags. 577 00:26:52,543 --> 00:26:54,751 {\an1}- They had their kit bags, 578 00:26:54,876 --> 00:26:56,210 {\an1}and these kit bags 579 00:26:56,335 --> 00:26:58,460 {\an1}were kind of canvas bags, 580 00:26:58,585 --> 00:26:59,835 {\an1}which they could squeeze, 581 00:26:59,918 --> 00:27:01,210 {\an1}and that would pump a bit of air. 582 00:27:01,293 --> 00:27:02,918 {\an1}And then they'd have to open up the bag 583 00:27:03,043 --> 00:27:04,626 {\an1}and they'd squeeze it again. 584 00:27:04,751 --> 00:27:06,835 {\an1}So it was a bit like sort of bagpipes. 585 00:27:06,960 --> 00:27:08,626 {\an1}You needed a lot of air. 586 00:27:08,751 --> 00:27:11,710 {\an1}So they came up with this fantastic device. 587 00:27:11,876 --> 00:27:15,293 {\an1}With one kit bag here and another kit bag there 588 00:27:15,418 --> 00:27:19,001 {\an1}and a pair of ice hockey sticks in the middle, 589 00:27:19,085 --> 00:27:23,335 {\an1}then they worked out that you could have somebody at the end, 590 00:27:23,460 --> 00:27:25,876 {\an1}a bit like a rowing machine, 591 00:27:25,960 --> 00:27:28,710 {\an1}pulling this lever backwards and forwards 592 00:27:28,876 --> 00:27:29,710 {\an1}to pump the air down. 593 00:27:29,876 --> 00:27:31,626 {\an1}- And they had a non-return valve 594 00:27:31,751 --> 00:27:34,543 {\an1}based on a kind of disc using leather parts 595 00:27:34,710 --> 00:27:36,793 {\an1}so that they would push the air in, 596 00:27:36,918 --> 00:27:39,168 {\an1}but wouldn't allow it to come back. 597 00:27:39,251 --> 00:27:41,210 {\an1}- They had airflow, 598 00:27:41,293 --> 00:27:44,751 {\an1}but the tunnel had one small problem. 599 00:27:44,876 --> 00:27:47,418 {\an1}It's too narrow to properly turn around in 600 00:27:47,585 --> 00:27:49,543 {\an1}once you are inside. 601 00:27:49,626 --> 00:27:54,043 {\an1}And as it gets longer, this becomes a bigger problem. 602 00:27:54,168 --> 00:27:56,543 {\an1}- This is a really, really narrow tunnel, 603 00:27:56,710 --> 00:27:58,793 {\an1}and a number of these guys were big guys. 604 00:27:58,918 --> 00:28:01,668 {\an1}You know, they were having to squeeze into this. 605 00:28:01,751 --> 00:28:04,251 {\an1}And in addition to that, you are thinking, 606 00:28:04,376 --> 00:28:07,335 {\an1}"Well, how am I gonna crawl down a tunnel that long?" 607 00:28:07,418 --> 00:28:10,001 {\an1}So they built a railway based on trollies 608 00:28:10,085 --> 00:28:11,918 {\an1}with wheels made out of discs, 609 00:28:12,043 --> 00:28:14,585 {\an1}which had a coating of tin on them, 610 00:28:14,751 --> 00:28:16,543 {\an1}you know, from the POW tins 611 00:28:16,710 --> 00:28:17,835 {\an1}that come in Red Cross parcels. 612 00:28:17,918 --> 00:28:20,543 {\an1}- The trollies are powered by POWs 613 00:28:20,626 --> 00:28:24,043 {\an1}using a pulley system to move them along the tunnel. 614 00:28:24,168 --> 00:28:27,501 {\an1}The trolly pullers are stationed at two wider areas 615 00:28:27,626 --> 00:28:29,876 {\an1}along the tunnel's length. 616 00:28:29,960 --> 00:28:33,585 {\an1}The diggers get off the trolley at the wider part 617 00:28:33,710 --> 00:28:35,501 {\an1}and crawl up to the front, 618 00:28:35,626 --> 00:28:37,210 {\an1}where they continue digging 619 00:28:37,335 --> 00:28:41,710 {\an1}into the face of the dirt wall. 620 00:28:41,876 --> 00:28:43,293 {\an1}- Like little waystations, if you like-- 621 00:28:43,418 --> 00:28:44,960 {\an1}Piccadilly and Leicester Square, 622 00:28:45,085 --> 00:28:47,710 {\an1}they're the two locations famous in London, 623 00:28:47,835 --> 00:28:49,710 {\an1}and they were located right there 624 00:28:49,835 --> 00:28:52,543 {\an1}in the center of the tunnel Harry. 625 00:28:52,626 --> 00:28:56,043 {\an1}So it was a really complex engineering approach 626 00:28:56,126 --> 00:28:57,876 {\an1}to build this, to create it, 627 00:28:58,001 --> 00:29:00,251 {\an1}and you can imagine, therefore, there were people 628 00:29:00,376 --> 00:29:02,210 {\an1}who were constantly on the lookout 629 00:29:02,376 --> 00:29:05,293 {\an1}for any resource that they could use, 630 00:29:05,418 --> 00:29:08,418 {\an1}particularly, for example, lighting that tunnel. 631 00:29:08,543 --> 00:29:10,876 {\an1}When they had the opportunity, they stole wire. 632 00:29:10,960 --> 00:29:13,918 {\an1}There were a couple of guys working in the camp 633 00:29:14,043 --> 00:29:15,418 {\an1}who had wire there, 634 00:29:15,585 --> 00:29:19,085 {\an1}and I think they stole, like, 300 yards of wire. 635 00:29:19,251 --> 00:29:21,251 {\an1}And this meant that they were able also 636 00:29:21,418 --> 00:29:22,543 {\an1}to steal light fittings, 637 00:29:22,626 --> 00:29:26,585 {\an1}to hook that up to the camp electricity supply, 638 00:29:26,710 --> 00:29:28,918 {\an1}and then have, you know, absolutely electric lighting 639 00:29:29,043 --> 00:29:30,043 {\an1}all the way along. 640 00:29:30,168 --> 00:29:32,585 {\an1}The guys who had been doing the wiring 641 00:29:32,710 --> 00:29:34,001 {\an1}didn't want to say, of course. 642 00:29:34,085 --> 00:29:35,085 {\an1}They didn't want to report that 643 00:29:35,251 --> 00:29:37,876 {\an1}because they knew what would happen to them. 644 00:29:37,960 --> 00:29:41,626 {\an1}- January, 1944. 645 00:29:41,751 --> 00:29:43,376 {\an1}The tunnel is nearly complete. 646 00:29:43,501 --> 00:29:46,168 {\an1}♪ ♪ 647 00:29:46,251 --> 00:29:50,960 {\an1}Bushell and his men must now prepare disguises and fake IDs 648 00:29:51,085 --> 00:29:55,001 {\an1}or they won't get very far in the Polish countryside. 649 00:29:55,085 --> 00:29:58,418 {\an1}- They had to make official documents, somehow. 650 00:29:58,543 --> 00:30:00,668 {\an1}They could steal documents. 651 00:30:00,751 --> 00:30:01,960 {\an1}They could see what the documents 652 00:30:02,085 --> 00:30:03,876 {\an1}were meant to look like. 653 00:30:04,001 --> 00:30:06,418 {\an1}And some of these guys were incredibly artistic, 654 00:30:06,585 --> 00:30:09,043 {\an1}so they would forge documents really well, 655 00:30:09,210 --> 00:30:11,085 {\an1}and they knew how to make paper look old 656 00:30:11,210 --> 00:30:12,668 {\an1}or make it look official. 657 00:30:12,751 --> 00:30:13,918 {\an1}But one of the things they needed 658 00:30:14,043 --> 00:30:16,001 {\an1}was an official stamp, 659 00:30:16,085 --> 00:30:18,460 {\an1}and they figured out that they could take the leather 660 00:30:18,585 --> 00:30:20,668 {\an1}off the soles of their shoes 661 00:30:20,793 --> 00:30:23,793 {\an1}and, with tiny little scalpel knives 662 00:30:23,918 --> 00:30:26,418 {\an1}that they managed to procure from somewhere, 663 00:30:26,543 --> 00:30:29,210 {\an1}they could cut away a stamp, 664 00:30:29,335 --> 00:30:31,668 {\an1}which they could then use to stamp the passports. 665 00:30:31,793 --> 00:30:34,376 {\an1}- Almost every German identity document 666 00:30:34,543 --> 00:30:35,793 {\an1}required a photograph, 667 00:30:35,918 --> 00:30:38,710 {\an1}and they couldn't manufacture cameras, 668 00:30:38,835 --> 00:30:40,835 {\an1}so they had to resort to bribings. 669 00:30:40,918 --> 00:30:42,918 {\an1}♪ ♪ 670 00:30:43,085 --> 00:30:45,876 {\an1}- They could blackmail the guards. 671 00:30:46,001 --> 00:30:48,668 {\an1}For instance, if they pickpocketed something 672 00:30:48,793 --> 00:30:50,251 {\an1}out of the guard's pocket-- 673 00:30:50,376 --> 00:30:53,710 {\an1}maybe a pass or a key or something-- 674 00:30:53,835 --> 00:30:56,001 {\an1}and then they would say, "Hey, Fritz, 675 00:30:56,126 --> 00:30:58,960 {\an1}somebody tells me you've lost your pass." 676 00:30:59,085 --> 00:31:01,376 {\an1}And Fritz would say, "Yes, do you know where it is?" 677 00:31:01,501 --> 00:31:04,085 {\an1}Said, "Well, what we know, Fritz, 678 00:31:04,210 --> 00:31:06,293 {\an1}"is that if we tell the commandant 679 00:31:06,418 --> 00:31:07,543 {\an1}"that you've lost your pass, 680 00:31:07,668 --> 00:31:10,376 {\an1}you will be sent to the Eastern Front, won't you?" 681 00:31:10,543 --> 00:31:12,376 {\an1}"Don't tell them, don't tell them!" 682 00:31:12,501 --> 00:31:14,335 {\an1}"Okay, Fritz. We need some things. 683 00:31:14,418 --> 00:31:16,460 {\an1}Fritz, will you get them for us?" 684 00:31:16,585 --> 00:31:20,335 {\an1}- Bushell's forgery factory is in full swing, 685 00:31:20,418 --> 00:31:21,876 {\an1}snapping photos 686 00:31:21,960 --> 00:31:24,710 {\an1}and painstakingly hand-painting documents 687 00:31:24,793 --> 00:31:27,460 {\an1}one letter at a time. 688 00:31:27,585 --> 00:31:32,335 {\an1}Then, in March, 1944, the tunnel's completed. 689 00:31:32,418 --> 00:31:35,001 {\an1}Only one thing remains to do. 690 00:31:35,085 --> 00:31:37,418 {\an1}[dramatic music] 691 00:31:37,543 --> 00:31:39,335 {\an1}Escape. 692 00:31:39,418 --> 00:31:41,210 {\an1}♪ ♪ 693 00:31:46,085 --> 00:31:49,710 {\an1}- March, 1944. 694 00:31:49,876 --> 00:31:52,001 {\an1}Tunnel Harry is complete. 695 00:31:52,085 --> 00:31:53,835 {\an1}[dramatic music] 696 00:31:53,960 --> 00:31:57,710 {\an1}Bushell and 200 men are ready. 697 00:31:57,793 --> 00:32:01,501 {\an1}Now all they need is a green light from Mother Nature. 698 00:32:01,585 --> 00:32:05,918 {\an1}♪ ♪ 699 00:32:06,043 --> 00:32:09,210 {\an1}- They were a bit constricted by the weather. 700 00:32:09,376 --> 00:32:12,210 {\an1}They were also constricted by the light of the moon. 701 00:32:12,335 --> 00:32:15,543 {\an1}They were forced to wait for dark of the moon. 702 00:32:15,626 --> 00:32:17,585 {\an1}Full moon was fatal to escape attempts 703 00:32:17,710 --> 00:32:20,293 {\an1}because it was very bright, particularly with snow. 704 00:32:20,418 --> 00:32:24,418 {\an1}So the final decision to go was based on advice 705 00:32:24,585 --> 00:32:26,918 {\an1}from the meteorologists in the camp, 706 00:32:27,043 --> 00:32:28,418 {\an1}and there was a trained meteorologist 707 00:32:28,543 --> 00:32:29,626 {\an1}among the prisoners. 708 00:32:29,751 --> 00:32:32,876 {\an1}- On March 24, 1944, 709 00:32:33,043 --> 00:32:37,043 {\an1}the go ahead is given to escape. 710 00:32:37,126 --> 00:32:40,335 {\an1}Bushell, Mondschein, Walenn, 711 00:32:40,460 --> 00:32:44,293 {\an1}and the other prisoners start to assemble for the breakout. 712 00:32:44,418 --> 00:32:47,210 {\an1}- All of the prisoners who were designated as escapers 713 00:32:47,293 --> 00:32:48,960 {\an1}had to move from their own huts 714 00:32:49,085 --> 00:32:51,126 {\an1}to hut 104, where the tunnel was. 715 00:32:51,251 --> 00:32:53,835 {\an1}- So they'd be kind of checked off on a list, 716 00:32:53,960 --> 00:32:56,626 {\an1}being dispatched to hut 104, 717 00:32:56,751 --> 00:32:57,876 {\an1}which is the exit point. 718 00:32:58,001 --> 00:33:01,543 {\an1}Hut 104 is then starting to get more and more crowded. 719 00:33:01,668 --> 00:33:04,043 {\an1}- More than a year of top-secret planning 720 00:33:04,126 --> 00:33:08,168 {\an1}and back-breaking work is about to pay off. 721 00:33:08,251 --> 00:33:11,043 {\an1}But just when it looks like they have pulled it off, 722 00:33:11,210 --> 00:33:15,460 {\an1}the whole escape comes crashing to a halt. 723 00:33:15,585 --> 00:33:18,085 {\an1}At 7:45 p.m., 724 00:33:18,251 --> 00:33:22,710 {\an1}an enemy soldier appears at the doorway of hut 104. 725 00:33:22,835 --> 00:33:26,418 {\an1}- I am Paul Tobolski, the son of Pawel Tobolski. 726 00:33:26,585 --> 00:33:31,251 {\an1}My dad wore a German uniform on the night of the escape. 727 00:33:31,376 --> 00:33:35,210 {\an1}When he entered hut 104, all those in the hut thought, 728 00:33:35,335 --> 00:33:38,043 {\an1}"My God, the game is over. There's a German in the hut." 729 00:33:38,168 --> 00:33:40,835 {\an1}Others said, "No, that's Tobolski." 730 00:33:40,960 --> 00:33:42,251 {\an1}- It's a false alarm. 731 00:33:42,376 --> 00:33:45,876 {\an1}The final countdown to freedom can begin. 732 00:33:46,043 --> 00:33:49,001 {\an1}♪ ♪ 733 00:33:49,085 --> 00:33:51,001 {\an1}- As these men are getting checked off, 734 00:33:51,085 --> 00:33:55,126 {\an1}they're starting now to go into the tunnel and move along it. 735 00:33:55,251 --> 00:33:58,210 {\an1}But they couldn't actually really get out 736 00:33:58,376 --> 00:34:01,918 {\an1}because the tunnel was really locked solid. 737 00:34:02,043 --> 00:34:03,210 {\an1}- Bushell didn't have the team 738 00:34:03,376 --> 00:34:04,876 {\an1}break through the end of the tunnel 739 00:34:05,001 --> 00:34:07,043 {\an1}until they were ready to escape. 740 00:34:07,168 --> 00:34:09,585 {\an1}He didn't want a Nazi guard walking around 741 00:34:09,710 --> 00:34:12,043 {\an1}and falling through the trap door. 742 00:34:12,126 --> 00:34:17,376 {\an1}But now on this cool night, the last bit has frozen shut, 743 00:34:17,501 --> 00:34:20,585 {\an1}costing the team valuable time. 744 00:34:20,710 --> 00:34:23,418 {\an1}But when they finally do get through, 745 00:34:23,585 --> 00:34:26,043 {\an1}a terrible surprise awaits them. 746 00:34:26,168 --> 00:34:28,043 {\an1}♪ ♪ 747 00:34:28,126 --> 00:34:30,876 {\an1}- When they pop their head out to have a look around, 748 00:34:31,001 --> 00:34:32,585 {\an1}they realized at that point 749 00:34:32,751 --> 00:34:35,543 {\an1}that they had an even bigger problem. 750 00:34:35,710 --> 00:34:36,960 {\an1}- The tunnel wasn't long enough. 751 00:34:37,085 --> 00:34:39,376 {\an1}They thought they were under the woods, but they weren't. 752 00:34:39,543 --> 00:34:41,376 {\an1}So when they'd came up, they were only, like, 753 00:34:41,501 --> 00:34:42,710 {\an1}50 yards outside the prison, 754 00:34:42,876 --> 00:34:45,585 {\an1}and they were right beneath one of the observation towers. 755 00:34:45,710 --> 00:34:48,210 {\an1}- Every 150 feet, there was a goon tower, 756 00:34:48,335 --> 00:34:50,043 {\an1}which meant that you had the guards 757 00:34:50,168 --> 00:34:52,251 {\an1}looking at and over the camp, 758 00:34:52,376 --> 00:34:54,210 {\an1}and they were armed with machine guns. 759 00:34:54,293 --> 00:34:56,793 {\an1}They were all Luftwaffe personnel. 760 00:34:56,918 --> 00:35:00,001 {\an1}They were ready to use those guns if they needed. 761 00:35:00,085 --> 00:35:03,168 {\an1}♪ ♪ 762 00:35:03,293 --> 00:35:05,793 {\an1}- The decision is made to continue going. 763 00:35:05,918 --> 00:35:07,376 {\an1}Though next to a guard tower, 764 00:35:07,501 --> 00:35:09,335 {\an1}they are also next to a hideout 765 00:35:09,418 --> 00:35:12,335 {\an1}meant for Ferrets to spy on the camp. 766 00:35:12,460 --> 00:35:15,085 {\an1}This becomes their shield from the towers. 767 00:35:15,210 --> 00:35:17,793 {\an1}♪ ♪ 768 00:35:17,918 --> 00:35:20,668 {\an1}But this isn't the only unexpected obstacle 769 00:35:20,793 --> 00:35:22,835 {\an1}the team must overcome. 770 00:35:22,960 --> 00:35:26,293 {\an1}Another threatens to end their escape attempt 771 00:35:26,418 --> 00:35:28,418 {\an1}once and for all. 772 00:35:28,543 --> 00:35:30,710 {\an1}♪ ♪ 773 00:35:30,876 --> 00:35:33,751 {\an1}- And halfway through, the Allies started bombing, 774 00:35:33,876 --> 00:35:36,293 {\an1}and the camp went into blackout. 775 00:35:36,418 --> 00:35:38,751 {\an1}[dramatic music] 776 00:35:38,918 --> 00:35:39,585 {\an1}[explosions booming] 777 00:35:39,710 --> 00:35:41,335 {\an1}- And an air raid on Berlin 778 00:35:41,418 --> 00:35:44,710 {\an1}meant the entire region went into a power blackout, 779 00:35:44,835 --> 00:35:47,210 {\an1}and when the power was cut in the camp, 780 00:35:47,376 --> 00:35:49,543 {\an1}the power was cut in the tunnel. 781 00:35:49,668 --> 00:35:50,626 {\an1}♪ ♪ 782 00:35:50,751 --> 00:35:55,043 {\an1}So you had 60 or 70 men packed into the tunnel. 783 00:35:55,168 --> 00:35:56,793 {\an1}Suddenly the lights go out. 784 00:35:56,918 --> 00:36:00,876 {\an1}And that would've been intensely terrifying. 785 00:36:01,001 --> 00:36:03,251 {\an1}- The whole thing was shut down for a few hours. 786 00:36:03,418 --> 00:36:05,710 {\an1}Nobody wanted to go in there if it was pitch black. 787 00:36:05,835 --> 00:36:07,876 {\an1}- The power is eventually back, 788 00:36:08,043 --> 00:36:11,876 {\an1}but the delays have taken their toll on the escape. 789 00:36:11,960 --> 00:36:15,876 {\an1}- That wasn't the only problem of the night. 790 00:36:15,960 --> 00:36:19,835 {\an1}- At 1:30 in the morning, they had a collapse. 791 00:36:19,960 --> 00:36:21,376 {\an1}♪ ♪ 792 00:36:21,543 --> 00:36:23,335 {\an1}- It was in the winter; it was very cold, 793 00:36:23,418 --> 00:36:25,293 {\an1}so they had a lot of clothing on. 794 00:36:25,418 --> 00:36:26,543 {\an1}Some of these guys were bigger 795 00:36:26,668 --> 00:36:28,751 {\an1}than the guys that were building the tunnel. 796 00:36:28,918 --> 00:36:31,710 {\an1}- One guy going down this had kind of careened into the side. 797 00:36:31,835 --> 00:36:35,585 {\an1}He was a big guy, and he had damaged one of the bed boards. 798 00:36:35,710 --> 00:36:37,585 {\an1}There was a collapse of sand. 799 00:36:37,710 --> 00:36:39,793 {\an1}- Fortunately, they were able to get them out of there. 800 00:36:39,918 --> 00:36:41,293 {\an1}They didn't get stuck. 801 00:36:41,418 --> 00:36:42,668 {\an1}But then the guys had to go back in 802 00:36:42,751 --> 00:36:47,626 {\an1}and reestablish the support, so that delayed them. 803 00:36:47,751 --> 00:36:52,168 {\an1}- The sun begins creeping up over Stalag Luft III. 804 00:36:52,293 --> 00:36:55,043 {\an1}- 4:45, we're getting towards the point 805 00:36:55,126 --> 00:36:56,876 {\an1}where we're getting the leading edge of the men, 806 00:36:57,001 --> 00:36:59,251 {\an1}the last men who would be possible to exit 807 00:36:59,418 --> 00:37:00,626 {\an1}from that tunnel. 808 00:37:00,751 --> 00:37:03,335 {\an1}And what we see then is 76 men 809 00:37:03,418 --> 00:37:05,376 {\an1}have already exited the tunnel 810 00:37:05,543 --> 00:37:07,876 {\an1}and are somewhere out there in the forest, 811 00:37:08,001 --> 00:37:10,376 {\an1}and there are three or four men 812 00:37:10,460 --> 00:37:12,335 {\an1}who are the last to emerge. 813 00:37:12,418 --> 00:37:14,626 {\an1}And what has happened, of course, 814 00:37:14,751 --> 00:37:16,668 {\an1}is that they start to be spotted. 815 00:37:16,793 --> 00:37:20,293 {\an1}♪ ♪ 816 00:37:20,418 --> 00:37:22,710 {\an1}A couple of the guards caught sight 817 00:37:22,876 --> 00:37:25,835 {\an1}of one of the prisoners and realized, 818 00:37:25,960 --> 00:37:28,626 {\an1}"This is an exit point for the tunnel. 819 00:37:28,751 --> 00:37:31,585 {\an1}We need to close this down." 820 00:37:31,710 --> 00:37:34,668 {\an1}♪ ♪ 821 00:37:34,751 --> 00:37:39,418 {\an1}So by around 5:00, the whole escape had ground to a halt. 822 00:37:39,585 --> 00:37:41,376 {\an1}The men in the tunnel themselves, 823 00:37:41,501 --> 00:37:42,918 {\an1}those remaining men, 824 00:37:43,043 --> 00:37:44,960 {\an1}had to sort of back it up along those tunnels. 825 00:37:45,085 --> 00:37:47,876 {\an1}The four who had exited and had been captured 826 00:37:48,043 --> 00:37:49,376 {\an1}were saying, you know, "Nicht schiessen." 827 00:37:49,543 --> 00:37:50,876 {\an1}"Don't shoot." 828 00:37:50,960 --> 00:37:54,043 {\an1}And, of course, weren't shot, so they gave themselves up. 829 00:37:54,210 --> 00:37:58,210 {\an1}The 76 men had dispersed out and were on their way 830 00:37:58,335 --> 00:38:00,543 {\an1}to try and escape as far as they could. 831 00:38:00,710 --> 00:38:04,876 {\an1}- Of the 200 escapees, 76 have made it out, 832 00:38:04,960 --> 00:38:06,876 {\an1}including Bushell, 833 00:38:07,043 --> 00:38:09,876 {\an1}and now they are running for their lives. 834 00:38:10,001 --> 00:38:14,085 {\an1}♪ ♪ 835 00:38:18,501 --> 00:38:20,001 {\an1}[dramatic music] 836 00:38:20,126 --> 00:38:23,210 {\an1}- After some bad luck and multiple delays, 837 00:38:23,293 --> 00:38:25,793 {\an1}Roger Bushell and 75 other POWs 838 00:38:25,918 --> 00:38:29,543 {\an1}are quickly dispersing through the Nazi-occupied land, 839 00:38:29,710 --> 00:38:31,876 {\an1}trying their best to hide out 840 00:38:32,001 --> 00:38:34,710 {\an1}and escape to neutral territories. 841 00:38:34,793 --> 00:38:37,835 {\an1}♪ ♪ 842 00:38:37,918 --> 00:38:40,835 {\an1}[tense music] 843 00:38:40,918 --> 00:38:42,376 {\an1}♪ ♪ 844 00:38:42,543 --> 00:38:45,043 {\an1}- The original plan was for 250 escapers 845 00:38:45,210 --> 00:38:46,376 {\an1}to leave the tunnel. 846 00:38:46,501 --> 00:38:48,835 {\an1}79 actually got out of the tunnel. 847 00:38:48,960 --> 00:38:51,418 {\an1}Three of them were recaptured at the tunnel mouth, 848 00:38:51,585 --> 00:38:52,668 {\an1}trying to get away. 849 00:38:52,751 --> 00:38:56,376 {\an1}And so 76 actually got away from the camp. 850 00:38:56,460 --> 00:38:59,876 {\an1}And even as the alert went out, 851 00:39:00,001 --> 00:39:03,876 {\an1}they were spreading their way all across occupied Europe. 852 00:39:04,001 --> 00:39:06,293 {\an1}♪ ♪ 853 00:39:06,418 --> 00:39:07,876 {\an1}There were two Norwegians, 854 00:39:08,001 --> 00:39:10,085 {\an1}two men named Muller and Bergsland, 855 00:39:10,210 --> 00:39:11,251 {\an1}who were both fighter pilots. 856 00:39:11,418 --> 00:39:13,251 {\an1}Their escape went like clockwork. 857 00:39:13,376 --> 00:39:14,418 {\an1}They didn't miss a beat. 858 00:39:14,585 --> 00:39:15,876 {\an1}They were on a Swedish ship 859 00:39:15,960 --> 00:39:18,043 {\an1}36 hours after leaving the camp. 860 00:39:18,168 --> 00:39:20,251 {\an1}♪ ♪ 861 00:39:20,418 --> 00:39:22,585 {\an1}The majority of them were rounded up 862 00:39:22,751 --> 00:39:25,543 {\an1}within 72 hours after the escape. 863 00:39:25,710 --> 00:39:28,293 {\an1}A lot of them didn't even get more than a few miles. 864 00:39:28,418 --> 00:39:30,126 {\an1}♪ ♪ 865 00:39:30,251 --> 00:39:33,335 {\an1}The third successful escaper, Bob Vanderstock, 866 00:39:33,418 --> 00:39:35,668 {\an1}spent much more time on the run. 867 00:39:35,793 --> 00:39:37,710 {\an1}He crossed all of Germany 868 00:39:37,835 --> 00:39:39,960 {\an1}into the Netherlands, where he was from. 869 00:39:40,085 --> 00:39:40,960 {\an1}He connected up 870 00:39:41,085 --> 00:39:43,168 {\an1}with resistance organizations there. 871 00:39:43,293 --> 00:39:45,876 {\an1}They passed him on to resistance groups in France. 872 00:39:46,001 --> 00:39:49,376 {\an1}He traveled all the way across occupied France, 873 00:39:49,501 --> 00:39:51,335 {\an1}eventually crossed the Pyrenees into Spain, 874 00:39:51,460 --> 00:39:53,626 {\an1}and got from Spain to Gibraltar, 875 00:39:53,751 --> 00:39:54,668 {\an1}and back to England. 876 00:39:54,751 --> 00:39:57,251 {\an1}Took him about three months, but again, 877 00:39:57,376 --> 00:40:00,001 {\an1}a remarkable success as an escaper. 878 00:40:00,085 --> 00:40:01,335 {\an1}♪ ♪ 879 00:40:01,418 --> 00:40:02,376 {\an1}- The rest of the escapees 880 00:40:02,460 --> 00:40:05,085 {\an1}did not share the same good fortune. 881 00:40:05,210 --> 00:40:06,418 {\an1}♪ ♪ 882 00:40:06,543 --> 00:40:09,501 {\an1}- All POWs have the right to expect that 883 00:40:09,585 --> 00:40:11,376 {\an1}as long as they are identifiable 884 00:40:11,501 --> 00:40:12,335 {\an1}as a prisoner of war 885 00:40:12,418 --> 00:40:13,376 {\an1}that they will be retained 886 00:40:13,543 --> 00:40:14,626 {\an1}as a prisoner of war. 887 00:40:14,751 --> 00:40:15,793 {\an1}They may be punished 888 00:40:15,918 --> 00:40:17,418 {\an1}by being put into detention or whatever, 889 00:40:17,585 --> 00:40:19,751 {\an1}but they wouldn't have expected in any way 890 00:40:19,876 --> 00:40:21,376 {\an1}to have been murdered, 891 00:40:21,501 --> 00:40:23,376 {\an1}and that's what ultimately happened. 892 00:40:23,501 --> 00:40:28,293 {\an1}♪ ♪ 893 00:40:28,418 --> 00:40:31,335 {\an1}- Hitler himself was incredibly displeased 894 00:40:31,418 --> 00:40:33,085 {\an1}when this news reached him, 895 00:40:33,210 --> 00:40:35,835 {\an1}and his initial impulse was to execute 896 00:40:35,960 --> 00:40:37,668 {\an1}every escapee that they found. 897 00:40:37,751 --> 00:40:40,835 {\an1}And he was eventually talked down to executing only 50. 898 00:40:40,960 --> 00:40:42,376 {\an1}And these men were executed 899 00:40:42,501 --> 00:40:44,876 {\an1}in the most heinous manner possible. 900 00:40:44,960 --> 00:40:48,835 {\an1}- One particularly telling moment is one Gestapo agent 901 00:40:48,918 --> 00:40:50,543 {\an1}who rings his girlfriend to say, 902 00:40:50,626 --> 00:40:52,793 {\an1}"Oh, darling, I'm gonna be late for my dinner. 903 00:40:52,918 --> 00:40:54,918 {\an1}Can you keep it warm for me? I'll be back soon." 904 00:40:55,085 --> 00:41:01,043 {\an1}He then drove out these two aviators to a lonely space 905 00:41:01,210 --> 00:41:03,376 {\an1}and killed them and came back to his dinner. 906 00:41:03,460 --> 00:41:05,543 {\an1}[gunshots] [grunting] 907 00:41:05,668 --> 00:41:07,460 {\an1}♪ ♪ 908 00:41:07,585 --> 00:41:10,585 {\an1}This was cold-blooded murder. 909 00:41:10,710 --> 00:41:13,626 {\an1}- Roger Bushell is one of the 50 POWs 910 00:41:13,751 --> 00:41:17,293 {\an1}brutally executed under orders from Hitler. 911 00:41:17,418 --> 00:41:19,501 {\an1}- So Bushell successfully got out of the tunnel. 912 00:41:19,626 --> 00:41:21,460 {\an1}He was traveling by train, 913 00:41:21,585 --> 00:41:23,543 {\an1}transferring from one train to another. 914 00:41:23,710 --> 00:41:25,835 {\an1}His documents were closely examined. 915 00:41:25,960 --> 00:41:28,210 {\an1}They were seen to be forgeries, and immediately, 916 00:41:28,376 --> 00:41:30,543 {\an1}Bushell was put into the hands of the Gestapo. 917 00:41:30,710 --> 00:41:33,335 {\an1}♪ ♪ 918 00:41:33,418 --> 00:41:38,126 {\an1}- But his plan was not in vain. 919 00:41:38,251 --> 00:41:39,543 {\an1}- Roger Bushell's goal 920 00:41:39,668 --> 00:41:42,876 {\an1}was to disrupt the German high command 921 00:41:43,001 --> 00:41:45,585 {\an1}by flooding escapers throughout occupied Europe. 922 00:41:45,751 --> 00:41:48,876 {\an1}[dramatic music] 923 00:41:48,960 --> 00:41:51,710 {\an1}♪ ♪ 924 00:41:51,876 --> 00:41:55,960 {\an1}In this, I think he succeeded more than he ever imagined. 925 00:41:56,085 --> 00:41:59,543 {\an1}The news of the escape came to the daily conference 926 00:41:59,668 --> 00:42:00,793 {\an1}at Hitler's headquarters, 927 00:42:00,918 --> 00:42:04,210 {\an1}and you see, from this point, a growing dissent 928 00:42:04,376 --> 00:42:06,751 {\an1}in the highest ranks of the Nazi regime. 929 00:42:06,918 --> 00:42:09,043 {\an1}And you can find the people who were closely connected 930 00:42:09,210 --> 00:42:11,251 {\an1}with the great escape aftermath, 931 00:42:11,418 --> 00:42:14,876 {\an1}who clearly moved into an opposition to Hitler 932 00:42:15,001 --> 00:42:19,710 {\an1}because they were disturbed by what went on 933 00:42:19,793 --> 00:42:22,043 {\an1}in the aftermath of the escape from Stalag Luft III. 934 00:42:22,126 --> 00:42:25,043 {\an1}♪ ♪ 935 00:42:25,210 --> 00:42:27,376 {\an1}- Squadron leader Roger Bushell 936 00:42:27,501 --> 00:42:29,960 {\an1}persuaded his fellow prisoners 937 00:42:30,085 --> 00:42:31,876 {\an1}that it was worth risking their lives 938 00:42:31,960 --> 00:42:35,251 {\an1}to escape Stalag Luft III. 939 00:42:35,376 --> 00:42:37,793 {\an1}The goal was not freedom. 940 00:42:37,918 --> 00:42:41,876 {\an1}The goal was to undermine Hitler. 941 00:42:41,960 --> 00:42:44,001 {\an1}By ordering the execution 942 00:42:44,126 --> 00:42:48,210 {\an1}of Bushell and 49 other escapees, 943 00:42:48,335 --> 00:42:51,126 {\an1}Hitler played right into their hands. 944 00:42:51,251 --> 00:42:54,460 {\an1}It opened a rift within Nazi armed forces, 945 00:42:54,585 --> 00:42:57,543 {\an1}one that would never heal. 946 00:42:57,668 --> 00:43:01,251 {\an1}Did it help end World War II? 947 00:43:01,376 --> 00:43:04,460 {\an1}Some historians say it did, 948 00:43:04,585 --> 00:43:07,210 {\an1}and that was all Roger Bushell hoped for. 949 00:43:07,376 --> 00:43:08,710 {\an1}♪ ♪