This is not only a complete description of Stalag Luft III, but also a fascinating overview of the experiences of Allied POWs in Germany during World War II, and their counterparts, the guards and camp administrators.
There was so much new information I hadn't had before that each page was a wonderful learning experience. Just as an example, in the movie, The Great Escape, the Germans who aided the POWs did so because they were being blackmailed due to previous favors they did the POWs.
Actually, a number of German aided the POWs due to their concern for their welfare and often their detest of the Nazi rulers of German. A number of guards provided POWs with items, often used to help the escapes, with no intention of profit. One such example was an expensive German camera, used to photograph POWs for their forged ID cards. The guard even took the undeveloped film into town to be processed.
Once during a move, the German intelligence officer assigned to the camp even carried one of the POWs forbidden radios with his own gear so that the radio would not be discovered and confiscated.
One point made clear was Stalag Luft III was basically a camp for Allied air force officer POWs, and they received better treatment than that given POWs from other branches of the service at other camps.
There was so much new information I hadn't had before that each page was a wonderful learning experience. Just as an example, in the movie, The Great Escape, the Germans who aided the POWs did so because they were being blackmailed due to previous favors they did the POWs.
Actually, a number of German aided the POWs due to their concern for their welfare and often their detest of the Nazi rulers of German. A number of guards provided POWs with items, often used to help the escapes, with no intention of profit. One such example was an expensive German camera, used to photograph POWs for their forged ID cards. The guard even took the undeveloped film into town to be processed.
Once during a move, the German intelligence officer assigned to the camp even carried one of the POWs forbidden radios with his own gear so that the radio would not be discovered and confiscated.
One point made clear was Stalag Luft III was basically a camp for Allied air force officer POWs, and they received better treatment than that given POWs from other branches of the service at other camps.
