The Great Escape: A Canadian Story

by Ted Barris

On the night of March 24, 1944, 80 Commonwealth airmen crawled through a 336-foot-long tunnel and slipped into the forest beyond the wire of Stalag Luft III, a German POW compound near Sagan, Poland. The event became known as "The Great Escape," an intricate breakout more than a year in the making, involving as many as 2,000 POWs working with extraordinary coordination, intelligence, and daring. Yet within a few days, all but three of the escapees were recaptured. Subsequently, 50 were murdered, cremated, and buried in a remote corner of the prison camp.
But most don't know the real story behind The Great Escape. Now, on the eve of its 70th anniversary, Ted Barris writes of the key players in the escape attempt, those who got away, those who didn't, and their families at home.
Barris marshals groundbreaking research into a compelling firsthand account. For the first time, "The Great Escape"retells one of the most astonishing episodes in WWII directly through the eyes of those who experienced it."

Genres: History, Nonfiction, World War II, Canada, War, Survival, European History

288 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2012

About the author

Ted Barris is an accomplished author, journalist and broadcaster. As well as hosting stints on CBC Radio and regular contributions to The Globe and Mail, the National Post, and various national magazines, he is a full-time professor of journalism at Centennial College in Toronto. Barris has authored seventeen non-fiction books, including the national bestsellers Victory at Vimy and Juno.

Reviews

[Jim · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is quite a decent account of the escape of 80 Commonwealth and American airmen from the POW camp Stalag Luft III during WWII. We're all familiar with the ill-starred venture, mostly from the largely fictionalized movie, but Ted Barris has set the record straight for us here. Of course it would be extremely difficult, probably impossible, to write a book outlining the personal contributions of the hundreds of POWs who worked on this operation, so Mr Barris has concentrated on the exploits of some of the main characters. Without going into exhaustive detail, he gives a short biographical blurb on each of the principal characters, including their path into the military and the manner in which they found themselves in German captivity.

Barris goes on to give basic details of camp routine and the makeup of the escape committee; he also goes into considerable length on the construction of the escape tunnel and the work done by people who assisted with disposal of earth, forging of documents, and "taming" German guards. That their efforts were effective is established by the fact that 80 got out the other end, less than half the 200 they wanted but still a significant number. All but 3 of these were recaptured. Fifty of those recaptured were murdered.

I think the escape was an unnecessary fiasco. The POWs were not generally mistreated by the German military, having to endure the odd rollcall and barrack search, something that goes on in any prison. Hell, the officers weren't even required to work. They had sports like hockey and baseball, and the diversion of a theatre that even the German officers attended. They had a good working relationship with the German soldiers, and thanks to Red Cross packages and parcels from home they ate better than the Germans. They even had a black market exchange of goods, exchanging coffee and cigarettes for items the guards would bring in. They could have idled out the rest of the war in relative comfort.

The general consensus seems to be that the escape committee thought that they would tie up a lot of German resources with people combing the countryside looking for them, and maybe they were a bit of a nuisance in that way. But in reality, the Gestapo and security forces out looking for them were on the payroll anyway, and were in no way front line troops being taken away from operations. They didn't take into consideration, or perhaps didn't believe, that responsibility for dealing with recaptured POWs had passed from military to civil authority. Gestapo didn't care about the Geneva Convention that the German military was pretty good about following.

So what was accomplished? Most escapees were quickly captured. Fifty of those were murdered by security forces. Several innocent German civilians from whom POWs stole supplies were executed. The German guards who had treated them civilly were punished. Life in the camp was never the same after the escape. And the three escapees who made it home? Full points to them for cleverness, but if they had endured captivity another few months they would have been liberated at no risk. I'm sure that the little bit they could add to the war effort on returning home wasn't worth the cost. Think of the grief endured by parents and siblings of the murdered men, the extended families mourning needlessly. Barris touches a bit on this aspect in his book as well.

More nice touches: I like how Barris is fair to the Germans and differentiates between those who followed the laws of war and those who were eager to murder. I also appreciate that he follows up on the postwar careers of some of the escapees, and that he has obtained plenty of photos: we know what they're worth. And although I didn't see a Bibliography, you may be sure that I'll be mining his Notes for some more titles to read.

[Bev Walkling · Rating 5 out of 5]

I grew up reading World War 2 (and one) escape books from the bookshelves of my father who served with the Royal Canadian Army Medical Corps overseas during the war. My uncle was captured in the Liri Valley in Italy and was sent to a German POW camp. I had the privilege of talking with him about his experiences. I have seen the movie "The Great Escape" countless times and it's follow-up tv special which focused on seeing that justice took place after the war, and so I was drawn to this book.

This is not a book that you can sit down and read quickly. It is meticulously researched and loaded with names and details even as to how much was used in terms of supplies like wires, to build the tunnels. (The amounts are incredible and go to show the great resourcefulness of the prisoners) The book is more than just the story of the escape, however, it is also a history of Stalag Luft 3. It clearly details the day to day life of the POW's. Sources are clearly documented and there is a good selection of photo's at the end of the book. My one complaint about these is that the Kindle version doesn't show them side by side the way a hardcover book would and this means that for some of them the description of what the pictures show is not on the same page as the picture is.

If you are interested in World War 2 history or history of escape, then this is a must read for you. If you are a Canadian, it is particularly of interest because the movie so many has seen does not tell the full, true story of the importance of the Canadian POW's to making this escape happen.

[Ian M. Pyatt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well researched and written with an easy flow to the story telling of this book. Like many people, we've all seen the movie "The Great Escape" and enjoyed it and remarked on the bravery, ingenuity of the planners, diggers and all others involved in the escape.

But I did not realize the involvement of Canadians until many years ago when I saw a TV show and went to military museums in Calgary (where I live) and in Nanton (2 hrs south) and both had scale models of the camp, descriptions of the tunnels and photos/stories of those involved.

The book also mentions Dachau concentration camp which I visited in 1973. And "The Eagles Nest" in Berchtesgaden and stayed there in 1973 and 1974. The Americans had converted this place into a hotel; so the weird thing was one was walking along the same corridors and eating in dining rooms where Hitler and his henchman planned so many of the atrocities against the Jewish population. **I should note that my father was in the Canadian military and we were posted to a Canadian base in southern (West) Germany from 1973-77, so visiting these places was very easy**

The book details the liberties the movie producers went to in order to make the movie more "friendly" to American and British people, so I won't repeat those here. Suffice to say, as I was reading the book, I visualized the movie in my head.

Recommend for those who like Canadian war history.

[Chuck Slack · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a Canadian whose father was an airplane mechanic in the RCAF during the Battle of Britain this story needed to be told. From a Canadian perspective this book shows the bravery, tenacity, and creativity that Canadians contributed to the war.

This is a very well told story. Well researched, presented, and concluded. I highly recommend it.

[Raimo Wirkkala · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very welcome addition to the many accounts already published of my favourite World War II story. It was a pleasure to meet the many Canadians who contributed so much to the effort.

[Joseph Gambin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ted Barris tells an excellent story about the famous Great Escape from Stulag III during WWII. For those who are only familiar of the story from the great film "The Great Escape," this book will tell you the more accurate version of the story complete with the actual main players in Organization X.

Ted Barris conducted excellent research relying on primary sources to give an accurate portrayal of the scheme to release numerous prisoners from a POW camp in Poland. The result is a great history that is easy to read.

This book would have been a four or five star book except for the first chapter. We Canadians get over sensitive when Hollywood changes the nationality of characters from our historical stories in order to sell movies to American audiences. Hollywood's job is to sell movies not tell accurate histories. Barris expresses this national insecurity by writing an entire chapter on how the movie did not give enough credit to Canada or Canadians. The inaccuracies in the film could have been explained by footnotes or within the text of the actual story. By dedicating the entire first chapter to these inaccuracies it seemed like a bunch of complaining that took away from the overall quality of the book

[Shirley Schwartz · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't often read non-fiction books, but when I was told about this one I had to read it. We had just finished watching the movie The Great Escape, so that was fresh in my mind when I began. This is the true story of what happened on March 24, 1944 at German Prisoner of War Camp (Stalag Luft II). That was the day that 80 prisoners escaped from the camp after crawling through a 365 foot long underground tunnel. This book explains the whole massive and incredible escape plan. The 2,000 plus prisoners at the camp were officers and enlisted men was made up of airmen who had been shot down in Germany. The book describes what life was like in the camp for the flyboys who had been captured. And it describes the incredible detail and the huge amount of planning and the work that went into this great escape plan. Contrary to the movie, though the escape was planned and executed by mostly RAF officers and enlisted men. The British, Canadian, Australian and New Zealand airmen were the ones that were involved in this incredible attempt. There were some other nationalities including Americans, involved, but this was a RAF-led attempt. These were brave and very talented men and reading about this huge WWII escape left me in awe of all these men, as well as any other soldiers that were held in German prisoner of war camps.

[Joan · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was great to read the real story of The Great Escape and how Canadians played a major role in all aspects. Many of the escape's key players-the tunnel designer, excavators, forgers, scroungers,security and intelligence personnel,keeper of the secret radio and lots of security "stooges" and sand-dispersal "penguins" were Canadians. Five Canadians were also murdered by the Gestapo when they shot 50. Don't get me wrong, The Great Escape is one of my favorite all time movies, I've seen it about 100 times....lol....but it was unfortunate that the Americans felt that the only way it would be a hit was to americanize it. The Steve McQueen character didn't even exist and that was one of my fav. roles. If you are interested in this type of history then I highly recommend this book. Very good read.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book delivers on the title, a Canadian perspective of the Great Escape. It tells the stories of a number of Canadian airmen at Stalag Luft III, including their before-and-after lives. They came from all over the country, and, when the survivors came home, many suffered for years what we now call PTSD. The Canadians played some pivotal roles in this escape, and earlier ones that Barris mentions. The magnificent 1963 movie, with Steve McQueen et all, was biased with a number of fictional American characters, and Barris' tends to over-emphasize the Canadian role, but the subtitle, "A Canadian Story", tells all. That said, there are a number of books on the story as a whole, and that it was largely an all-Commonwealth effort. Readers seeking a wider view can look to those.
Overall, it is great Canadian history, very well-researched, and a terrific read.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

Even though this is a well known story I still picked up a ton of information I hadn't heard before. Of course being Canadian it was great to get a Canadian perspective.

[Cheryl Sinclair · Rating 4 out of 5]

The true story behind the movie with all the factual accounts of the Canadian involvement.

[Ryan Eaton · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this. After being familiar with the movie The Great Escape, I had no idea that in reality from the movie that so many Canadians where POWs at Stalag Luft III, or even what life would have been like for the remaining POWs after the escape and then before being liberated at the end of the war.

[Don Thompson]

I enjoyed this as I was totally unaware of the part Canadians played in the Air war which is very sad as my father in law was a tail gunner in Halifax's and Wellington's. The fact that so many planes were shot down and that in this one prison were over 600 Canadian POW's made that a whole lot clearer for me.

The other part was the 50 POW's from the great escape who were executed by the German Secret Service. One of the comments made was that the great escape was like parachuting 2 division of Paratroopers into Germany as it tied up so many troops. This is important note but sad that so many died and only 3 of the POW's actually escaped.

The only thing I would have liked would have been a little more on how this poor POW's rebuilt their lives on their return to Canada. It appears that they did not get much support from the Government and Country that they served and for whom they gave up so much. I guess as far as it goes our current Government has not improved or learnt lessons from the history and past experience on how to handle our current vet's coming back home.

a good book. Well worth reading.

[Andréa Geleynse · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was well researched, and it was great to read about the Canadian aspect of the Great Escape. It was also good to learn more about some of the officers, such as Wally Floody, who were involved in the preparations for the escape, but were unable to take part.

[Bill Leach · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent book as it provides the facts behind the "Great Escape" while most are only familiar with the movie. The prisoners involved were mostly Canadian and British officers. Barris relates the stories of the actual men involved, many of whom were not portrayed in the movie.

The amount of work that was done without discovery by the Germans is amazing. "They had tunnelled for eleven months—from April 11, 1943, to March 14, 1944. They had removed and dispersed several hundred tons of sand from three major tunnels. Scrounging from every corner of the compound, kriegies had incorporated 4,000 bed-boards, 90 double bunk beds, 1,212 bed bolsters, 1,370 battens, 1,699 blankets, 161 pillow cases, 635 mattresses, 192 bed covers, 3,424 towels, 76 benches, 52 twenty-man tables, 10 single tables, 34 chairs, 30 shovels, 246 water cans, 1,219 knives, 582 forks, 478 spoons, 1,000 feet of electric wire, 600 feet of rope, and 69 lamps into Tom, Dick, and, mostly Harry."
Tom, Dick and Harry were the three tunnels that were excavated. The men called themselves kriegies from the German word kriesgefangenen for prisoners of war.

"To any but the Gestapo,it was a well-known fact that if a workman was sent into a prisoners’ compound, two guards also had to be sent to watch the workman’s tools.”

An excellent, well researched book.

[Peter · Rating 5 out of 5]

I will never complain about my life again. This is a stunning book. It is impeccably researched and both brutal and inspirational in the telling.

In intricate detail Ted Barris recounts the story of the airmen who found themselves in a German prisoner of war camp and follows their day-to-day lives as they struggle to both survive the harsh conditions of the prison camps and dig tunnels to escape. The ingenious methods the prisoners used to both survive and attempt to escape are recounted in detail.

There is a famous movie that documents the story of the great escape but it pales in comparison with the truth. As a Canadian, I was humbled to learn that the great escape was the story of Canadians. This is a story Canadians need to know more intimately.

The novel follows the prisoners as they are forced to leave their German prison and their forced march to another German prisoner of war camp because of the Soviet advancement near the end of the war. Barris then follows the lives of the men after the war.

I am glad I pay tribute to all members of our Canadian military each November 11th. It is the least I can do to honour those who served in Canada’s armed services.

[Lloyd Mack · Rating 5 out of 5]

The 1960s movie The Great Escape was a great Hollywood production, but the bones of the largely fictionalized movie script is a story that is long overdue in telling.
Ted Barris assembles a great work of research telling the story of Commonwealth and American airmen who engaged in a battle of determination to disrupt the German war efforts from within Stalag Luft III, an infamous Second World War German POW camp. His focus in large part is on Canadians who played a large part in the plot.
He uses letters home, interviews with family and some of the survivors of the 2,000 POWs that had various roles in the coordinated efforts to start out digging three tunnels to escape.
March 24, 1944 80 airmen crawled through the 400-foot tunnel named Harry and escaped with tailored clothing for disguise, forged documents and emergency rations. A somewhat unbelievable feat that led the Germans on a massive manhunt. All but three were recaptured and on Hitler’s orders 50 were murdered.

[Chris Tschirhart · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found the book was good at adding the Canadian touch to this classic war story. The book lost a bit of steam in the final chapter regarding the long march of prisoners out of the camp. This chapter seemed to drag and did not sum up the experience in the end. This however, is my only negative comment about the entire book. I does go into depth of which Canadians brought very unique skills such as mining, photography, forgery, printing, tailoring and a myriad of other skills that all combined to achieve the great escape. Ted did a good job of researching the important little things that these skills were used and which individuals did and how they felt as they made these contributions.

[Tom · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm giving this book four stars primarily because it focuses on the Canadian contribution to the Great Escape. There would be many ways to tell this story (as the somewhat fictionalized movie demonstrates), but by keeping our attention on the efforts and bravery of Canadian POWs in Stalag Luft III, Barris honors their service. He reminds us that it wasn't just Brits and Americans who fought and won the war in Europe -- or who suffered in Nazi prison camps. Hollywood made an entertaining movie based on the Great Escape, but Barris gives us a book that gets behind the glamour to lift up the contributions of men who were too often all but unknown.

[David Horton · Rating 5 out of 5]

An exceptional addition to Canadian history which desperately needs stories like this. If you look through any book that specifically documents the Canadian involvement in World War Two, you won't find much mention at all of these brave chaps. Leaves one yearning to go Poland and see the prison compound and walk in the kriegies' footsteps as much as anyone would want to walk the battlefields and trenches in France.

[Joe Seliske · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Great Escape has always been one of my favourite movies. Now I know that Hollywood "Americanized" it despite all of the Canadians and other Commonwealth soldiers who were actually the major players in the escape. Still a good movie, however, even though the Steve McQueen character did not exist. This book gives an intricate history of the players and their roles in the escape as well as life in Stalag Luft III. So many of the stories went to the graves of their owners.

[Jean Moloney · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh, story dragged with all the back story of the prisoners. Felt too much like author had to acknowledge the background of every person who entered story (and there were many different characters). All the background just slowed the pace of the story so that it became lost.

[Pete · Rating 3 out of 5]

An entertaining read that does a good job of highlighting the ingenuity and creativity of the prisoners. Somewhat repetitive at times but that's to be expected as routine is the foundation of prison life.

[David G. · Rating 4 out of 5]

It focuses on the 'Canadian connection' worthwhile reading.

[Sharon Fournier · Rating 4 out of 5]

great book

[Diane Faris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wonderful to learn how involved Canadians were in this famous WWII story.

[Tony · Rating 4 out of 5]

A detailed account of the real Great Escape, something most folks will never know unless they read the book. The movie was great but the book is real .

[E.R. Yatscoff · Rating 4 out of 5]

Air battles and politics. Excellent reading. A short period of time but so intense and so important in the grand scheme of the war

[Jennifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

During World War II many Allied soldiers were captured but the Axis (Germans) and held at POW camps. Many Canadian, American and UK fliers ended up together in Stalag Luft III in Sagan, Poland. Together these men managed to create a world that contained a library and theater, as well as hosting several sporting events from boxing to baseball and hockey games. The men in this camp became family to each other while they waited out the war and hoped for it to end. While learning languages, putting on plays, and playing sports entertained and lifted their spirits, these weren’t their only activities. The men created a secret society, called X Organization, that organized the digging of escape tunnels, distractions, the disposal of dirt, forgery of documents, and the escape itself. On March 24, 1944, the men escaped. Of the approximate 2,000 men that aided in the tunnel’s construction less than 200 went through the tunnel (named “Harry”) to freedom. Their goal wasn’t just to escape but to cause the Germans to utilize their armies, police, air force and other agencies to search for them – thus providing a distraction so the Allies could press further into German territory and maybe cause the war to end sooner. Unfortunately, an initial escape from the camp didn’t actually mean freedom and many of the men were captured. Outraged at the complexity of the escape and the amount of men that managed to get through, the Gestapo shot about 50 of the men to send a message to the camp. A tragic but heroic true-life story about courage, strength, wits, and camaraderie.

Having never actually seen the movie “The Great Escape” I can honestly say that I didn’t know much at all about this story prior to reading this book. Mr. Barris did an incredible job of bringing the men’s stories to life from just before the war to their life in the camp and wrapping up with what happened to them after they were liberated. Considering other survival stories that I’ve read from this era, the men didn’t have it as bad as many others did. They were fortunate to still be able to send and receive letters from family and to receive the Red Cross care parcels. Ingenuity was the men’s best friend and when they needed something, it was made from anything from tin cans to scraps found around the camp. Their ability to organize to the extent that they did is awe-inspiring. Mr. Barris took the cold hard facts, photographs, diaries, letters, and interviews and has managed to combine them into an easy to read narrative. It is a spell-binding book that grabs hold of your attention and emotions and has you encouraging the men on from the beginning to the end. Heros like this aren’t found very often or even given the credit that they are due. These men deserve that title and to be remembered for all that they accomplished.