Latest news with #StalagLuftIII
Yahoo
26-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Will Young becomes tearful after discovering grandfather was not a ‘loser'
Singer and actor Will Young became tearful when he found out that his grandfather was not a 'loser', as had been the belief by some in his family. The 46-year-old knew that Digby Young was a prisoner of war during the Second World War, after moving from Australia, but did not know many details of his life before taking part in BBC genealogy series Who Do You Think You Are? To trace his history, he first speaks to his Aunt Wiggy who says her father died as a teenager, and remembers him as a kind man who was looked down on by some. Later Young discovers that Digby, a bomber pilot, was hit by fire and suffered engine failure, survived and was taken as a prisoner to the Luftwaffe-run camp, Stalag Luft III, in German-occupied Poland. As the war ended, the British servicemen were marched in winter, and when a Nazi guard got frostbite, Digby used 'alcohol and a few kitchen knives' for an amputation, according to a fellow PoW's account. Young said his grandfather saving the life of his captor, makes him a 'very remarkable man', adding: 'There is a sadness that comes with it, is that I think he was perceived as a bit of a loser after the war, by some of the family, this is the proper telling of a really decent man.' '(An) extraordinary, man, I don't think has passed down to me through my father, and hasn't for my father,' he also said, breaking down. 'So this means so much to me and my dad, sorry, I feel quite emotional about it.' Young also said he feels 'like (family) history has been a bit unkind to him, so it's nice that history is being kind'. His grandfather escaped because the Russian head of a camp 'liked his liquor', and was bribed with a Rolex watch, and Digby was able to take off with a friend on a bike to where the American soldiers were. After the war, he was a Squadron Leader flying jets, which Young says 'makes me really happy, because I think he really did find his vocation'. 'It's completely not how I saw him at all,' he added. 'I didn't know he went on to do any of this.' View this post on Instagram A post shared by Will Young (@willyoungofficial) 'Now I feel like I've got another grandfather,' he added. 'I didn't feel like I had a right, really, to claim another grandfather, because I didn't know him. 'All he was was a picture and an early death, of which it was potentially quite sad circumstances. And now the picture and the death is not even part of his story.' Later he shared that he got a tattoo of a plane and Digby's squadron number to remember him. Young also learns from a historian that he is related to Colonel Sir Aretas William Young, who was named the protector of slaves in Guyana and was fired after a 'pretty damning' report on his prejudice, and later a governor of Prince Edward Island in Canada. He also discovers his relation to Hugh Despenser, an adviser to King Edward II, who was executed as a traitor after greedily seizing land in South Wales, and becoming one of the richest men at the time, and Edward I. The singer called it one of the most 'soul nourishing experiences I've ever had, I didn't expect it, my 20 times great-grandfather was Edward I, that's just bonkers, and then we move to the man, the myth, the legend, the horror that is Hugh Le Despenser, who's just an absolute monster of a man'. Young has scored four UK number one singles and four UK number one albums since winning Pop Idol during its inaugural series in 2002. He has authored two books about mental health and sexuality, appeared on The Masked Singer and Strictly Come Dancing and been nominated for an Olivier Award for the musical Cabaret. Young's episode airs on June 3 on BBC One at 9pm.
Yahoo
05-05-2025
- Yahoo
Sons of Great Escape survivors to retrace WW2 march
The sons of two World War Two soldiers who survived recapture after the legendary Great Escape are to cycle the 120-mile distance their fathers were forced to march. Stuart Green and Roger Churchill met for the first time at the 80th anniversary of the famed escape from Stalag Luft III in 1944. The route will closely mirror that taken by thousands of Allied prisoners of war in 1945, when Russian forces moved in on Nazi-held territory in Europe. Setting out on 5 May from the site of the camp in modern day Poland, the three-day ride will cover 300km (186 miles), ending at the Neue Wache Memorial in Berlin. Mr Churchill's father, former squadron leader Dick Churchill, was one of 76 airmen whose escape from the Stalag Luft III camp was brought to life in the 1963 Steve McQueen movie. Seventy-three of the airmen - including Mr Churchill - were recaptured by the Germans within three days, and two-thirds were executed on Hitler's orders. Mr Green's father Alan was a navigator in a Stirling bomber. The then 22-year-old survived being shot down twice, before being captured by German forces in the Netherlands after the second downed flight. In January 1945, both Dick Churchill and Alan Green, who had been held in the camp, were forced to march 120 miles along with thousands of other prisoners of war. "It happened to be the worst winter in Germany for 50 years and a lot of these men weren't in great shape having been in captivity for a long time," Mr Green said. Many of those who set out died due to malnutrition, exhaustion, and the brutal conditions they endured. A research trip to the Netherlands in 2011 saw Mr Green reunited with a key part of his father's story. "Incredibly, I was introduced to the son of the farmer who had helped my dad and was then presented with pieces of his parachute harness which they had kept all these years, having found my dad's parachute after his capture," he said. "Apparently, the parachute itself was used to make a wedding dress, a common practice during the German occupation." Roger Churchill said his father left Stalag Luft III with a sled, and that when the snow melted, he managed to fit it with axles and wheels with the help of other prisoners. "They were ingenious," he said. "They had to be very creative in what they did. It was an incredible ability to achieve things with very little to hand. "It was a phenomenal act of bravery in many respects, and fortitude." Dick Churchill died in 2019, aged 99, as the last surviving member of the real-life Great Escape team. Mr Green believes the effects of the war caught up with his father Alan, who died suddenly on his 56th birthday in 1976, when Mr Green was just 12. In 2024, both sons met at the 80th anniversary, and discovered a mutual love of cycling. The ride in May will commemorate the so-called Long March, taken by thousands of Allied soldiers. The final day will also mark 80-years since VE Day, and both Mr Churchill and Mr Green want their journey to send a message. "One of the things both Stuart and I feel very strongly about is to bring it home to younger generations," Mr Churchill said. "We live in a fortunate society, we have a democracy, we are allowed to have open speech. "That's what a lot of these people fought for. And we are privileged to live in this society because of what they put themselves through. "My father was shot down at 20. He was 24 when he escaped from the Great Escape, and they were 25 when they were on the Long March." Mr Churchill and Mr Green will be joined by other riders from across Hertfordshire and Buckinghamshire, raising money for a range of causes including the RAF Benevolent Fund, the Royal British Legion, and the Stalag Luft III Museum. Follow Beds, Herts and Bucks news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X. World War Two History Military Royal Air Force Last Great Escape prisoner dies aged 99 Son connects with father shot down twice in WW2 Last survivor of 'The Great Escape' camp
BBC News
05-05-2025
- BBC News
Sons of Great Escape survivors to retrace WW2 march
The sons of two World War Two soldiers who survived recapture after the legendary Great Escape are to cycle the 120-mile distance their fathers were forced to Green and Roger Churchill met for the first time at the 80th anniversary of the famed escape from Stalag Luft III in route will closely mirror that taken by thousands of Allied prisoners of war in 1945, when Russian forces moved in on Nazi-held territory in out on 5 May from the site of the camp in modern day Poland, the three-day ride will cover 300km (186 miles), ending at the Neue Wache Memorial in Berlin. Mr Churchill's father, former squadron leader Dick Churchill, was one of 76 airmen whose escape from the Stalag Luft III camp was brought to life in the 1963 Steve McQueen of the airmen - including Mr Churchill - were recaptured by the Germans within three days, and two-thirds were executed on Hitler's Green's father Alan was a navigator in a Stirling then 22-year-old survived being shot down twice, before being captured by German forces in the Netherlands after the second downed flight. In January 1945, both Dick Churchill and Alan Green, who had been held in the camp, were forced to march 120 miles along with thousands of other prisoners of war."It happened to be the worst winter in Germany for 50 years and a lot of these men weren't in great shape having been in captivity for a long time," Mr Green of those who set out died due to malnutrition, exhaustion, and the brutal conditions they endured. 'Phenomenal act of bravery' A research trip to the Netherlands in 2011 saw Mr Green reunited with a key part of his father's story."Incredibly, I was introduced to the son of the farmer who had helped my dad and was then presented with pieces of his parachute harness which they had kept all these years, having found my dad's parachute after his capture," he said."Apparently, the parachute itself was used to make a wedding dress, a common practice during the German occupation."Roger Churchill said his father left Stalag Luft III with a sled, and that when the snow melted, he managed to fit it with axles and wheels with the help of other prisoners."They were ingenious," he said."They had to be very creative in what they did. It was an incredible ability to achieve things with very little to hand."It was a phenomenal act of bravery in many respects, and fortitude." Dick Churchill died in 2019, aged 99, as the last surviving member of the real-life Great Escape Green believes the effects of the war caught up with his father Alan, who died suddenly on his 56th birthday in 1976, when Mr Green was just 2024, both sons met at the 80th anniversary, and discovered a mutual love of ride in May will commemorate the so-called Long March, taken by thousands of Allied soldiers. The final day will also mark 80-years since VE Day, and both Mr Churchill and Mr Green want their journey to send a message."One of the things both Stuart and I feel very strongly about is to bring it home to younger generations," Mr Churchill said."We live in a fortunate society, we have a democracy, we are allowed to have open speech. "That's what a lot of these people fought for. And we are privileged to live in this society because of what they put themselves through."My father was shot down at 20. He was 24 when he escaped from the Great Escape, and they were 25 when they were on the Long March."Mr Churchill and Mr Green will be joined by other riders from across Hertfordshire and Buckinghamshire, raising money for a range of causes including the RAF Benevolent Fund, the Royal British Legion, and the Stalag Luft III Museum. Follow Beds, Herts and Bucks news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
BBC News
24-03-2025
- Entertainment
- BBC News
'It didn't express the real horror': The true story of The Great Escape
On 24 March 1944, 76 allied officers broke out of a German prisoner-of-war camp, Stalag Luft III – a mission that was memorialised in a classic film, The Great Escape. In 1977, a key member of the escape team, Ley Kenyon, was interviewed on the BBC's Nationwide. On a snowy moonless night in 1944, more than 200 allied officers attempted to break out of a German prisoner-of-war camp. It was the culmination of an incredibly ambitious plan that entailed more than a year of bribes, tunnelling, and the assembly-line production of equipment, uniforms and documents, all of which had to be painstakingly hidden from the camp's guards and spies. The Great Escape, John Sturges's 1963 film about the breakout, is a much-loved classic starring Steve McQueen, Richard Attenborough and James Garner. But it contains many inaccuracies. Jem Duducu, historian and presenter of the Condensed History podcast, described it in an interview in Metro as "a strange mixture of fastidious creation and pure Hollywood fantasy". The story was first told by Paul Brickhill, one of the people who helped with the escape attempt, in his 1950 book, The Great Escape. He describes Ley Kenyon, who illustrated the book, as the mission's "star counterfeiter". Discussing the film with Dilys Morgan on the BBC's Nationwide in 1977, Kenyon said: "It was good entertainment, but it certainly didn't express the real horror of being a prisoner of war, the horror being, of course, in one's personal feelings about being behind barbed wire – the boredom, the hunger. The hunger was pretty grim." Other ex-prisoners had a different view of the film. Charles Clarke, who was in the camp at the time, and had aided the plot as a look-out, told the BBC in a 2019 radio interview: "Even after all these years, I've always thought what a remarkable film it was." One major change that the film made was to the personnel involved. While the events of The Great Escape are mostly rooted in fact, names were changed, and various people were combined into composite characters. At the time of the escape, no Americans remained in the compound, and the man who was said to be the model for McQueen's Virgil Hilts, William Ash, did not take part. The plan was spearheaded by Squadron Leader Roger Bushell – who in the film was renamed Bartlett, and played by Attenborough. First captured in 1940 after being shot down, Bushell had an impressive record of escape attempts, once getting within 100 yards of neutral Switzerland. Stalag Luft III was the Germans' attempt at an escape-proof camp, specifically for air force officers from the UK, Canada, Australia, Poland and other allied countries. It was built and run by the Luftwaffe as a secure place to hold people they believed were escape risks. What they had not done, however, was consider the ramifications of trapping so many escape experts in one place. Months of preparation The camp was built over sandy soil that was difficult to tunnel through. This subsoil was also lighter and more yellow than the dark topsoil, making it obvious if any appeared on the ground of the camp. Huts were perched on brick legs to make tunnels down from them obvious. Brickhill describes in his book a "double barbed wire fence nine-feet (2.75m) high", just outside of which were 15-ft (4.5m) high "goon-boxes" every 100 yards or so, manned by sentries with searchlights and machine-guns. Additionally, microphones were buried in the ground around the wire so that they could pick up the sounds of any tunnelling. As you might expect from a plan hatched by soldiers, the tunnel-digging enterprise was run with military efficiency. Bushell – also known as "Big X" – was in charge, and delegated certain parts of the organisation to other men. The planning began even before Stalag Luft III was built: Bushell and others knew it was coming, and volunteered to help build it. As a result, they were able to map it out and pick the best spots for a tunnel. Bushell had the idea that they would dig not one tunnel but three simultaneously. The logic was that if the Germans found one of them, they would never suspect that there were two others. They were to be referred to only by their codenames of Tom, Dick and Harry. Bushell threatened to court-martial anyone who even uttered the word "tunnel". The aim was for 200 men to escape. This was a colossal undertaking. Each man needed a set of civilian clothes, forged passes, a compass, food, and more. Some passes needed photographs, so a camera was smuggled in by a guard who had been bribed. In the film, Donald Pleasence's character is in charge of the forgery. In reality, Kenyon was one of the forgers who had to counterfeit the thousands of pieces of paperwork necessary. In the Nationwide interview, he recalled how they made it happen: "We made a printing press, for one thing, and each letter had to be hand-carved out of rubber which we got from the cobbler – rubber heels – or bits of wood cut with razor blades." Every document had to be perfect. They replicated passes and paperwork that they had either stolen from the guards or persuaded the guards to show them. "Something like 7 or 8,000 pieces of paper were produced," he said. The tunnels themselves were also miracles of engineering and ingenuity. An air pump was made with kit-bags and wood, and air was pumped through a line made of empty milk tins that had been sent by the Red Cross. A major issue was the dispersal of the soil that had been dug up, so bags that hung inside trousers were fashioned from long underwear and used to drop the sand around the camp, where it could be kicked into the ground. Of the three tunnels, Tom was discovered by the guards only a short while before it would have been completed. After a break, the decision was made to continue only with Harry. This tunnel was finished in the winter of 1943, and sealed up until conditions were suitable for a breakout. That time finally came on the night of 24 March 1944. Many things went wrong, but ultimately, of the 220 people chosen, 76 made it out before the 77th was spotted by a guard. A massive operation was mobilised to recapture the 76. They all knew that it was likely that they would be caught, but many viewed it as their duty to attempt escape. Another goal of the men was to make the Germans pull resources from their war effort to guard and search for them. According to Brickhill, five million Germans were involved in the search for the escaped prisoners. All but three of the 76 were recaptured. Two managed to make it to Sweden, and one to Spain. Hitler wanted all 73 of the recaptured prisoners to be shot. Those around him managed to talk him out of it – after all, the British held German prisoners of war, and would not take kindly to the massacre of their officers. Still, Hitler declared that 50 of them should die. Ken Rees, who was in the tunnel when it was discovered, recounted hearing that those murdered were "taken out in twos and threes, and shot", in a BBC Witness History podcast in 2010. Brought to justice In the fictionalised version, all of the men are driven to a field and shot by a machine-gun, but the reality involved more deceitful measures. Brickhill's book notes that the men were taken in small groups in the direction of the original camp and shot on the way. He wrote, "The shootings will be explained by the fact that the recaptured officers were shot while trying to escape, or because they offered resistance, so that nothing can be proved later." All of the bodies were cremated, and, as Foreign Secretary Anthony Eden pointed out in a parliamentary speech given in June 1944, the only reason for this would have been to hide the manner of death. Bushell was one of the men caught and murdered. He died aged 33. Details of his death came out in the investigation afterwards: along with his escape partner, he was shot in the back by Gestapo officers. His ashes were returned to the camp with the rest of the dead, but, according to his niece, the casket was broken when armies advanced on the camp, and so, more than 80 years later, he remains there. More like this:• How music saved a cellist's life in Auschwitz• How WW2's D-Day began with a death-defying mission• How Oskar Schindler saved 1,200 Jewish People during World War Two Two of the men who managed to avoid execution were Jimmy James and Sydney Dowse. In a 2012 documentary, Dowse gave his perspective as a survivor. "You rather wonder why the hell you yourself weren't shot. That's what Jimmy and I felt, anyway. Why we weren't shot. We could have been. It was just luck. And… pretty terrible." The execution of 50 prisoners of war caused outrage in the UK. Eden said in his speech to Parliament: "His Majesty's Government must, therefore, record their solemn protest against these cold-blooded acts of butchery. They will never cease in their efforts to collect the evidence to identify all those responsible. They are firmly resolved that these foul criminals shall be tracked down to the last man wherever they may take refuge. When the war is over they will be brought to exemplary justice." After the war, a huge effort was put into investigating the killings. As a result, the details emerged, and 13 Gestapo officers were hanged for their part in the executions. It was only six years after the escape, in 1950, that Brickhill published his account of it, which was subsequently adapted into the famous film. When Charles Clarke was asked about his opinion of the Hollywood version of events, he said, "Without the film, who would remember what a magnificent achievement it was?" -- For more stories and never-before-published radio scripts to your inbox, sign up to the In History newsletter, while The Essential List delivers a handpicked selection of features and insights twice a week. For more Culture stories from the BBC, follow us on Facebook, X and Instagram.
Yahoo
08-03-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Harry: A tunnel in the Great Escape
At the North Compound, I visited the Harry Tunnel Monument. This monument is a tribute to the Great Escape, which inspired the 1963 film 'The Great Escape,' starring Steve McQueen, James Garner and many others. On the Harry Tunnel Monument are the names of the 76 prisoners if war who attempted to escape through the tunnel. The names in black are the individuals who were recaptured and executed for trying to escape. The blue names are those who were recaptured and sent back to POW camps. The green names are the three who successfully escaped. Among the blue names is Bob Nelson, whose son, Patrick Nelson, attended the 80th anniversary of the Long March. When I asked how he felt being in his father's footsteps on this trip, Patrick Nelson said, 'It was very emotive when we set off. I really did have to picture in my mind those guys (who) set out and left in the middle of the night in the freezing cold without any proper clothes and not knowing what was going to happen next.' In the north compound of Stalag Luft III, prisoners dug a tunnel they named 'Harry' to escape. The tunnel was 330 feet long, descended 30 feet, and had a diameter of only 2 feet. Construction of Harry and two other tunnels began in May 1943. The second tunnel, 'Dick,' was discovered by the Nazis that summer, while the third, 'Tom,' was used to store supplies for the construction of Harry. The prisoners used wood from their beds and huts to build the tunnels, and they removed the excavated dirt by filling their pockets and scattering it around the campgrounds. The objective was for 200 men, in groups of 30, to escape through the tunnels. From there, some would head toward the railway, and others would travel by foot. As they attempted to exit through the tunnels, however, an Allied raid in Berlin caused a power outage that left the men in complete darkness. Seventy-six men managed to escape, but four were immediately captured. Others, disguised as German civilians, continued their journey. Unfortunately, many did not get far and ended up back in POW camps, where they faced interrogation. Tragically, on Hitler's orders, 50 of the escapees were executed. Bob Nelson was a flight lieutenant in the Royal Air Force. His story began in North Africa, where his assignment was a mission to bomb Tobruk, Libya. Unfortunately, he failed to return to base in Egypt when one of the engines of his Wellington aircraft seized and caught fire. While the rest of the crew managed to bail out of the plane, Nelson was unable to do so and crashed into the Sahara Desert, ultimately falling into the hands of the Nazis. The Germans flew him over the Mediterranean Sea, traveling through Greece and several other locations, before ending up in Stalag Luft III. Before the war, Nelson had worked as an engineer, which enabled him to contribute significantly to the Great Escape project. He was pivotal in designing the air pumps and the trolleys used to transport dirt and equipment throughout the tunnels. After Bob Nelson escaped through the tunnels, he and another POW evaded capture for two days outside the camp. However, local farmers found them while they were attempting to hide in some straw inside a barn and used pitchforks to scare them out. Those same farmers then took them to Halbau, Germany, now known as Iłowa, Poland. Halbau was one of the first stops during the 80th anniversary commemoration. Following this, Nelson and a few others were interrogated by the Gestapo for about three weeks. Eventually, Nelson and the rest were sent back to Stalag Luft III. Patrick Nelson was able to visit the Harry Tunnel Monument and see his father's name engraved on it. He explained that he had heard his father's stories throughout his life, and the experience was profoundly moving for him. After participating in the march to commemorate his father, Patrick could better envision what his father and the other soldiers endured — the darkness of the night, the cold of winter and the starvation they faced. He believed that the soldiers' realization that the war was almost over was crucial in keeping their spirits up. Patrick also discussed the significance of the Great Escape and the Long March, which many people are unaware of. 'I'm really delighted to see that it has been commemorated with this march, which will help secure its future. I'm glad that I can pass this knowledge down to my son,' he said. Kate Dean was another participant in the Long March commemoration. She and a few of her family members walked to honor her grandfather, Albert Henry Comber, who served as a flight lieutenant navigator in the Royal Australian Air Force. He managed to escape from several prisons in Italy before the Germans captured him and sent him to Stalag Luft III. He was also an artist, which allowed him to forge identification documents for soldiers in the camps. Just as he prepared to escape through the Harry tunnel, Nazi guards caught Comber. Dean said learning about her grandfather's experiences made her feel 'proud of him' and empathetic toward the trauma he endured. Her motivation for participating in the commemoration was to honor him, deepen her understanding of his life, and connect with other families whose fathers and grandfathers faced similar journeys. She aims to raise awareness of soldiers facing these challenges while serving their countries. When asked what people should know about these topics, Kate Dean replied, 'A lot of people know about the Great Escape and not so much about the Long March.' Kenneth McCaleb established the McCaleb Initiative for Peace to provide opportunities for students such as Raylyn Downey and me to visit places affected by war. The initiative aims to foster a better understanding of the experiences of those who lived through these conflicts and how society worked to bring them to an end. Editor's note Kylee Trevarrow is a senior at Missouri Southern State University who will graduate this spring with a bachelor's degree in history and a minor in anthropology. She recently traveled to Germany and Poland to participate in an event commemorating the Long March of 1945 with her professor, Steven Wagner, and a classmate, Raylynn Downey. The opportunity was given to them by the McCaleb Initiative for Peace at MSSU. This initiative was established in 1998 by Kenneth McCaleb and his wife, Margaret Baughman McCaleb, to examine the causes of war and discuss ways in which war can be prevented. Since its establishment, the initiative has provided many students with the chance to travel to sites of past wars, study the devastation they caused, and report their findings to promote peace and help prevent future wars. McCaleb was one of the prisoners of war who survived the 62-mile Long March. During this trip, the MSSU group had the chance to meet the family members of several of these POWs and learn the stories of their fathers and grandfathers. This is the third article in a series on their trip.
