The Great Escape

One of the last survivors of the Great Escape, Jack Harrison, has died. He was 97.

His job during the digging of the tunnels was to help dispose of the sand. That was very difficult, as the topsoil was grey dirt and the subsoil was yellow sand. The Germans chose the site for Stalag Luft III because sand is very hard to tunnel through without cave-ins and because the sand would be very hard to dispose of.

To the prisoners, their war was not over. While getting out of German-controlled territory was the ultimate goal, escaping of itself was thought by the prisoners to confound the Germans and that was enough.

An interactive look at the tunnel Harry.

The Great Escape, the book

(The movie on You Tube)

The Great Escape movie.