«Breaking News» Last survivor of the Great Escape dies aged 99

Airman Richard Churchill, the last survivor of the Great Escape, has died at 99

The last survivor of the Great Escape has died aged 99.

Airman Richard Churchill was among the 76 men who crawled through tunnels in 1944 to escape Stalag Luft III, a Nazi prisoner of war camp.

However, only three of the men got clean away and 50 were rounded up and shot on Hitler’s direct orders.

Mr Churchill was recaptured three days after the escape. He and his comrade Bob Nelson were found by farmers hiding in a barn and were handed over to the Germans. The RAF man believed he was not shot because the Nazis thought he may be related to Winston Churchill.

After his recapture Mr Churchill, of Crediton, Devon, was forced into gruelling winter marches across Germany.

Mr Churchill a former RAF bomber pilot during the war was instrumental in the execution of the escape

Down the hatch: A photo taken by officials at the German camp show the inside of the narrow tunnel, named 'Harry', in 1944. Some 76  men made it out before the escape was rumbled by Nazi guards

The Great Escape was immortalised in the 1963 film starring Sir Richard Attenborough and Steve McQueen.

He told the BBC in July last year: 'You fell into a certain category.

'Were you going to sit and enjoy the very few delights of a barbed wire prison camp until you were rescued by your comrades, if you were rescued, or were you going to try and get out of the place and rejoin and drop something on them?

'You could be a quiet person, do nothing much, above all don't annoy the Germans or the Gestapo, or you can try and do the opposite and feel better as the result of doing it.' 

Making do: Stalag Luft III prisoners are seen walking past a watchtower around the perimeter of the camp in the winter months to keep fit and stay warm

The exploits of those who tunneled and escaped from the camp were made into a cult film starring Steve McQueen

Deadly toll of escapees executed... and how WWII's greatest PoW story got a Hollywood makeover

In the spring of 1943, RAF Squadron Leader Roger Bushell conceived a plan for a major escape from the German Stalag Luft III Camp near Sagan, now Żagań in Poland.

With the escape planned for the night of March 24, 1944, the PoWs built three 30ft deep tunnels, named Tom, Dick and Harry, so that if one was discovered by the German guards, they would not suspect that work was underway on two more.

Bushell intended to get more than 200 men through the tunnels, each wearing civilian clothes and possessing a complete range of forged papers and escape equipment.

In the spring of 1943, RAF Squadron Leader Roger Bushell conceived a plan for a major escape from the German Stalag Luft III Camp near Sagan, now Żagań in Poland 

To hide the earth dug from the tunnels, the prisoners attached pouches of the sand inside their trousers so that as they walked around, it would scatter.

The prisoners wore greatcoats to conceal the bulges made by the sand and were referred to as 'penguins' because of their supposed resemblance to the animal.

When the attempt began, it was discovered that Harry had come up short and instead of reaching into a nearby forest, the first man in fact emerged just short of the tree line, close to a guard tower. 

Plans for one man to leave every minute was reduced to 10 per hour.

The Great Escape starred Steve McQueen (pictured above) as Captain Virgil Hilts

In total, 76 men crawled through to initial freedom, but the 77th was spotted by a guard. In the hunt for the entrance one guard Charlie Pilz crawled through the tunnel but after becoming trapped at the other end called for help. 

The prisoners opened the entrance, revealing the location.

Of the escapees, three made it to safety, 73 were captured, and 50 of them executed.

... and the Hollywood film

The 1963 film The Great Escape was based on real events and, although some characters were fictitious, many were based on real people, or amalgams of several of those involved.

The film starred Steve McQueen as Captain Virgil Hilts, James Garner as Flight Lieutenant Robert Hendley and Richard Attenborough as Squadron Leader Roger Bartlett, and was based on a book of the same name by Paul Brickhill.

Contrary to the film, no American PoWs were involved in the escape attempt, and there were no escapes by motorcycle or aircraft.

Hilts' dash for the border by motorcycle was added by request of McQueen, who did the stunt riding himself except for the final jump.

Link hienalouca.com

https://hienalouca.com/2019/02/15/last-survivor-of-the-great-escape-dies-aged-99/
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Airman Richard Churchill, the last survivor of the Great Escape, has died at 99

The last survivor of the Great Escape has died aged 99.
Airman Richard Churchill was among the 76 men who crawled through tunnels in 1944 to escape Stalag Luft III, a Nazi prisoner of war camp.
However, only...

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