During World War II, hundreds of thousands of individuals became prisoners of war, and thousands of escape attempts were made. Here are four of the most amazing – and just downright genius – escape stories that I’ve come across.
1. The Polish Prisoner
One of the most ingenious escapes I have read of was recounted in Moonless Night by Bertram “Jimmy” James of the Great Escape. In his book, James tells of a Polish POW who was “literally thrown out of the camp.”
The Polish prisoner had somehow managed to get into the guardroom during the change of guards. He was wearing a civilian suit (made from a naval uniform) and carried a small suitcase. When the German sergeant in charge of the guard returned, he asked the prisoner what he wanted.
“I wish to see my brother.” was the reply.
“No visits allowed.” the German informed him, brusquely.
“But he is my brother; surely you will allow me to see him?”
“I repeat, visits are strictly forbidden.”
“But I have travelled three hundred miles, and I must see my brother.”
“Get out!” the sergeant shouted, grabbing the Pole and throwing him out onto the street. The prisoner landed near a tram stop. Boarding the tram, he went to the train station where he caught a train to Stettin, and at Stettin, he took a ship to Sweden – and freedom.
2. The German General
Another ingenious – though not so successful – escape was recounted in Escaper’s Progress by David Guthrie-James.
A group of prisoners disguised themselves as a German General and his staff. Approaching the main gate of the POW camp just after the change of guards, the little group surprised the sentry so that he almost dropped his rifle. The General’s Adjutant then ordered the sentry to call out the guard for inspection.
Since the “General” himself spoke no German, his Adjutant announced that the General had laryngitis and so would be unable to address the troops himself. However, the Adjutant, continued, the General was “horrified with their slack and slovenly appearance.” He then asked where the General’s car was. Of course, nobody knew. So the General and his staff left the camp on foot.
Unfortunately for the escapees, they had given the Germans so bad of a scare that the German sergeant called up the Kommandant hoping to “forestall the court martial, which he regarded as inevitable.” When the Kommandant heard the story, he chased the “General” down in his car in order to give an apology. But he recognized one of the escapers, and they were all promptly returned to the prison camp.
3. Selling Surrender
Another astonishing story was told by Lt. William Standish who didn’t need a disguise to escape – he was able to talk his way to freedom.
While fighting in Italy, Lt. Standish was captured by German soldiers and marched at gunpoint into a house occupied by the enemy. Inside were about a dozen other captured Americans – the rest of Standish’s men having been either killed or wounded.
Standish started muttering and grumbling to himself, wishing that the Germans were his prisoners instead. This went on for a while before the German sergeant major finally asked Standish what happened to Germans captured by the Americans.
“They’re sent to Africa and get to watch movies every night.” Standish replied. “They have clean clothes and good food. They have nothing to worry about.”
He continued pitching surrender to his captors, and they appeared to be buying it. Finally, the sergeant major asked him, “How could we go about surrendering to the Americans?”
Standish’s plan was to bandage all of the uninjured Germans to make them look like walking wounded, then send them through the front lines. The sergeant major agreed to his plan – Lt. Standish had just talked his German captors into surrendering.
(This is a condensed version of the story. You can read the full story here.)
4. The Crow’s Flight
By the numbers the single greatest escape of the war was led by an Australian Pvt. Churches known as “the crow.” With the aid of local resistance over 100 POWs were able to escape and make their way to freedom.
Pvt. Ralph Churches and six of his roommates were able to slip away from a POW working party and meet with a local group of Partisans. Churches was able to convince the partisan leader to free the rest of the POWs, so the next day a group of 100 partisans captured the German guards and released the prisoners.
For the next two weeks this army of partisans and escaped prisoners marched 160 miles before reaching a partisan base complete with an airfield. There they were able to make contact with the Allies, and several days later, all of the ex-prisoners were flown to Bari, Italy.
While the exact number of escaped prisoners is unknown, it is estimated to be about 100-120, making this the most successful escape of the war.
Conclusion
Stories of escape attempts made during WWII are amazing stories of courage and ingenuity. I have only shared four of the many amazing escape stories that have been written since the war. To read about more escapes, I suggest checking out the recommended sources below.
Recommended Sources:
- Escaper’s Progress by David Guthrie-James
- Great Escape Stories by Eric Williams
Note: I intend to add more to this list as I study this topic further.
P.S. You can also follow me at my other blog, Kenmore Pines 1, here.
To learn more about this blog check out my blog launch post here.