Great Escape Week - Planning the Escape - Tunnelling and Traps

[@timbrown1481]

Amazing back ground. As Paul Harvey said at the end of his broadcasts.. “and now you know the rest of the story”.

[@ncwoodworker]

Thanks Paul. Better late than never. Great show and I learned so much. This is what it’s all about.

[@WW2TV]

Thanks Mike, I hope you enjoy the rest of the week

[@jonathanmillward1231]

Finally got round to watching. Great content as usual. Looking forward to the rest of the series. 👍

[@Grant25]

Great content Paul.

[@Pam_N]

Wonderful show. Thank you, gentlemen. I look forward to all the episodes (I have not been able to watch shows these past many weeks; much to catch up on).

[@jonathanmarsh5955]

Very interesting programme and very good at pointing out the inevitable 'differences of opinion' between different individuals and groups of PoWs. An interesting, and thoughtful, theory I ran into some years ago, and one that chimes more and more as I've got older is to what extent did the German and Italian authorities in charge of the PW camps turn a blind eye to some minor but possibly escape related activities? The human beings inside these camps were predominantly young, bright, stroppy and banged up with a lot of like-minded people, a bit of a pressure cooker situation, to say the least. Different 'talents' would certainly develop amongst these people purely as survival tactics or just to break the numbing monotony, the latter is a well-known trait amongst those trapped, or incarcerated, in most institutions!

[@WW2TV]

I would agree that for the camp staff it would need to be a balancing act. Letting the prisoners focus on small escape attempts might help keep the camp personnel "happy"

[@jonathanmarsh5955]

Exactly that!

[@localbod]

Having watched the Guy Walters episode before this one, Roger Bushell et al had clearly been warned by the Germans that a mass break out would result in a different and harsher reaction, which was obviously plain and simple murder. Also I think the idea that even if 250 allied POWs had manged to escape, that that would have had a negligible effect on the war is delusional.

[@WW2TV]

So, if 250 men had got out, what impact do you think that would have had on the German war effort?

[@localbod]

@@WW2TV Firstly I want to say that I was in no way belittling the bravery, courage and efforts of the escapees or their sacrifice. When looking at the aims and results of the break out we need to view those objectively. My comment was aimed at your guest Jonathan Vance who talked about the 'impact' on the war effort (31.25) of the mass breakout from Stalag Luft III. Had 250 POWs managed to get out of the camp and roam about the third reich in their endeavors to reach blighty, what real impact on the war would that have had? The nazi state was already geared up to deal with anyone who had the potential to threaten their war effort and the state police and secret state police (Gestapo) who whose job it was to catch the escapees were already in place. Indeed, as soon as word of "terrorfliegers" being on the run had been circulated, every curtain in the local villages and towns would have been twitching and the civilian population would have been even more wary of strangers and done their upmost to assist the authorities who were pursuing them. Did the nazi authorities divert manpower from FLAK companies or frontline troops to search for the men on the run? I doubt it, but if there was a mobilisation of military personnel dedicated to combing the countryside in search of the POWs then that could be seen as a definite impact. The escapees themselves were not armed with weapons or tools and tasked with the destruction of manufacturing facilities, severing phone lines or disrupting rail and transport infrastructure, so again, what real impact did they have on the German war effort? Had they been 250 men such as Eddie Blondeel / William Stirling or Blair 'Paddy ' Mayne, armed to the teeth and creating chaos and mayhem then there is no doubt that that would have had an impact on the war effort. As it was, the escapees could only do their best to stay on the run for as long as they could. Would 250 allied airmen returning to their units have changed the air campaign in Europe? I don't see how, as by that time the eventual outcome had already been decided. Maybe if prisoners in all of the roughly 1000 POW camps that existed in Germany had coordinated their efforts, and breakouts had been made from most of those sites, there is no doubt in my mind that that would have had a real impact on the German war effort, but that would have involved thousands and thousands of escapees. If there are documents that can show that the 76 brave men who chose to go on the run really caused precious resources to be diverted and thus affected the nazi war effort, then I would obviously change my opinion on their sacrifice and the result thereof.