Stalag Luft III Sagen. 'The Great Escape'

[stgeorge64]

#43......memorial plaque marking the infamous "ZOLLENBAU"....

[stgeorge64]

#44.........this uneven surface was the 'boot testing area' where, amongst many others were 7 Royal Marine Commandos captured in Norway and forced to walk, run and march for 12 hours per day over this suface to test boots. Incidently, when it was considered that the Royal Marines had expended their worth they were taken to be executed and managed to overcome 2 of the guards and fought out a last stand before being overcome. Very fine soldiers indeed.

[stgeorge64]

#45..........reconstructed accomodation huts.....

[stgeorge64]

#46........one of 3 remaining (and original) 'punishment poles' infront of the foundations of the notorious 'death cells'. Jimmy James spent over 2 months in solitary confinement in one of these cells. Inmates were hung, beaten and tortured on these poles.....

[stgeorge64]

#47.......Sachsenhausen memorial......

[stgeorge64]

#48......another view of the memorial....

[stgeorge64]

#49..........this pic shows a model of the camp layout and gives an idea of the vastness of the whole camp. A shocking place to visit but was somewhere that need to be seen. Jimmy James tunnelled out of this camp before being recaptured and incarcerated again. The fortitude of this man cannot be underestimated.

[stgeorge64]

#50.......the memorial to the victims of Sachsenhausen KZ.............situated close to the foudations of the prototype gas chambers........

[stgeorge64]

#51........and in closing........the polish memorail to the inmates of Stalag Luft III................situated at the Sagen Museum.

[pzrwest]

Great Escape 2

I don't know just how many have seen the movie Great Escape 2 it uses the real names of the escapee's but focusses on what happened after the escape and the hunting down of the people responsible for the execution and those who executed the 50 prisoners. Wonder if the character of John Dodge was a real one or not anyone have any imput in this remake of the Great Escape?

[Bob Curuthers]

Great photos...keep them coming

[gregM]

Very interesting thread.
WELL DONE.

[Waffen-Mike]

<TABLE id=HB_Mail_Container height="100%" cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0 UNSELECTABLE="on"><TBODY><TR height="100%" width="100%" UNSELECTABLE="on"><TD id=HB_Focus_Element vAlign=top width="100%" background="" height=250 UNSELECTABLE="off">Great pics, thanks for posting them!

Best Regards
Mike
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G

[Si1964]

Richard Hi, Great thread and thanks for sharing, I will have to try and get the book mentioned, am I correct in thinking that Jimmy James, escaped several times from various camps and been recaptured.........I could be wrong, but didn't he manage to escape eventually?

[stgeorge64]

Simon

If my memory serves, Jimmy James undertook 12 escape attempts in the war, including Stalag Luft I, III and Sachsenhausen KZ, and was recaptured on each occasion. I will not spoil the read of th book here, but leave it to the individual to discover in reading themselves. It is a fantastic read.

Thank you to all for the positive comments on this thread, it is much appreciated.

Regards Richard.