Description:
They were American and British air force officers in a German prison camp. With only their bare hands and the crudest of homemade tools, they sank shafts, forged passports, faked weapons, and tailored German uniforms and civilian clothes. They developed a fantastic security system to protect themselves from German surveillance.It was a split-second operation as delicate and as deadly as a time bomb. It demanded the concentrated devotion and vigilance of more than six hundred men―every one of them, every minute, every hour, every day and night for more than a year.
Made into the classic 1963 war film of the same name starring Steve McQueen, James Garner, and Richard Attenborough.
Author Paul Brickhill (1916―1991) was shot down over the Mareth Line in Tunisia on March 17, 1943. He landed in the middle of a minefield in front of the enemy barbed wire and was captured. He was soon transferred to Stalag Luft III, where he joined organization "X" working on the great escape.
