The Great Escape from Stalag Luft III
Jens Muller, one of only three men to make a successful 'home run' during the Great Escape describes some of the escape activities in the camp
Jens Muller (1917-1999) already had his civil pilot’s license when Germany invaded Norway in 1940. It was relatively easy for him to make his way to Britain from Switzerland, where he was studying - and natural that he should volunteer for the RAF. He joined 331 (Norwegian) Squadron but his Spitfire was shot down over the Channel in June 1942. He survived 66 hours in his inflatable dingy before landing in Belgium - but was soon picked up and sent as a POW to Stalag Luft III.
Muller’s memoir Tre kom Tilbake (Three Came Back) was published in Norway in 1946, but the English translation did not appear until 2019. This is the story of how he and his fellow Norwegian officer Peter Bergsland made one of the only two successful escapes - via Sweden - from the 24th March 1944 breakout. A vividly told account, Escape from Stalag Luft III: The Memoir of Jens Muller provides a fresh perspective on the activities in the camp before the escape and the events of the night itself:
The entrance to ‘Harry’ was made in hut 104, in a room on the west side and at the northern end of the building. In this hut each room had a small cast-iron stove. The stove weighed fifty kilos and two men could lift it quite easily. It stood in the corner nearest the door. The floor in this corner was covered with tiles as protection against falling embers. The tile-covered area measured some one and a half metres each side and rested on the brick foundation under the hut.
The Poles lifted out the tiles first. They then removed sufficient bricks from the middle of the foundation so that one man could get down into the hole quite comfortably, continuing until sand was reached. The floor tiles were then fastened with cement to a wooden board the same size as the area covered by the tiles. Hinges were procured somehow or other and fastened to the trapdoor and a floor beam.
The frame with tiles could now be swung into place over the hole, and when the dust from the floor was swept down into the fine cracks and the stove put in place, the entrance had completely disappeared.
The Escape Committee had been extremely active while these entrances were being built. A list of available material was made out. Information about the German alarm system was obtained through the friendly cooperation of a couple of German guards. These ‘tame Goons’ were a great help to us even though they were unaware of it. They helped us to obtain tools which we could not make ourselves - such as hammers, pliers, files, metal saws, etc.
Ever since the camp was started and the tame Goons discovered, they had, in the presence of witnesses, accepted so much Red Cross food and so many cigarettes that they were in the uncomfortable situation of being obliged to obey orders given to them by prisoners. I got an idea of how well they obeyed orders when the department chiefs were asked at a meeting what tools they needed. The list was quite a long one. Nevertheless a couple of days later all these items were delivered to the camp.
These same Germans told us that sound detectors were placed underground all along the fence at regular intervals. These detectors resembled seismographs and would pick up sounds within a distance of five to ten metres and register on an alarm system in the guardhouse. However, it was impossible to find out exactly where these detectors were placed. It was therefore decided to dig the tunnels so deep that they were out of range of these seismographs.
Eight metres under the surface should be sufficiently deep, according to information received from the Germans. And the shafts for ‘Tom’, ‘Dick’ and ‘Harry’were dug accordingly.
A very busy period started for me too. The department to which I belonged was to be responsible for making three air pumps, and trolleys to carry sand from the tunnel face back to the shaft. All the Norwegians were employed in different departments. Some of them dug, some sewed, others did carpentry or were on duty as watchmen. The whole camp was gradually drawn into the work.
The German watch was comparatively slack in the first month. There were hours during the day when there were no Germans at all in the camp. We took full advantage of this, and also of the fact that groups of trees were still in the camp and shut us off to some extent from the view of the guard towers. We got rid of large quantities of sand from the shafts and tunnels by simply spreading it over the paths which led between the huts. These roads were covered with the same kind of sand which we dug out of the tunnels. As long as it was fresh it had the same light-yellow colour too.
As the days passed the sand on the roads became greyer from all the dust round about and the tunnel sand gradually became conspicuous. It did not take long for the Germans to notice the new sand which daily appeared on the roads. A search was made but nothing found. However, many more patrols were put on watch in the camp.
This did not prevent our spreading sand on the roads. It was done as follows: bags were made of canvas from kitbags, bags narrow enough to be put inside the trouser legs of the carriers. They hung on a loop which was placed around the man’s neck. These bags had an opening at either end. The lower end could be pinned shut with a pin made of steel wire stuck in and out through holes made on the lower edge of the canvass. String was fastened to each pin and ran up to the trouser pocket of the carrier. The bags were filled by means of large funnels.
Then the carriers walked about the camp in pairs in lively conversation. At a suitable moment they put their hands in their trouser pockets, pulled at the string, the pins pulled out, the bottom of the bag opened and out ran the sand onto the road. Thus for a long time we managed to get rid of the sand without mishap, thanks to good cooperation between our watchmen, the tunnel diggers, and sand carriers.
The work progressed slowly but surely. As the work went more and more smoothly the leaders had a number of other things to do. Prisoners turned up daily with various practical or fantastic plans for escape, from sneaking out as stowaways in the camp’s garbage lorry, to floating over the fence by means of a hot-air balloon. Fortunately not many of these plans were approved.
The few which were approved usually required a good deal of preliminary work in the form of clothes, papers and other equipment. One attempt which succeeded, and whereby twenty-five men got out of the camp, was a very economical affair as far as equipment was concerned. The twenty-five men walked out of the main gate in broad daylight, right past the guard, who opened the gates wide for them. Strangely enough, what started the whole thing was lice in one of the huts. The prisoners complained and the Germans took immediate measures to remedy this state of affairs in the bathhouse situated in the Vorlager of the old camp.
Twenty-four prisoners were lined up inside the gate for inspection by an armed German guard. The guard's papers were checked, and the twenty-four men were marched to delousing. About an hour later they returned and a new lot were sent out. This procedure was repeated until the required number of prisoners were deloused.
A Dutchman happened to be among the prisoners. He spoke German like a native and was chosen to impersonate the German guard. A German uniform which the tailoring department had in stock was brought out. A copy of a German gun and bayonet was made of wood in the carpentry department. All the Dutchman had to do was to make the prisoners stand at attention inside the gate, count them in good loud German, show papers to the guard at the gate and march the flock out through the gate.
I stood watching them disappear down the road past the old camp.
[ All 25 men in this escape were eventually recaptured, although one made it to the Swiss border.]
© Jens Müller 2019, 'Escape from Stalag Luft III: The Memoir of Jens Muller '. Reproduced courtesy of Pen & Swords Publishers Ltd.
NB Not all of the above images are from this book.
