Posted on Mar 24, 2017
Great Escape Tunnel - what it looks like today in Stalag Luft 3
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Stammlager Luft III, more commonly known as Stalag Luft III was a Luftwaffe-run prisoner-of-war camp during World War II captured allied airmen. It was situated in the German Province of Lower Silesia near the town of Sagan (now Żagań in Poland) about 100 miles south east of Berlin.
http://therealgreatescape.com/stalag-luft-iii/
The camp is best known for two famous prisoner escapes that took place there by tunnelling, which were depicted in the films The Wooden Horse (1950) and The Great Escape (1963), and the books by former prisoners Eric Williams and Paul Brickhill respectively from which these films were adapted.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stalag_Luft_III
http://therealgreatescape.com/stalag-luft-iii/
The camp is best known for two famous prisoner escapes that took place there by tunnelling, which were depicted in the films The Wooden Horse (1950) and The Great Escape (1963), and the books by former prisoners Eric Williams and Paul Brickhill respectively from which these films were adapted.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stalag_Luft_III
Posted in these groups: 
POW/MIA
Warfare
Survival
1T0X1: Survival, Evasion, Resistance, and Escape (SERE)
WWII World War Two
POW/MIA Warfare Survival 1T0X1: Survival, Evasion, Resistance, and Escape (SERE) WWII World War Two
Posted >1 y ago
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The double disk Great Escape DVD anniversary edition has tons of "making of" and behind the scenes features and is actually better than the actual movie itself. Some great points about it:
1. There were no Americans there when the escape happened. They had all been moved to other camps for just that fear. Better to have Poles, Czechs and other non-English speakers around the Brits to make cooperation difficult.
2. The British hunted down (and executed) every German SS/Gestapo man that killed the prisoners.
3. James Garner's role is based on several Canadian POWs.
4. The role Donald Pleasance played is true to life as he was actually captured during the war (excepting his death, of course...).
5. Charles Bronson's character is based on several Polish POWs.
6. Being the hot actor of the day, a lot of effort was made to get Steve McQueen including adding a lot of parts like the motorcycle chase (none of the escaping POWs stole or rode a motorbike).
7. As another bit of trivia, Steve plays the part of one of the guards chasing him! Steve also did most of his own stunts including most of the famous jump at the end.
8. The books' writer actually advised the tunnel building and made sure that everything in the movie, including the spreading of the dirt, was accurate.
1. There were no Americans there when the escape happened. They had all been moved to other camps for just that fear. Better to have Poles, Czechs and other non-English speakers around the Brits to make cooperation difficult.
2. The British hunted down (and executed) every German SS/Gestapo man that killed the prisoners.
3. James Garner's role is based on several Canadian POWs.
4. The role Donald Pleasance played is true to life as he was actually captured during the war (excepting his death, of course...).
5. Charles Bronson's character is based on several Polish POWs.
6. Being the hot actor of the day, a lot of effort was made to get Steve McQueen including adding a lot of parts like the motorcycle chase (none of the escaping POWs stole or rode a motorbike).
7. As another bit of trivia, Steve plays the part of one of the guards chasing him! Steve also did most of his own stunts including most of the famous jump at the end.
8. The books' writer actually advised the tunnel building and made sure that everything in the movie, including the spreading of the dirt, was accurate.
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