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The Tunnels : 'Tom', 'Dick' and 'Harry'
The tunnel entrances were masterpieces of deception. All
barrack huts were elevated from the ground but each had stoves set on a brick and concrete
plinth. 'Tom' (the 98th tunnel to be discovered at Luft III) in Hut 105 and
'Harry' in Hut 104 both exited through the centre of these pierced foundations. The
entrance to 'Dick' is still there - concealed in a drain on the floor of the shower room
in Hut 122, and when closed and sealed was under several feet of water. The Germans never
found it.
Sudden pounces by the ferrets were a constant nightmare and
precision practice was required by the distraction and camouflage teams. In one close
shave, F/L Pat Langford (16 OTU, shot down 28/29-7-42, Wellington IC, R1450),
replaced and fully camouflaged Harry's trapdoor in twenty seconds, leaving no sign of a
tunnel entrance. German security was headed by Hauptmann (Captain) Broili
and Oberfeldwebel (Warrant Officer) Glemnitz. The latter, usually referred to as
"that bastard, Glemnitz" was feared and respected as a dedicated discovered of
escape plots.
Sand dispersal was effected by 'Penguins', prisoners
filling long thin bags which were slipped inside their trousers and walking about the
compound, losing the sand from the bottom of the bags. One penguin was careless and the
ferrets spotted him trailing sand; they then knew a tunnel was in progress, but they did
not pounce, wanting to find out where it originated.
Tunnelling was dangerous - both below ground and above it.
The sand was treacherous, and would come crashing down with only the ghost of a warning.
Many diggers had only time to protect their heads with their arms as the roof suddenly
caved in, and hope that their No.2 could dig them out. No-one was killed, but several were
forced to take days off after almost being suffocated. A fall left a large dome above the
working face, and after clearing up, the damaged roof was shored and the sand packed back
above it. The diggers found that sand dug out occupied thirty percent as much space again
as it did normally, placing extra burdens on the disposal teams.
4,000 bed boards were removed to form the shoring, and
prisoners became used to sleeping on the barest of supports - often a string semi-hammock,
with only two or three real bed boards. The tunnel size was therefore dictated by the
width of the boards, almost exactly two feet square, allowing a little for the alignment
of the wood at each corner of the square. "Cookie" Long suffered concussion when
a bed board fell the full height of the entrance shaft - 30 feet - and hit him square on
the head. Another prisoner received a similar direct hit from a German-issue metal
water-carrier, being used to bring sand up from the working to the surface.
The teams dug out large chambers at the foot of the
entrance shafts for the air pump and storage, and took it in turns to operate the manual
pump. As the tunnel progressed, empty dried-milk were tins laid under the floor, and
caulked with tape or waxed string, provided very effective ventilation, with the flue
being camouflaged into the genuine stove's chimney. A wooden railway carried small trucks
for sand removal along the bed of the tunnel, the trolleys being pulled from haulage
points at intervals along the length. Red Noble spotted an 800 foot coil of
electrical flex unattended by German workmen and 'liberated' it; the tunnel was then wired
for electric light. The workmen didn't report the theft and were later executed by the
Gestapo when the tunnel was discovered. (Joe "Red" Noble stayed with the RCAF
after WW2 and ended up as a Group Captain. He lived on Lake Huron, Canada, and died some
years ago.)
The Germans were aware that something major was going on
but all attempts to discover tunnels failed. As a desperate move, 19 top suspects,
including 6 key men, were transferred with no warning to the nearby Stalag VIIIC at
Belaria, only weeks before the escape was scheduled to take place. Bushell's part in the
Escape Committee was well camouflaged and the Germans left him behind. Deputies took over
from the missing prisoners, and work went on.
Even when the Luftwaffe removed all the increasing number
of American airmen to their own, separate compound, work on the tunnels did not stop.
(Communication between the separate compounds was forbidden, but the British placed a
semaphore expert well inside one hut which faced the US airmens' compound. He was
concealed from the guards, but visible on the other side of the wire. The US airmen soon
spotted him, and communications were quickly resumed.)
'Dick' was abandoned when the area in which it was to have
surfaced was suddenly cleared of trees and a new compound built there. However, the
abortive short tunnel proved an ideal place for concealing the growing amount of false
clothing and general contraband, as well as providing a workshop for the manufacturers.
Later, when sand disposal fell well behind the digging, much of the surplus sand was
shovelled down 'Dick'.
Eventually, even this proved insufficient and the X
Committee faced major disposal problems. Eventually it dawned on them that there was a
huge closed-off area under the seats of the Theatre. Some time before, the Germans had
allowed this to be built, using tools and equipment supplied on parole. Such equipment was
never used for other purposes, and the parole system was regarded as inviolate. But
did this also include the results of the paroled equipment, i.e. the Theatre
itself? The tools had been properly returned, after all....
Internal "legal advice" was taken, and the SBO's
decision was that the popular and very successful Theatre itself did not fall
within the parole system. Seat 13 was therefore hinged and camouflaged, and the vast space
beneath used for sand disposal. (Many excellent shows were put on in the Theatre, which
had an enviable standard. Post-war British Theatre and Television "names" such
as Talbot Rothwell, Roy Dotrice, George Cole, and Peter Butterworth appear in the Luft III
programmes.)
A breakdown of the materials used in constructing the three
tunnels went as follows, and illustrates the magnitude and logistical problems of the
project. This list does not include materials used for false papers and fake civilian
clothing, nor the man-hours necessary to actually build the tunnels, or the problems
associated with spiriting away the items used in the tunnel construction:-
4,000 bed boards; 1,370 beading battens; 1,699 blankets; 161
pillow cases; 635 palliasses; 34 chairs; 52 20-man tables; 90 double tier bunks; 1,219
knives; 478 spoons; 30 shovels; 1,000 feet of electric wire; 600 feet of rope; 192 bed
covers; 3,424 towels; 1,212 bed bolsters; 10 single tables; 76 benches; 246 water cans;
582 forks; 69 lamps.
As Tom neared completion in summer 1943, a ferret
discovered the entrance and the Germans destroyed it all. Concentration switched to
'Harry' which in March 1944 reached the length of 336 feet (some sources say 360 feet, but
this may have included the vertical shafts), 28 feet down. Would-be escapers were divided
into two groups:-
Those German-speakers and experienced escapers who stood a
good chance of making a "home run" to England, and those who had made the
greatest contribution to the construction of the tunnel. These men were given priority
with forged papers, "civilian" clothes, and a higher place in the exit order.
They were expected to travel by train, masquerading as foreign workers. Germany at the
time was flooded with genuine foreign workers, who often spoke no German and whose papers
were frequently out of order.
The "hard-arsers" who filled the rest of the
tunnel places were planning to lie up by day and foot-slog by night, over hundreds of
miles of enemy territory. Equipped with only the most rudimentary false papers and
identities, much praise is due to this group of men, who knew that their chances -
especially in winter - were thin. Most of them had baked iron rations known as
"fudge" which was poured into small, pocket-sized tins, and intended as survival
food. The rest of the prisoners drew lots, and 220 men prepared to go on the night of
March 24/25th, 1944. Snow still lay on the ground and the night time temperature was below
freezing.
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