brickhistory
13th Jun 2010, 01:05
I realize this is probably better suited for the aviation history and nostalgia thread, but I thought their lessons are still applicable today.
Deaths Elsewhere / Jack Harrison, 97, survivor of WWII Great Escape plot - TwinCities.com (http://www.twincities.com/national/ci_15255890?source=rss)
Jack Harrison, who survived the Great Escape plot by Allied prisoners in a German prison in World War II, has died at age 97, his family said.
As one of the camp's gardeners, Harrison helped dispose of the dirt excavated from three escape tunnels. He was 98th on the list of some 200 inmates designated to make the escape on March 24, 1944, but only 76 got away before guards detected the breakout and raised the alarm.
When the escape was detected, Harrison said he had to quickly burn his disguise as a Siemens engineer and get back into his prison uniform.
"I was to be a Hungarian electrician, so I became Aleksander Regenyi, who was employed by a German firm," he recalled.
Harrison was a Royal Air Force pilot who was shot down and captured in November 1942 on his first mission, a raid on the Dutch port of Den Helder. He was taken to Stalag Luft III prison near Sagan in eastern Germany — now Zagan, Poland.
After the war, Harrison resumed his teaching career. He retired in 1975 as director of education for the Isle of Bute.
Godspeed, sir.
Anyone know of any other Stalag Luft III books than those listed below?
"The Longest Tunnel" by Alan Burgess
"33 Months a POW in Stalag Luft III" by Albert P. Clark (USAAF shot down flying an RAF Spitfire on a fam flight)
and, of course, Paul Brickhill's classic, "The Great Escape."
Coincidentally, I was at Peterson AFB last week for a friend's retirement held at the museum there. There is a room dedicated to this topic complete with POW crafted games, tools, and diaries.
Deaths Elsewhere / Jack Harrison, 97, survivor of WWII Great Escape plot - TwinCities.com (http://www.twincities.com/national/ci_15255890?source=rss)
Jack Harrison, who survived the Great Escape plot by Allied prisoners in a German prison in World War II, has died at age 97, his family said.
As one of the camp's gardeners, Harrison helped dispose of the dirt excavated from three escape tunnels. He was 98th on the list of some 200 inmates designated to make the escape on March 24, 1944, but only 76 got away before guards detected the breakout and raised the alarm.
When the escape was detected, Harrison said he had to quickly burn his disguise as a Siemens engineer and get back into his prison uniform.
"I was to be a Hungarian electrician, so I became Aleksander Regenyi, who was employed by a German firm," he recalled.
Harrison was a Royal Air Force pilot who was shot down and captured in November 1942 on his first mission, a raid on the Dutch port of Den Helder. He was taken to Stalag Luft III prison near Sagan in eastern Germany — now Zagan, Poland.
After the war, Harrison resumed his teaching career. He retired in 1975 as director of education for the Isle of Bute.
Godspeed, sir.
Anyone know of any other Stalag Luft III books than those listed below?
"The Longest Tunnel" by Alan Burgess
"33 Months a POW in Stalag Luft III" by Albert P. Clark (USAAF shot down flying an RAF Spitfire on a fam flight)
and, of course, Paul Brickhill's classic, "The Great Escape."
Coincidentally, I was at Peterson AFB last week for a friend's retirement held at the museum there. There is a room dedicated to this topic complete with POW crafted games, tools, and diaries.