Walter, well you've done it now! Other than leaving the water bottles behind (which was a bit careless!) you've made the break and are well on your way. Your only escape aid is the tiny compass, now minus its glass face, but you have done the right thing, move by night and lay up by day.
All this rather suggests a certain amount of training. Aircrew now (well, certainly in my day) do a certain amount of escape and evasion while in training. I too have been wet through while trying to evade capture by those pursuing us, in the Cairngorms in my case. The need to get dry again ASAP is paramount.
So what instruction had you? Do you think that was unique to Air Force personnel? You imply that the Army at least was in the main content to see the war out behind barbed wire. The great escape stories seem mainly to involve the air forces, though Colditz of course was a mixed bag. Was it just a question of numbers, or is there a cultural difference here?
Anyone with thoughts on the above? The aviators of course were operating over enemy territory, which meant they were on the run immediately they came down to it, as against those who were captured at sea or on the field of battle. Thanks to very brave people in occupied countries, some of those aviators were never captured and succeeded in getting back home to carry on the fight. Their escapes though tended to be "managed" by those who organised the various escape routes. The escapes that I query are following capture and mainly self managed. Why were the vast majority Air Force, or were they?