Danny:-
Realising what now awaited them, the officers of a nearby Luftwaffe unit went down in a body to the local Gestapo HQ and demanded their release - at pistol point ! They were handed over; their rescuers took them back to camp, fed them, and made sure they were handed over to the proper POW authorites.
Indeed, Danny. A known incident that reflects well on those same Luftwaffe officers and the good fortune of those they saved from a dreadful fate. The irony is that of all three Third Reich armed forces, the Luftwaffe was the one most identified with the regime, the one that was most Nazified, the one whose leader was second only within the regime leadership (of course that was not to last...). There was concern however within the Luftwaffe of the effects of Hitler's infamous Commando Order of October 1942 that no Allied Commandos were to be taken alive, especially as it became interpreted amongst the more zealous that the order extended to Allied Air Force 'terror flyers'. It was feared that revenge for such acts against Allied airmen would be taken against Luftwaffe POWs held by the Allies. So there was method as well in keeping Allied airmen out of the clutches of the SD, the Gestapo, etc....