They were nicknamed Tom, Dick and Harry and were just 2 ft. Scattered throughout the tunnel, which is 30ft below ground, were bits of old metal buckets, hammers and crowbars which were used to hollow out the route.Ī total of 600 prisoners worked on three tunnels at the same time. And the ventilation shaft, ingeniously crafted from used powdered milk containers known as Klim Tins, remained in working order. Many of the bed boards which had been joined together to stop it collapsing were still in position. Despite huge interest in the subject, encouraged by the film starring Steve McQueen, the tunnel undisturbed over the decades because it was behind the Iron Curtain and the Soviet had no interest in its significance.īut at last British archaeologists have excavated it and discovered its remarkable secrets. The 111-yard passage nicknamed ‘Harry’ by Allied prisoners was sealed by the Germans after the audacious break-out from the POW camp Stalag Luft III in western Poland. Untouched for almost seven decades, the tunnel used in the Great Escape has finally been unearthed.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |