parcels ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5, ref6, ref7, ref8, ref9, ref10, ref11, ref12, ref13, ref14, ref15, ref16, ref17, ref18, ref19
Canadian ref1
Italy ref1
Judaism ref1, ref2
Junkers Ju 88 ref1
Kayall, Joe
escape efforts of ref1
Kee, Robert ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5
escape efforts of ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5, ref6, ref7, ref8
capture during ref1
writings of ref1
Keitel, Wilhelm ref1
Kenya ref1
Ketty, Rina
‘J’Attendrai’ ref1
King, William MacKenzie ref1
Kirby-Green, Tom ref1
background of ref1
Kowalski, Alexis ref1
Krupp
employees of ref1
Labour Party ref1, ref2, ref3
Lamond, Wing Commander Henry ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4
background of ref1
Latvia ref1
Liepaja (Libau) ref1
Le Cam, Pauline ref1, ref2, ref3
Leaman, Sergeant Ned
capture of ref1
Libya
Tobruk ref1
von Lindeiner-Wildau, Colonel
Friedrich-Wilhelm ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5
background of ref1
following of Geneva Convention protocols ref1
Lithuania ref1, ref2, ref3
Kaunas (Kovno) ref1
London Weekend Television ref1
Lovegrove, Flying officer Peter
shot down (1942) ref1
suicide of ref1
Loyola College ref1
Lubbock, David ref1
background of ref1
capture of (1941) ref1
Feeding the People in Wartime ref1
Marlag und Milag Nord ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4
personnel of ref1
SS quarters ref1
Marshall, Charles ref1
background of ref1
capture of ref1
escape efforts of ref1
capture during ref1
Marxist-Leninism ref1
Massey, Group Captain Herbert ref1
McNair, Robert ‘Buck’ ref1
Merchant Navy ref1, ref2
Messerschmitt 109s ref1, ref2
Mesopotamia ref1
Mihailović, General Draža ref1, ref2
Miles Magister ref1
Mogg, Ron ref1
Montgomery, Bernard ref1
Morris, Squadron B.G.
escape efforts of ref1, ref2
Mountbatten, Lady Edwina ref1
Murray, R.M. ref1
Mussolini, Benito ref1
nationalism ref1
Nehru, Jawaharlal ref1
Netherlands
Holland ref1, ref2, ref3
New Zealand ref1
Norway
Kirkenes ref1
Nouveau, Louis ref1
Oder, River ref1
Oflag VIB ref1
Oflag XXIB ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5, ref6
Abort ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5
Appell ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5, ref6
Escape Clothing Department ref1
cooler, the ref1, ref2
movement of prisoners to ref1, ref2
personnel of ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5, ref6, ref7, ref8
White House ref1, ref2
de la Olla, Jean ref1, ref2, ref3
Orr, Sir John Boyd
Feeding the People in Wartime ref1
Oxford University ref1
Balliol College ref1
Paget, Flight Lieutenant J.W.G. ref1
Pakistan
Independence of (1947) ref1
Palmer, Bill ref1, ref2, ref3
escape efforts of ref1
capture during ref1
Passmore, Richard ref1, ref2, ref3
Pat Line ref1, ref2
Peschel, Major ref1, ref2, ref3
Philipot, Flight Lieutenant Oliver
escape efforts of ref1
Pieber, Hauptmann ref1
Pilz, Corporal Karl ref1
Pitcher, Paul ref1
Poland ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5, ref6
Białogard (Belgard) ref1
Bromberg ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5
Danzig ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5
Graudenz ref1
Iłowa (Halbau) ref1
Inocwrocław (Hohensalza) ref1, ref2
Kolberg ref1
Kraków ref1
Kostrzyn nad Odra (Küstrin) ref1
Lipna (Lieppa) ref1
Nakło nad Notecia (Nakel) ref1
Piła (Schneidemühl) ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5
Poznán (Posen) ref1, ref2, ref3
Schubin ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5, ref6, ref7, ref8, ref9, ref10, ref11, ref12, ref13, ref14, ref15, ref16, ref17, ref18, ref19, ref20, ref21, ref22, ref23, ref24, ref25
Stettin ref1, ref2
Warsaw ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5, ref6, ref7, ref8
Złocieniec (Falkenburg) ref1
Pyrenees, The ref1
Rambaut, Patricia ref1
Ravensbruck ref1
Republic of Ireland
Dublin ref1
Rhine, River ref1, ref2
Ricks, Joe ref1
escape efforts of ref1, ref2
Rimbaud, Patricia ref1, ref2
Rocourt, Emile ref1
Rocourt, Gaston ref1
Rommel, Erwin ref1
Afrika Korps ref1
Roosevelt, Franklin D. ref1, ref2
Roth, Lieutenant General ref1
Royal Air Force (RAF) ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5, ref6, ref7, ref8, ref9, ref10, ref11, ref12, ref13, ref14, ref15, ref16, ref17, ref18, ref19, ref20, ref21, ref22, ref23, ref24, ref25, ref26
103 Squadron ref1
57 Squadron ref1
73 Squadron ref1
bombing campaigns of ref1, ref2
Bomber Command ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5, ref6, ref7, ref8
escape efforts of personnel ref1
Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4
1 Squadron ref1
411 Squadron ref1
Royal Marines ref1
Royal Navy ref1, ref2, ref3
Fleet Air Arm ref1, ref2
HMS Glorious ref1
Russian Empire
Moscow ref1
Ryder, Lady Frances ref1
Ryder, Norman
background of ref1
Sachsenhausen concentration camp ref1
Second World War (1939–45) ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5
Battle of Berlin (Air) (1943–4) ref1
Battle of Britain (1940) ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5, ref6
Battle of France (1940) ref1, ref2, ref3
Battle of the Ruhr (1943) ref1
Battle of Stalingrad (1942–3) ref1
concentration camps in ref1, ref2
Dunkirk Evacuation (1940) ref1, ref2, ref3
Eastern Front (1941–5) ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4
Holocaust ref1
Normandy Landings/D-Day (1944) ref1, ref2
Operation Barbarossa (1941) ref1, ref2
Operation Market Garden (1944) ref1
Pearl Harbor Attack (1941) ref1
US entry into (1941) ref1, ref2
Western Desert Campaign (1940–3) ref1
Second Battle of El Alamein (1942) ref1
Secret Intelligence Service (MI6) ref1
Balkan section of ref1
Shakespeare, William ref1, ref2
Short S.25 Sunderland
pilots of ref1
Sidhanta, Ranjana ref1
Simms ref1, ref2, ref3
South Africa ref1
Soviet Union (USSR) ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5
Red Army ref1, ref2
Stalingrad ref1
Sp
ain ref1, ref2
Civil War (1936–9) ref1, ref2
International Brigades ref1
Special Operations Executive ref1
Spree, River ref1
Stapleton, Bill ref1
Stalag Luft I ref1, ref2
Stalag Luft III ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5, ref6, ref7, ref8, ref9, ref10, ref11, ref12, ref13, ref14, ref15, ref16, ref17, ref18, ref19, ref20, ref21, ref22, ref23, ref24, ref25, ref26, ref27, ref28
‘A’ Compound ref1, ref2
administration area ref1
Appell ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5, ref6
Barrack 64 ref1
Barrack 69 ref1
Block 64 ref1
Central Compound ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5
‘E’ Compound ref1
East Compound ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5, ref6, ref7, ref8, ref9, ref10, ref11
evacuation of prisoners from (1944) ref1, ref2, ref3
expansion of ref1, ref2
North Compound ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5
personnel of ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5, ref6, ref7
rations in ref1
South Compound ref1, ref2, ref3
Vorlager ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5
cooler, the ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4
Stalag Luft VI ref1, ref2, ref3
Stevens, Flying Officer
background of ref1
Sturges, John
Great Escape, The (1963) ref1, ref2
Supermarine Spitfire ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5, ref6
pilots of ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5, ref6, ref7
Sweden ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5
Halmstad ref1
Stockholm ref1
Switzerland ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5, ref6, ref7, ref8
Geneva ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4
Tally-Ho Club ref1
Thalbitzer, Jørgen (John Thompson)
background of ref1
death of ref1
escape efforts of ref1, ref2
Third Reich (1933–45) ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5, ref6, ref7, ref8, ref9, ref10, ref11, ref12, ref13, ref14, ref15, ref16, ref17, ref18
Abwehr ref1, ref2
bureaucratic systems of ref1
Gestapo ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5, ref6, ref7, ref8, ref9, ref10, ref11, ref12, ref13, ref14, ref15, ref16, ref17, ref18, ref19
Hitler Youth ref1, ref2, ref3
Luftwaffe ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5, ref6, ref7, ref8, ref9, ref10
Schutzstaffel (SS) ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5, ref6, ref7, ref8, ref9, ref10, ref11
Selbstschutz ref1, ref2
territory occupied by ref1, ref2
Wehrmacht ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5, ref6, ref7
Tolstoy, Leo
War and Peace ref1
Tuck, Bob Stanford
background of ref1
Turkey ref1
Turner, Squadron Leader Stan ref1
Ukraine ref1
United Kingdom (UK) ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5, ref6
Coventry ref1
Dover ref1
Essex
Hornchurch ref1, ref2
Southend ref1
Lincolnshire ref1
Digby ref1
Kirton-in-Lindsay ref1
Lincoln ref1
London ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5, ref6, ref7, ref8, ref9, ref10, ref11, ref12, ref13, ref14, ref15, ref16, ref17
National Gallery ref1
RAF Hendon ref1
military of ref1
XXX Corps ref1, ref2
No. 57 OUT Hawarden ref1
War Office ref1
West Sussex
Tangmere ref1
United States of America (USA) ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5
Air Force (USAF) ref1, ref2
Chicago, IL ref1
Dallas, TX ref1, ref2
Detroit, MI ref1, ref2
Fort Worth, TX ref1
Kansas City, KS ref1
University of Texas ref1
Vistula, River ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4
Wareing, Sergeant Philip
escape attempt made by ref1
Webster, Flight Lieutenant
capture of ref1
Weimar Republic ref1
Weser, River ref1
Williams, Flight Lieutenant Eric ref1
escape efforts of ref1
Wise, Wilf ref1
escape efforts of ref1, ref2
capture during ref1
Wood, Flight Lieutenant J.W.
capture of ref1
Wood, Mike ref1
Wooden Horse escape (1943) ref1, ref2
Young, Digby ref1
Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA) ref1, ref2
Yugoslavia ref1, ref2
A NOTE ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Patrick Bishop has been a foreign correspondent since 1982 covering numerous conflicts around the world. He has reported from the front line of almost every major war of our era. In the last decade he has emerged as a military historian of the first order with his top-ten bestsellers Fighter Boys and Bomber Boys, which cast new light on the men who fought in the Battle of Britain and the Strategic Air Campaign against Germany. He is also the author of the much-praised Battle of Britain, 3 Para, Target Tirpitz, Wings and The Reckoning.
The dashing aviator: the formal portrait Bill sent home in 1941.
Bill, aged seven or eight, with his beloved sister Adele at home in Dallas in 1925.
Underneath the surface insouciance Bill was an outstanding pilot. His seriousness shows through in this image, perhaps taken during training.
Bill at the controls of his Spitfire in late 1941.
Canadian Prime Minister Mackenzie King greets Bill during a visit to 411 Squadron.
The squadron at Digby with Bill seated on the far right.
At dispersal, waiting for action, Digby, late summer 1941. Bill is on the far right, looking up.
‘Hostile to the Enemy’: 411 pilots in Mae Wests just before or after an operation. Bill is fourth from left.
Squadron Leader Stan Turner with trademark pipe.
Bill is entertained by a line-shooting Buck McNair.
The church at Vieille Église today, behind which Bill crash-landed …
… and the house where the Boulanger family who sheltered Bill once had their estaminet.
The cover of Bill’s prisoner-of-war file at Stalag Luft III. The bruises from his beating at the hands of the Gestapo in Paris are still clearly visible.
An angelic-looking Paddy Barthropp.
Sketch map of Stalag Luft III, scene of ‘The Great Escape’.
‘If any spur had been needed to induce prisoners to escape … the bleakness of the surroundings would have provided it.’ Stalag Luft III, Sagan, c. 1944.
Goon box.
Robert Kee, 1951. Like several escapologists he went on to a brilliant post-war career.
Wing Commander Harry Day provided the prisoners with outstanding leadership as they faced life behind the wire. Here, post-war, he briefs Kenneth Moore for his role as Douglas Bader in Reach for the Sky (1955).
Prisoners laying the foundations for a hut in Stalag Luft III.
Making themselves at home. Kriegies in a hut at Sagan in 1943.
The Germans were keen to advertise their correct behaviour. Cheerful co-operation between prisoners and camp staff is pointedly on display in this picture of the Red Cross parcel store.
Prisoners prepare a news sheet. Information about the progress of the war had a crucial effect on morale.
Gardening helped the days pass – and supplemented rations.
Prisoners attend an outdoor church service.
The veneer of correctness: an American airman who died in captivity is buried with military honours.
The road to freedom: the avenue leading away from Stalag Luft III where the long march began.
Halbau today.
Liberation day at Marlag und Milag Nord.
American prisoners celebrate their relea
se by British troops.
Steve McQueen as Virgil Hilts, ‘The Cooler King’, in The Great Escape (1963).