Stalag Luft III Williams, the book "Stolen Journey" by Philpot and the 1950 film "The Wooden Horse". There had been escape attempts (one of which inspired the film "The Wooden Horse") and many tunnels had been started and discovered before completion. In March 1943, Royal Air Force Squadron Leader Roger Bushell conceived a plan for a mass escape from the North Compound, which took place on the night of 24/25 March 1944. He was being held with the other British and Commonwealth airmen and he was in command of the Escape Committee that managed all escape opportunities from the north compound. Falling back
Stalag Luft III followed a practice whereby the different branches of the military were responsible for all POWs of equivalent branches. Hence the "Luftwaffe " was normally responsible for any Allied aircrew taken prisoner. This included captured naval aviators, such as members of the British Fleet Air Arm. In a few cases, other non-air force personnel were also held at "Stalag Luft III". "Stammlager Luft" (literally "Main Camp, Air") was "Luftwaffe "nomenclature for a POW camp. While the camp initially held only POWs who were officers, it was not known by the usual terms for such camps – "Offizier Lager" or "Oflag". And