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 Stalag Luft III Stalag Luft III (; literally "Main Camp, Air, III"; SL III) was a "Luftwaffe"-run prisoner of war (POW) camp during World War II, which held captured Western Allied air force personnel. The "Stalag" was established in March 1942 in the German province of Lower Silesia near the town of Sagan (now Żagań, Poland), south-east of Berlin. The site was selected because its sandy soil made it difficult for POWs to escape by tunnelling. It is best known for two escape plots by Allied POWs. The camp was liberated by Soviet forces in January 1945. The German military