The Great Escape: A Canadian Story (39 page)

2.
“chance at freedom”: Ibid.

3.
a sure thing either: Sweanor,
It’s All Pensionable Time
, pp.156–57.

4.
“name was not drawn”: Sweanor interview, July 5–7, 2011.

5.
into the tunnel: Jacek Jakubiak, names and escape numbers are published in
Guide to the Site of the Former POW Camps in Zagan
(Museum of Allied Forces Prisoners of War Martyrdom, Zagan, Poland, 2008) pp. 42–43.

6.
though not fatally: Brickhill,
The Great Escape
, p. 133 (the Canadian’s name was Probert).

7.
the other at Luft III: Barry Davidson,
A Wartime Log: A Remembrance from Home Through the Canadian YMCA
, unpublished, with permission of Barry Davidson Jr.

8.
“miracle to get back”: Wallace interview, 2011.

9.
“time go any faster”: Frank Sorensen, letter to parents, March 20, 1944, courtesy of Vicki Sorensen.

10.
through the tunnel: Vicki Sorensen, Frank’s daughter, has searched for his exact number on the escape list and has anecdotal information to support that he drew a number in the high teens, but forfeited the spot to either James Catanach or Arnold Christensen.

11.
Fugelsang and stay behind: Margaret Davidson, interview Victoria, BC, August 13, 2012.

12.
“and not go out”: Davidson.

13.
“how do I look”: Bob van der Stok, quoted in King interview, 2011.

14.
Wiley’s final wish: Vance, p. 214.

15.
“the set of maps”: Harris interview, 2012.

16.
“just waiting my turn”: King interview, 2011.

17.
to the next three: Brickhill,
The Great Escape
, p. 185.

18.
“rope to shelter”: Ibid., p.179.

19.
station and boarding platforms: Mirek Walczak, guide, Museum of Allied Forces Prisoners of War Martyrdom, Zagan, Poland, June 22, 2011.

20.
“sand that fell in”: Nelson monologue, 1987.

21.
“cold and frosty”: Keith Ogilvie, quoted in Dancocks, p. 130.

22.
“when it all ended”: Mac Reilley, “Another Perspective of the Great Escape from Luft III,”
The Kriegie Eagle
newsletter, January 1995, the National Air Force Museum, CFB Trenton.

23.
bed and listened: Edy, p. 158–59.

24.
food in his pockets: Sweanor interview, July 5–7, 2011.

25.
soon stopped: Sweanor, p. 161.

26.
“shot doing it”: King interview, 2011.

27.
“Sax’s bum blocking the way”: Rees, Ken, “Stalag Luft 3—The Great Escape: The Wartime Experiences of Wg. Cdr. H.K. Rees,” at Rob Davis website, www.elsham.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk

28.
“half the camp down”: Harris,
Serving and Surviving
, p. 119.

29.
“get rid of the lot of you”: Friedrich von Lindeiner, quoted in Sweanor, p. 161.

30.
“burn the maps”: Harris, p. 120.

31.
“Johnny or me again”: Ibid., p. 120.

32.
“provoke them further”: Edy, p. 159.

33.
“done that to him”: Hans Pieber, quoted in Sweanor, p. 162.

34.
some 70,000 Germans: Thomas Fleming, “The Great Escape,”
Boy’s Life
, March 1997, p. 46.

35.
“broomstick for a cane”: Gordon Venables, from interview by (granddaughter) Katie Bendell, c. 1990, with permission.

36.
entry shaft to Harry: Sweanor, p. 162.

chapter nine: the hate campaign

1.
run in another direction: Darling, Ian,
Amazing Airmen: Canadian Flyers in the Second World War
(Dundurn, Toronto, 2009), p. 30.

2.
“bloody miserable”: Keith Ogilvie, quoted in Dancocks, p. 133.

3.
in his pockets: Darling, p. 31.

4.
and pressed on: Vance, p. 240.

5.
“whilst trying to escape”: Kriminal Kommissar Peter Mohr, quoted in “Sagan,” Royal Air Force Special Investigation Branch report, Report No: WCIU/LDC/1460, JAG Ref: MD/JAG/FS/22/2(2a), War Crimes Interrogation Unit, London, December 1946, Appendix ‘C’ p. 57.

6.
“linguist”: Hugh A. Halliday, “Flyboys in the Great Escape,”
Legion
magazine, July 1, 2007.

7.
“from the Dominions”: Ibid., p.19.

8.
“my duty to escape”: Ogilvie, quoted in Dancocks, p. 134.

9.
“will not be so lucky”: transcripts entitled “Testimonies of Prisoners of War who escaped on March 25
th
from Stalag Luft III,” courtesy Don Young.

10.
“back to your camp”: Ibid.

11.
“morning you’ll go”: Ogilvie, quoted in Dancocks, p. 134.

12.
“interested in that”: Wilhelm Scharpwinkel, quoted in “Sagan,” Royal Air Force Special Investigation Branch report, Report No: WCIU/LDC/1327(a), JAG Ref: MD/JAG/FS/22/2(2a) War Crimes Interrogation Unit, London, December 1946, p. 1.

13.
“will happen to them”: Richard Max Hänsel, quoting Scharpwinkel, in “Sagan,” Royal Air Force Special Investigation Branch report, Report No: WCIU/LDC/1221, JAG Ref: MD/JAG/FS/22/2(2a) War Crimes Interrogation Unit, London, December 1946, p. 2.

14.
“attempted to escape”: Ibid., p. 2.

15.
“attempt an escape”: Ibid., p.3.

16.
Porokoru Patapu: Allen Andrews,
Exemplary Justice
(Harrap & Co., London, 1976), p.49.

17.
“around the countryside”: Friedrich Kiowsky, quoted in Ibid., Report No: WCIU/LDC/1450 MFC/GEP, JAG Ref: MD/JAG/FS/22(2a), p. 2.

18.
“back of [Kirby-Green’s] head”: Erich Zacharias, quoted in Ibid., Report No: WCIU/LDC/1133(a) MFC/LH, JAG Ref: MD/JAG/FS/22/2(2a), p. 2.

19.
“made the attempt”: Kiowsky quoted in Op cit.

20.
“to shoot you”: quoted in “Sagan,” Royal Air Force Special Investigation Branch report, Report No: WCIU/LDC/1460, JAG Ref: MD/JAG/FS/22/2(2a), War Crimes Interrogation Unit, London, December 1946.

21.
“number of sub-humans”: Johannes Post, quoted in Allen Andrews,
Exemplary Justice
, p. 10.

22.
“the SBO’s words”: Sweanor,
It’s All Pensionable Time
, p. 163.

23.
“they could re-escape”: Keith Ogilvie, quoted in Dancocks, p. 135.

24.
“to exemplary justice”: Anthony Eden, in House of Commons Hansard, May 19 and June 23, 1944, quoted in Andrews, p. 211–13.

25.
“a deliberate massacre”: Sweanor, p. 166.

26.
“families after the war”: Sweanor, p. 167.

27.
“we sang it and felt better”: Pengelly, “X for Escape.”

28.
“one red and one black”: Edy interview, 2012.

29.
“ring drawing ever tighter”: Pengelly, “X for Escape.”

30.
“they shoot each day”: Sweanor, p. 172.

31.
“the approaching Russians”: Harsh, p. 177.

32.
“The Handbook of Modern Irregular Warfare”: poster quoted in Sweanor,
p. 174.

33.
“the United States of America”: poster quoted in Sweanor, p. 175.

34.
“one man volunteered”: Sweanor, p. 173.

35.
“leaving weapons behind”: George Sweanor interview, 2011.

chapter ten: long road home

1.
“out into the woods”: Crighton interview, 2012.

2.
“quite an impressive service”: Wally Floody, letter to his wife, Betty Floody, December 6, 1944, with permission.

3.
“we’re officers”: Crighton interview, 2012.

4.
“it will be soon now”: John Weir, letter to Frances McCormack, December 5, 1944, with permission.

5.
“this letter home to you”: Ibid., June 28, 1944.

6.
“the occasional circuit”: Op cit., December 5, 1944.

7.
“eyes betray his hunger”: Robert Buckham,
Forced March to Freedom
(Canada’s Wings Inc., 1984), p. 10.

8.
“becomes a reality”: Ibid., p. 12.

9.
“everyone is sewing”: John Colwell, unpublished diary, January 25, 1945, with permission.

10.
The Wind and the Rain: Harris, p. 127.

11.
“for us now,”: conversation recorded in Edy, p. 166.

12.
he was ready to go: Colwell.

13.
Hut 104 caught fire: Durand, p. 328.

14.
2.5 million cigarettes: Ibid., p. 329.

15.
“from inside the camp”: Buckham, p. 18.

16.
“a great instrument”: Crighton interview, 2012.

17.
“wire fences and Goon boxes”: Colwell.

18.
“many fine human beings”: Sweanor, p. 180.

19.
“and keep moving”: Bartlett, quoted in Soward, p. 136.

20.
same doomed Halifax bomber: Nurse, p. 31.

21.
“appreciate their solicitude”: Brown, p. 195.

22.
his jacket with newspapers: Hehner, p. 99.

23.
“beef we were wolfing”: Harsh, p. 214.

24.
“souvenir of my prison years”: Brown, p. 196.

25.
“I think the cost was worth it”: Floody interview, 1970.

26.
“truly Götterdämmerung”: Harsh, p. 216.

27.
over twenty miles of road: Stuart Gardner Hunt, Stuart Gardner,
Twice Sur
real: A Memoir of World War II and Korea
(self published, 2005), p. 123 (author reports the column as 20 miles long).

28.
safety in numbers and better identification: Durand, p. 330.

29.
“wave your arms”: John Weir, quoted in Crighton interview, 2012.

30.
“on my straw bed”: Crighton, p. 19.

31.
“when I promptly fainted”: Harris, p. 133.

32.
“endurance was our only resource”: Buckham, p. 37.

33.
“I want my mother”: officer quoted in Brown, p. 208.

34.
“own personal miseries”: Harsh, p. 219.

35.
“loaded with bread”: Brown, quoted in Harsh, p. 220.

36.
“to the wind and rain”: Buckham, p. 40.

37.
water pail and stew pot: Colwell, diary, February 5–6, 1945, with permission.

38.
“powdered milk was gone”: Edy, p. 173.

39.
“take first prize in density”: Buckham, p. 43.

40.
“directly over the camp”: Edy, p. 177.

41.
“where the armistice is”: Colwell, diary, March 21, 1945, with permission.

42.
“R.A.F. and P.O.W.”: Ibid., April 9, 1945.

43.
“sides of our boxcars”: Sweanor, p. 195.

44.
“see our Red Crosses”: USAAF pilot, quoted in Sweanor, p. 196.

45.
“Yanks for the ventilation”: Sweanor, p. 196.

46.
twenty-nine kriegies: Hugh Halliday, correspondence, November 2007, with permission.

47.
May 8, 1945: Sweanor, footnote p. 134.

48.
“it was the end”: Colwell, diary, April 21, 1945, with permission.

49.
“arrived at noon. FREE!”: Colwell, diary, May 2, 1945, with permission.

50.
“Santa Claus parade”: Edy, p. 184.

51.
“yelling and crying kriegies”: Frank Sorensen letter to family, May 15, 1945, courtesy of Vicki Sorensen.

52.
“It continued for minutes”: Buckham, p. 92.

53.
generally weakened state: Floody, journal February 8, 1945, quoted in Hehner, p. 104.

54.
US Army had liberated: Harsh, p. 221.

55.
“By God, we made it”: Ibid., p. 222.

56.
“we were totally contaminated”: Pengelly, quoted in Dancocks, p. 207.

57.
“most absurd scene”: Ibid., p. 209.

58.
best friend Pat Porter: Sweanor, p. 200.

59.
“and rather childish”: Edy, p. 186.

60.
summer of 1943: Hawtin, unpublished diary prepared by Janet Hawtin, with permission.

61.
“Sunday dinner until Thursday”: Peter Larlee, quoted in “Son recalls his father’s fight for freedom,”
Vancouver Sun
, c. 1995.

62.
“war had never happened”: Marchildon, p. 152.

63.
“their duty twice over”: quoted in documentary
The Great Escape: The Canadian
Story
, 2004, courtesy of producer Don Young.

chapter eleven: “a proud, spectacular distraction”

1.
“freedom in a hurry”: Philip Gray,
Ghosts of Targets Past: The Lives and Losses of a Lancaster Crew in
1944
–
45
(MPG Books, England, 2005), p. 166.

2.
“I was thunderstruck”: Ibid., p. 167.

3.
“never be told in full”: Ibid., p. 168.

4.
“a little blurred”: Brown, p. 262.

5.
RAF Sunderland flying boat: Vern White, “The Sunderland Caper,” RCAF 427 Squadron Association website, 2007.

6.
“and this proves it”: Kingsley Brown, quoted in correspondence from Ethel (Brown) Alle, Barrie, Ontario, March 19, 2013.

7.
“an encyclopedia”: Ibid.

8.
“a birthday kiss”: John Weir, letter to Frances McCormack, January 21, 1945, with permission.

9.
“two in the morning”: Frances Weir (née McCormack) interview, June 19, 2012, Toronto.

10.
“love is blind”: Ibid.

11.
“did you bounce”: McKim interview, 2011.

12.
“air force like I was”: Ibid.

13.
“in fours and sixes”: transcripts entitled “Testimonies of Prisoners of War who escaped on March 25
th
from Stalag Luft III,” courtesy of Don Young.

14.
“exemplary justice”: Anthony Eden, House of Commons, Hansard, May 19 and June 23, 1944, quoted in Allen Andrews,
Exemplary Justice
(George H. Harrap, London, 1976), p. 211–13.

15.
“courage and devotion to duty”: Member of the British Empire citation, October 1946.