The Most Ambitious Escape Plan of WW2
“Colditz was a finishing school for escape artists. If you made it there, it was because you wouldn’t stop trying.”
It was one of the most extraordinary examples of wartime ingenuity.
A fully operational glider made in secret by men imprisoned in a castle in Germany during WW2.
Colditz, also known as Stalag Luft III, was the highest security prison where the Germans sent the most troublesome Allied prisoners of war.
This was a curious oversight, given that putting the most prolific escapees together only increased their determination.
But escaping from Colditz was not easy.
It was heavily guarded and built on a hill with a high perimeter wall.
Prisoners made frequent attempts by various means, including tunnelling, impersonation of Nazi officers, hiding in trucks leaving the castle walls and so on.
A handful of soldiers did escape, but the guards recaptured the vast majority.
Undaunted, a group of the most determined inmates hatched the most audacious plan of all. To escape by air.
Fortunately, this imposing fortress had one particular flaw.
Originally constructed during the 13th century, it played various roles over the years, including a hunting lodge, an asylum and a hospital.
This meant it was full of bricked-up rooms, old staircases, and blocked off pipework. Perfect places to hide things from the guards.
High up in the attic, the daring band of soldiers built a false wall. Behind it, they constructed a workshop complete with tools manufactured using whatever materials were available in the castle.
By extraordinary coincidence, someone found a copy of Aircraft Design by C.H. Latimer-Needham in the prison library.
This aeronautical engineering book provided crucial information on wing loading, stress calculations, control surfaces, and other principles needed to design a functional glider.
The construction crew sourced raw materials for the gliders’ manufacture from wherever they could find them.
They used wooden bed slats for the frame and wings, bits of metal for fastenings and bedsheets for the aircraft’s skin. They even used porridge to seal the aircraft’s surfaces.
Their majestic flying machine was christened the ‘Colditz Cock’ on account of a cockerel’s ability to glide short distances.
The launch mechanism was a ramp with a long rope attached to a concrete-filled bath.
At the right moment, the bath would be tossed over the edge, pulling the glider along the ramp and up into the sky.
But that movement never became. The Allies liberated Colditz on April 16th, 1945, before she had a chance to fly.
In 2012, a remote-controlled replica of the glider was constructed by a group of enthusiasts and successfully demonstrated the ingenious nature of the original construction.
