70th anniversary of

001 – 011 Along the path of Harry, there are small stones into which are engraved the names of the 50 men who were killed by the Germans.

012 – 014 Here is the view from the watchtower. The first two are looking towards Harry’s exit, the last is towards Harry’s entrance.

015 – 016 Here are the ruins of the hut where Roger Bushell (the mastermind of the escape; “Big X” in the movie) lived.

Throughout the grounds there are many ruins, and most of them do not have signs explaining what they are. Bits of brick and rubble are strewn everywhere.

Walking was not easy. First of all, rain had fallen the night before and occasionally during the day. So the ground was wet, soggy, and muddy. Everything that you read about how the local geology made digging a tunnel difficult—it’s true! Second of all, much of the ground is covered by moss. So you can place your foot onto what you expect is something solid and suddenly, your foot sinks!

017 – 020 These are from the monument that the remaining prisoners built.

From the Wikipedia article: On 6 April 1944, the new camp Kommandant, Oberstleutnant Erich Cordes, informed the Senior British Officer that he had received an official communication from the German High Command stating that 41 of the escapers had been shot while resisting arrest. Cordes was later replaced by Oberst Franz Braune. Braune was appalled that so many escapees had been killed, and allowed the prisoners who remained at the camp to build a memorial, to which he also contributed. It still stands today.

The following photographs are from the main ceremony on the eve of the Escape. As you can see, the weather was horrible. As part of the ceremony, fighters from the Polish Air Force were to have flown over. However, that was canceled because of the weather. The rest of the ceremony went on.

021 A Polish honor guard and regimental band from the local Polish military base. It is located to the south of the former camp/museum.

022 Here are three Polish World War II veterans. I do not know if they were prisoners, and, if so, if they were prisoners at this camp.

023 – 025 A Polish honor guard from the local base.

026 At this ceremony (on the morning of March 24 — the escape took place on the evening of March 24 – 25), current members of the Royal Air Force were present. They represented the four squadrons to which the British members of escapers belonged.

027 These are representatives of various militaries that had members among the prisoners. Each representative read out the names of four – six of the 50 who were killed. There were no American representatives. That’s because no Americans took part in the escape. Not long before the escape occurred, the Germans decided to transfer all the Americans to another camp.

028 These are service members from the Royal Air Force. Each person held the photograph of one of the 50 who were killed.

029 – 030 The Polish honor guard

031 Here are all 50 of the Royal Air Force service members who walked with a photograph.

032 The speeches are about to begin.

033 Charles Clarke, President of the RAF Prisoners of War Association. He was a prisoner at this camp, but he was not one of the escapees.

034 – 035 The Polish honor guard discharges a volley.

036 – 038 The Polish honor guard and various invited guests walk up to Harry’s exit with their flowers. In many instances, the invited guests were relatives/descendants of the escapees. Some were dressed in the uniforms of the era.

039 – 044 Here are the various honor guards leaving.

045 – 047 The flowers in front of the exit to Harry.