March 25, 1944: The Real "Great Escape"

The route of the Harry tunnel from above

March 25, 1944: What becomes known as "The Great Escape" takes place. For 3 men, it was a success. For 73 others, it was a failure.

Stalag Luft III was a prisoner-of-war camp set up by Nazi Germany in Sagan, Lower Silesia, within German borders. Due to the changing borders after the war, the town is now in Poland, and named Żagań. The name "Luft," meaning "Air," indicates that all the prisoners were survivors of Allied planes that had been shot down.

Having dug 3 tunnels, codenamed Tom, Dick and Harry, 76 Allied prisoners escaped. All but 3 were quickly recaptured: Bram van der Stok of the Netherlands, and Norwegians Per Bergsland and Jens Müller. van der Stok, due to his language skills and contacts with the French resistance, found safety with the British consulate in neutral Spain. The 2 Norwegians made it to neutral Sweden by train and boat, with the help of friendly sailors. But of the 73 men captured, the Nazis executed 50. Bergsland lived until 1992, van der Stock until 1993, Müller until 1999.

In 1950, Paul Brickell published the book The Great Escape, based on the story. In 1963, the book was adapted into a film. Only 3 of the 76 real escapees were Americans. But, given the nature of Hollywood, Americans were given starring roles in the film, some as foreigners.

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March 25, 1944 was a Saturday. Baseball was in Spring Training. Football was out of season. The NBA hadn't been founded yet. One game was played in the Stanley Cup Playoffs: The Montreal Canadiens beat the Toronto Maple Leafs, 2-1 at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto.

England's Football League had suspended play for the duration of World War II, but there was another competition set up, known as the London Combination. In this, Reading FC, of Berkshire, beat Arsenal, 5-1 at White Hart Lane in Middlesex. (In 1963, the boundaries of London were redrawn so that White Hart Lane, home of Tottenham Hotspur, was now in North London. Arsenal's usual North London home, Highbury, had been appropriated by the government for the duration.)