occupied, returned to his office.
The job now was to convince the guards that there was nothing untoward about the activities surrounding the horse. So as to alleviate any lingering suspicions, one of the men had been primed to be awkward, and was constantly making a mess of his vaulting. Then when he attempted to make a two-handed straddle of the horse, he clattered into it knocking it over. Everyone laughed, including guards, who could see that the inside of the horse was empty. This happened several times during the following two hours, before the men called it a day and returned the horse to the canteen. Just before leaving, the last one of the men to leave tied a thin black piece of cotton thread across the door. In the morning it was discovered to have been broken, the Germans had been and examined the horse.
For the next couple of weeks the horse was carried out and the men performed their routine of vaulting, and once again the same man, who appeared to be getting better, occasionally clattered into the horse, knocking it over. By this time the guards had lost interest and only occasionally glanced over to watch. Then one morning the horse was carried out and the men were warned that under no circumstances were they to knock it over. This time Eric Williams was inside and he was to start digging the escape tunnel.
The statistics had been worked out with regard to the length of the tunnel and how long it was estimated that it would take. The calculations were that it was around 45ft to the trip wire, 30ft to the perimeter wire, a further 8ft to clear the wire, another 30ft to clear the guards’ patrolling area and a further 7ft in case of any obstructions. This was a total of 120ft and digging 3ft a day should take six weeks – well that was the theory.
The moment the men started to pound up to the horse and then vault over it, he started digging. Taking away the top grey layer of sand, he placed that in a box and then started digging down into yellowish sand beneath with a trowel. With each scoop he placed the sand into cloth bags that had been made from trouser legs, and when full, hung them on hooks inside the box. Also inside the box with him was a Red Cross tea chest that had the top and bottom panels removed and this was used to shore up the shaft.
After two hours of continuous digging, Williams managed to sink the shaft to a depth that allowed the tea chest to be slid into position 6in below the surface. He then placed the lid over the top and covered it with the earth he had placed in the box. With this done, he tapped on the box to let the instructor know he had finished. The poles were then pushed through the holes and the horse lifted up, only this time the four men had to carry not only Eric Williams, but also twelve bags of sand back to the canteen. Once inside the canteen, Williams got out and the twelve bags were removed. The sand was then transferred into long sausage-like bags that six men had attached to their waists and beneath their trousers. The men would then wander all around the camp, and by means of a cord that opened the bottom of the bags, distribute the sand as they walked.
The next day Michael Codner took his place inside the horse and continued to dig the shaft. The two men alternated whilst the shaft was dug and after almost a week of digging, the shaft had been sunk to a depth of 5ft. In order to keep the shaft shored up, the tea chest was placed on bricks, the latter having been stolen from building works that had been going on in another part of the camp.
Now came the difficult part, digging the tunnel. Because of the narrowness of the shaft and the tunnel, the diggers had to lie on their backs to carry out the work. Boards were removed from the bottoms of beds so that the tunnel, as it progressed, could be shored up. Above the heads of the diggers, the pounding of the gymnast’s feet confused the sound of the digging for the microphones.
As the weeks passed the tunnel
The job now was to convince the guards that there was nothing untoward about the activities surrounding the horse. So as to alleviate any lingering suspicions, one of the men had been primed to be awkward, and was constantly making a mess of his vaulting. Then when he attempted to make a two-handed straddle of the horse, he clattered into it knocking it over. Everyone laughed, including guards, who could see that the inside of the horse was empty. This happened several times during the following two hours, before the men called it a day and returned the horse to the canteen. Just before leaving, the last one of the men to leave tied a thin black piece of cotton thread across the door. In the morning it was discovered to have been broken, the Germans had been and examined the horse.
For the next couple of weeks the horse was carried out and the men performed their routine of vaulting, and once again the same man, who appeared to be getting better, occasionally clattered into the horse, knocking it over. By this time the guards had lost interest and only occasionally glanced over to watch. Then one morning the horse was carried out and the men were warned that under no circumstances were they to knock it over. This time Eric Williams was inside and he was to start digging the escape tunnel.
The statistics had been worked out with regard to the length of the tunnel and how long it was estimated that it would take. The calculations were that it was around 45ft to the trip wire, 30ft to the perimeter wire, a further 8ft to clear the wire, another 30ft to clear the guards’ patrolling area and a further 7ft in case of any obstructions. This was a total of 120ft and digging 3ft a day should take six weeks – well that was the theory.
The moment the men started to pound up to the horse and then vault over it, he started digging. Taking away the top grey layer of sand, he placed that in a box and then started digging down into yellowish sand beneath with a trowel. With each scoop he placed the sand into cloth bags that had been made from trouser legs, and when full, hung them on hooks inside the box. Also inside the box with him was a Red Cross tea chest that had the top and bottom panels removed and this was used to shore up the shaft.
After two hours of continuous digging, Williams managed to sink the shaft to a depth that allowed the tea chest to be slid into position 6in below the surface. He then placed the lid over the top and covered it with the earth he had placed in the box. With this done, he tapped on the box to let the instructor know he had finished. The poles were then pushed through the holes and the horse lifted up, only this time the four men had to carry not only Eric Williams, but also twelve bags of sand back to the canteen. Once inside the canteen, Williams got out and the twelve bags were removed. The sand was then transferred into long sausage-like bags that six men had attached to their waists and beneath their trousers. The men would then wander all around the camp, and by means of a cord that opened the bottom of the bags, distribute the sand as they walked.
The next day Michael Codner took his place inside the horse and continued to dig the shaft. The two men alternated whilst the shaft was dug and after almost a week of digging, the shaft had been sunk to a depth of 5ft. In order to keep the shaft shored up, the tea chest was placed on bricks, the latter having been stolen from building works that had been going on in another part of the camp.
Now came the difficult part, digging the tunnel. Because of the narrowness of the shaft and the tunnel, the diggers had to lie on their backs to carry out the work. Boards were removed from the bottoms of beds so that the tunnel, as it progressed, could be shored up. Above the heads of the diggers, the pounding of the gymnast’s feet confused the sound of the digging for the microphones.
As the weeks passed the tunnel
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