Major Tom Stallard led 32 men over the wire at the camp on August 30, 1942, after five months of careful planning
British prisoners of war pulled out all the steps to fool German guards with these escape ladders – disguised as bookshelves.
Inmates built the structures in the music room of Oflag VI-B, near the north-western village of Dössel and the heart of Nazi Germany.
Noisy instruments and a raucous choir muffled the sounds of their carpentry.
The folding ladders doubled as shelves containing sheet music and books to dupe any snooping guards.
After five months of planning, 32 men went over the wire on August 30, 1942 and fled into the night, as German machine guns fired at them.
The plan was led by Major Tom Stallard, 37, with early help from RAF hero pilot Douglas Bader.
Stallard was against using tunnels because in 11 months only 12 out of 77 that were started at the Warburg camp ended in escapes. And all those who fled were caught.
The officer decided the only way out was over the fence and the ingenious ladder plot was hatched by 23-year-old lieutenant Jock Hamilton-Baillie. He used scrap wood from a demolished hut.
Author Mark Felton tells of the amazing escapade in his book Zero Night, The Untold Story of World War Two’s Most Daring Great Escape.
He said: “It was one of the first mass escapes and to my mind the most daring of the war. What struck me was the audacity of it.”
After a string of diversions, the escapers rushed the wire with the ladders. They flew up the steps and locked the “bridge” section into place. When guards realised what was going on they opened fire. One Brit was shot in the heel but carried on running.
Of the 32 PoWs who fled, 26 were still at large the next morning. But only three made it back to England. They were awarded the Military Cross.
