A true story of the Great Escape: How an Aussie surfboard maker built the tunnel...

Daily Mail (Australia/UK) ^ | 26th August 2015 | Frank Coletta

[naturalman1975]

Theirs is the previously untold Australian side of the 'The Great Escape' - best mates who surfed together, flew RAF missions together and finally tunnelled out of Stalag Luft III prison camp together in the most daring breakout of the Second World War.

The brief flight to freedom by 76 prisoners of war, in which Australians John Williams and Rusty Kierath played a pivotal part, was immortalised by Hollywood - although the film largely glossed over a key part played in the daring ploy by Australian captives.

Now there's a book that reveals details of their role and events that led up to that historic day - including how surfboard-making skills helped them dig their way to temporary freedom.

Williams grew up on the beach at Manly while Kierath was a country boy from Narromine but the pair became friends when they were at school together during the Great Depression.

The rugby team-mates later headed to England to take up separate assignments with the RAF in Egypt. After being shot down they became barrack mates inside the notorious Stalag Luft III camp, and escaped in the tunnel known as "Harry".

[naturalman1975]

'The Hollywood myth only told an American story and Australian families could never go over there for anniversaries – they were here only with their memories,' Ms Williams said.

Actually, I'd say the 'Hollywood myth' of the Great Escape showed more of a British story than an American one (which is historically accurate - there were no American escapees, as the American prisoners in the camp had been moved to a different compound - yes, the film does include more American involvement than was strictly factual, but it still presented things as primarily British.

[Kartographer]

What you mean there was no motorcycle jump over a barbwire fence?

[SuziQ]

I'd like to read that book! I'm reading "Prisoners of the Japanese" about POWs in the Pacific. I'd heard a little about the Bataan Death March, because a friend of my parents had been a POW, and told them of some of it. But it is a truly brutal story. In the section I just completed, about the construction of the Siam Burma Railroad, I was astounded to read of the numbers of British who died. It was supposed that young British men were much less healthy than the Americans, or even the Aussies and Dutch, because of the effects of the Great Depression on their diets, and general health, so they lost ground much more quickly with the pitiful rations and horrid sanitary conditions of the camps.

The group with the fewest deaths from diseases was the Dutch; their prison camp doctors were much more familiar with tropical diseases, because they had grown up in Dutch Indonesia. The British died in larger numbers, because their doctors didn't listen to the Dutch, and kept treating the men in their own way. There were two groups of Americans on the railroad, and the one that had the Dutch doctor suffered less than 10 deaths out of almost 200 men, while the group under the British doctor had many more deaths in proportion to their numbers.

[Vermont Lt]

Yes, but it was Steve McQueen! No one gets cooler than that.

[sasportas]

What you mean the “cooler king” Vigil Hilts was not a hip 1960’s Californian?

[tet68]

Read The Railway Man, about English prisoners on the
railroad.

A dead brit for every sleeper, or so they said.

[mosesdapoet]

GE Theater when hosted by Ronald Reagan produced The Great Escape story in one of its hour long shows of that series. Which came out a year before or earlier then that famous cycle ride. It was much closer to facts than the film. It related no American participation .
Hope some FR looks and links it up it’s worth a look.

[GreyFriar]

Great Escape ping

[Bonneville]

Another book by a POW of the Japanese that Id recommend...it’s been published here under three different titles. This is the latest printing. Very moving.
http://www.amazon.com/END-ALL-WARS-Ernest-Gordon/dp/0007118481/ref=sr_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1440546502&sr=1-4&keywords=%22To+End+All+Wars%22

[tophat9000]

If i recall in the real story quite a few Americans were involved at first but the Americans were move out the came before the escape... in the movie you only had two US servicemen Steve McQueen and the other guy that was a bit part... the James Garner character was American but he was in the RAF service.. so only three Americans total in the movie

[zot]

Thanks for the ping.

[Scrambler Bob]

M4L POWs

[SuziQ]

I saw the movie made from that book, but I’m sure the book is much better!

[SuziQ]

I’ll have to see if my library has that book in it’s statewide database!