The Great Escape tunnels greater than thought

The Daily Telegraph (UK) ^ | 9/10/2007 | Gary Cleland

[Crapgame]

“Of course our Gonkulator is superior to the American design”...

I loved that show. Now have all 6 seasons and am enjoying watching it all over again with my 8 yr old son. On Saturday mornings, when most fathers are hearing their kids ask if they can watch cartoons, my son is asking me if he can watch either the History Channel or Hogans Heroes. Of course, now that it’s September, my answer is no since I preempt for College Football.

[wideminded]

In the book I read about the Great Escape the author described one fellow prisoner who invented a new way of tunneling. He created a short section of tunnel, then sealed himself in, digging sand from the from of the tunnel and placing it in the back. He breathed air from tubes pushed through to the surface.

But he failed to account for the fact that he couldn't compress the sand he had dug into as small a volume as it had originally occupied. Thus his space for working gradually shrunk until he had to surface.

[Tax-chick]

The book was very informative, although not as dramatically concise as the movie. The author mentioned that one reason they were so anxious to escape was that they were *hungry*, which you don’t see in the film.

[samiam1972]

Greatest movie ever!!! I whistle the theme song to my kids all the time. Yes, they think I’m weird! :o) My son likes movies like this. He’s also a history channel and animal planet buff. Too bad we got rid of cable.

[wagglebee]

If you hunt around, you can usually find older DVDs for under $10. My favorite movies of this genre are probably “Bridge on the River Kwai,” “Stalag 17” and “Guns of Navarone.”

[dfwgator]

Why is it, that I can barely make it through anything Hollywood puts out nowadays, yet I never get tired of watching movies like, “The Great Escape.”

[samiam1972]

I’ve seen the first two(love them) and know the name of the third one but am unsure if I’ve ever seen it. I can’t bring up any memories of that movie. My mom always made me watch “old” movies with her. They are often so much better than what is put out now with a few exceptions.

[wagglebee]

Guns of Navarone was incredible! It has Gregory Peck, David Niven, Anthony Quinn and Richard Harris. You really need to see it.

[samiam1972]

If Gregory Peck was in it then I’ve probably seen it. I will double check or just watch it again.

[wagglebee]

Almost everything put out these days is a remake of another movie or a TV show that was never that good in the first place.

I would say that these are only movies in the past twenty years that I would consider excellent or better (in no particular order):

Shawshank Redemption (I know it’s got Tim Robbins in it, but it’s incredible), Schindler’s List, Saving Private Ryan, Goodfellas, Sixth Sense, Silence of the Lambs, Braveheart and The Passion of the Christ.

[wagglebee]

It was probably his best movie ever after “To Kill a Mockingbird.”

[SouthTexas]

The POWs that planned and pulled this off have always amazed me. Real history here.

Thank your brother for me when you see him.

[colorado tanker]

We're watching Hogan's Heroes too. The scripts are well-written and the jokes still funny. Well acted, too. Klink just goes over the top!

BTW, Klink and Schultz were Jews, from Germany and Austria.

[Crapgame]

Yep, Werner Klemperer and John Banner were both Jews. So was Leon Askin who played General Burkhalter. The show drips with irony...

[ExcursionGuy84]

What is more ironic is, according to www.imdb.com, that Wehrner Klemper accepted the role of Colonel Wilhelm Klink on the condition that his character would not succeed in any pro-NAZI schemes.

[colorado tanker]

on the condition that his character would not succeed in any pro-NAZI schemes

Well, he didn't have to worry about that, did he??? :-))

Although, you know "there has never been a successful escape from Stalag . . . ." Well, at least none that Klink ever found out about.

[greccogirl]

The greatest generation, indeed.

[tubebender]

I had a call from my brother a couple of hours ago. This guy has a Cast Iron memory at 86 where my memory is Silly Putty at 74. He was not one of the chosen few that were part of the tunnel crews and no one was aware of those groups due to the concern they would spill the beans if interrogated.

He said the milk cans held powdered milk and were labeled Klim.(Milk spelled backwards?) The guards poked holes in all cans arriving in the Red Cross food packages to force the POWs to consume the contents soon so they could not be hoarded for a escape.The POWs sealed the holes with margarine to delay the spoilage for a few days.

The camps adhered to a strict military structure and discipline and it was highly respected even among the Germans. In Jan 45 the camp was evacuated by the Germans because the Russians were advancing so the order was given to move out one compound at a time during the worse winter Europe ever experienced. This was just after the Battle of the Bulge. My brother was in the first group and they had to march for 60 miles in deep snow to a working RR with little to wear in the way of winter apparel and shoes. Some did not make it but not because their Brothers didn't do what they could to sustain them.

There was more but this is what I have to post now. Please forgive me for any grammar slips.

[4Godsoloved..Hegave]

Thanks for passing on the story. Big thank you to your brother for all he did for this country and world under excruciating circumstances.