Stalag Luft III was one of Germany’s largest prisoner of war camps, it held flyers from the Allied Air Forces and was run by the Luftwaffe. Built near the town of Sagan, the location was chosen to be as far away as possible from neutral countries. This was a maximum security camp designed to deter escape, but it wouldn’t stop the young flyers from trying to breakout. Huts were raised off the ground so the German guards could spot any tunnelling activity, and they were built away from the perimeter fence so tunnels would have to be even longer. Three tunnels were to be dug simultaneously, codenamed Tom, Dick, and Harry. If one were discovered there would still be the other two. The tunnels would need to be dug over 300 feet long to get past the perimeter wire and into the forest 20 feet beyond it. It was going to be an enormous effort and all done under the watchful eyes of the German guards. True story of The Great Escape, watch full documentary here – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EEMW2svLTF8 Subscribe to Element 18 – https://bit.ly/337R2uO