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Nazi Prison Escape

Path to park
The path to the park offered many opportunities for escape.
Escaping Colditz
6: June 1941

Not long after Bouley's "womanly" escape attempt (see #5), two prisoners went missing after the daily stroll in the park. The Colditz security apparatus swung into action: Local police headquarters, railway stations, and foresters were notified, and guards searched the surrounding landscape on bicycle and foot. But while examining the park walk with a fine-toothed comb, one German suddenly remembered an air-raid shelter situated in an old house along the park path. The Germans found the door unlocked—and inside were Captain Harry Elliot and Captain Janek Lados (see #7). The Germans determined (rightly) that this must have been the way Le Ray (see #1) and at least one other French officer had escaped.

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  1. First escape
    April 12, 1941


  2. Straw mattresses
    May 8, 1941


  3. Locked cells
    Mid-May 1941


  4. Canteen tunnel
    May 1941


  5. German woman
    June 1941


  6. Air-raid shelter
    June 1941


  7. Hacksaw
    June 1941


  8. Over the wall
    July 2, 1941


  9. Air shaft
    July 28, 1941


  1. Lavatory
    July 31, 1941


  2. Manhole
    Late summer, 1941


  3. Dummies
    December 1941


  4. German officers
    December 1941


  5. Main gate
    January 6, 1942


  6. Town dump
    March 1942


  7. Wooden crate
    September 7, 1942


  8. Mussolini's office
    September 9, 1942


  9. Headquarters building
    October 15, 1942


  1. Willi the electrician
    December 1942


  2. "Maddest attempt"
    May 11, 1943


  3. Franz Josef
    September 2, 1943


  4. Cellar house
    January 19, 1944


  5. Rubbish heap
    May 2, 1944


  6. Greatest escaper
    September 25, 1944


  7. Glider
    April 1945



Escaping Colditz | The Jailor's Story | Great Escapes | The Colditz Glider
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