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((coord|51.13078|N|12.80748|E|display=title))
((for|a complete list|List of attempts to escape Oflag IV-C))
((Multiple issues|
((tone|date=May 2017))
((more footnotes|date=May 2017))
))

Prisoners made numerous '''attempts to escape from [[Oflag IV-C]]''', one of the most famous [[German Army (Wehrmacht)|German Army]] [[prisoner-of-war camp]]s for [[Officer (armed forces)|officer]]s in [[World War II]]. Between 30 and 36 men succeeded in their attempts - exact numbers differ between German and Allied sources. The camp was situated in [[Colditz Castle]], perched on a cliff overlooking the town of [[Colditz]] in [[Saxony]].

The German Army made Colditz a ''Sonderlager'' (high-security prison camp), the only one of its type within Germany. Field Marshal [[Hermann Göring]]  even declared Colditz "escape-proof." In spite of this claim, there were many well-documented escapes and failed attempts by [[British Army|British]], [[Canadian Army|Canadian]], [[French Army|French]], [[Polish Army|Polish]], [[Royal Netherlands Army|Dutch]], and [[Belgian Army|Belgian]] inmates. Despite some mistaken beliefs to the contrary, Colditz Castle was not used as a prisoner of war camp in World War I.

<div style="float:right; margin: 0.5em">
{| border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"
|- align="center" valign="top"
|<!--  Commented out because image was deleted: [[Image:PicOf 4C FalseAusweis.jpg|thumb|130px|Corran Purdon's forged [[Identity document|Ausweis]].]] -->
|<!--  Commented out because image was deleted: [[Image:PicOf 4C SinclairAusweis.JPG|thumb|150px|Forged documents made by the prisoners assisted their escapes.]] -->
|-
|}
</div>

==Methods and equipment==
Prisoners contrived a number of methods to escape. They duplicated keys to doors, made copies of maps, forged ''Ausweise'' ([[Identity document|identity papers]]), and manufactured their own tools. [[MI9]], a department of the British [[War Office]] which specialized in escape equipment, communicated with the prisoners in [[Cryptography|code]] and [[smuggling|smuggled]] escape equipment to them by hiding it in care packages from family or from non-existent charities. However, they never tampered with [[Red Cross]] care packages for fear it would force the Germans to stop their delivery to all camps. The Germans became skilled at intercepting packages containing contraband material.

The prisoners also used items from their Red Cross packages to bribe guards and local citizens. Since the Germans allowed [[Douglas Bader]] to leave the prison and visit the town of Colditz, he took [[chocolate]] and other luxuries with him for trading. Flight Lieutenant Cenek Chaloupka traded goods for information and even had a girlfriend in the town. [[David Stirling]] later took control of the black market operations.

==The Singen route==
Upon escaping from captivity, POWs still faced the considerable challenge of negotiating their way to non-hostile territory. The [[Singen]] route into Switzerland was discovered by Dutch naval lieutenant [[Hans Larive]] in 1940 on his first escape attempt from Oflag VI-A in [[Soest, Germany|Soest]]. Larive was caught near Singen close to the Swiss border. The interrogating Gestapo officer was so confident that the war would soon be won by Germany that he told Larive of a safe way across the border. Near the road between Singen and [[Gottmadingen|Gotmadingen]] there is the hamlet of [[Hofenacker]] which belongs to the Swiss municipality of [[Ramsen, Schaffhausen|Ramsen]] in the canton of [[Canton of Schaffhausen|Schaffhausen]]. One of the farm buildings of Hofenacker, Spiesshof, stands directly on the road at the tip of what is known as the Ramsen Salient.<ref>((Cite web |last=Ruft |first=Rainer |date=2017 |title=The Singen Route. The Stories of Nineteen Allied POW Soldiers and Their Escape to Ramsen, Switzerland, Between 1941 and 1943 |url=https://www.grin.com/document/456807 |access-date=20 July 2023))</ref> By taking the Singen-Gotmadingen road, turning left after Spiesshof and remaining on the track, the escapee could successfully enter Switzerland.<ref>((Cite journal |last=Ruft |first=Rainer |date=2016 |title=»The Singen-Route« - Fluchtwege alliierter Offiziere über Singen in die Schweiz. |journal=Hegau Jahrbuch |publisher=Hegau-Geschichtsverein e. V. |volume=73 |pages=263–278))</ref> Larive memorized the route and many prisoners later escaped using it. Among them were Larive himself, [[Francis Steinmetz]], [[Anthony Luteyn]], [[Airey Neave]], [[Pat Reid]] and [[Howard Wardle]] in their escapes from Colditz.<ref>''Larive; the man who came in from Colditz'', Leo de hartog; officieren achter prikkeldraad 1940-1945</ref>

==Unsuccessful attempts==
[[File:Museum of World War II Natick Massachusetts 2015. Allied POW escape equipment Colditz Castle metal objects hidden by prisoners for future use.jpg|thumb|Metal objects hidden by Colditz Castle prisoners for future use, on display in the former [[The International Museum of World War II|International Museum of World War II]].<br><small>Photo: Lee Wright, 2015</small>]]
[[File:Museum of World War II Natick Massachusetts 2015. British POW Franz Josef Escape Attempt Colditz Castle Oflag IV-C Forged rifle insignia Michael Sinclair.jpg|thumb|Fake equipment used in the 'Franz Josef Escape Attempt'. Exhibits in The International Museum of WW2.<br><small>Photo: Lee Wright, 2015</small>]]
[[File:Museum of World War II Natick Massachusetts 2015. British POW Franz Josef Escape Attempt Colditz Castle Oflag IV-C 1943 Fake holster German medals.jpg|thumb|Fake holster and medals used in the 'Franz Josef Escape Attempt'. Exhibits in The International Museum of WW2<br><small>Photo: Lee Wright, 2015</small>]]
Most escape attempts failed. [[Pat Reid]], who later wrote about his experiences in Colditz, failed to escape at first and then became an "escape officer," charged with coordinating the various national groups so they would not ruin each other's escape attempts. Escape officers were generally not themselves permitted to escape. Many tried unsuccessfully to escape in [[disguise]]: [[Airey Neave]] twice dressed as a guard, French Lieutenant Boulé disguised in [[Drag (clothing)|drag]], British Lieutenant [[Michael Sinclair (British Army officer)|Michael Sinclair]] even dressed as German Sergeant Major Rothenberger (an NCO in the camp garrison), when he tried to organize a mass escape, and French Lieutenant Perodeau disguised himself as camp electrician Willi Pöhnert ("Little Willi"):

On the night of 28 December 1942, one of the French officers deliberately blew out the fuse on the lights in the courtyard. As they had anticipated Pöhnert was summoned, and while he was fixing the lights, Lieutenant Perodeau, dressed almost identically to Pöhnert and carrying a tool box, walked casually out of the courtyard gate. He passed the first guard without incident, but the guard at the main gate asked for his token &mdash; tokens were issued to each guard and staff member at the camp guardhouse specifically to avoid this type of escape &mdash; with no hope of bluffing his way out of this, Perodeau surrendered.

Dutch [[Sculpture|sculptor]]s made two [[clay]] heads to stand in for escaping officers at roll call. Later, "ghosts", officers who had faked a successful escape and hidden in the castle, took the place of escaping prisoners at roll call in order to delay discovery for as long as possible.

Camp guards collected so much escape equipment that they established a "Kommandant's Escape Museum". Local [[photography|photographer]] Johannes Lange took photographs of the would-be escapers in their disguises or re-enacting their attempts for the camera. Along with the Lange photographs, one of the two sculpted clay heads was displayed proudly in the museum. Security officer [[Reinhold Eggers]] made them a regular part of ''Das Abwehrblatt'', a weekly magazine for German POW camps.

===The death of Michael Sinclair===
There was only one confirmed fatality during the escape attempts: British Lieutenant [[Michael Sinclair (soldier)|Michael Sinclair]] in September 1944. Sinclair attempted a repeat of the 1941 French over the wire escape. Security officer Eggers warned him after which Sinclair was fired upon by guards. A bullet hit Sinclair on the elbow and ricocheted through his heart.<ref>"Colditz–The Legend". Yesterday TV, 12:00, 6 Dec 2010</ref>

The Germans buried Sinclair in Colditz cemetery with full military honours &mdash; his casket was draped with a [[Union Jack]] flag made by the German guards, and he received a seven-gun salute. Post-war he was awarded the [[Distinguished Service Order]], the only man to receive it for escaping during World War II. He is currently buried in grave number 10.1.14 at [[Berlin War Cemetery]] in the [[Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf]] district of [[Berlin]].

===The Red Cross tea chest===
[[File:Father tea chest colditz.jpg|thumb|The chest used by Dominic Bruce in the 'tea chest' escape.]]
Because of his very small stature, [[Flight lieutenant|Flight Lieutenant]] [[Dominic Bruce]] was known ironically as the "medium-sized man". He arrived at Colditz in 1942 (after attempting to escape from [[Oflag IX-A/H|Spangenberg Castle]] disguised as a Red Cross doctor). When a new commandant arrived at Colditz in the summer of the same year, he enforced rules restricting prisoners' personal belongings. On 8 September, POWs were told to pack up all excess belongings and an assortment of boxes was delivered to carry them into storage. Dominic Bruce seized the opportunity and was packed inside of a Red Cross packing case, three feet square, with just a file and a ((convert|40|ft|m|adj=on)) rope made of bed sheets. Bruce was then taken to a storeroom on the third floor of the German Kommandantur, and that night made his escape. The following morning the German guards stationed found the dangling bed rope. When they entered the storeroom, they found the empty box on which Bruce had inscribed ''Die Luft in Colditz gefällt mir nicht mehr. Auf Wiedersehen!'' — "The air in Colditz no longer pleases me. See you later!" Bruce was recaptured a week later trying to stow aboard a Swedish ship in [[Gdańsk|Danzig]].

===The mattress===
In late 1940, British officer "Peter" Allan (real name, Anthony Murray Allan) found out that the Germans were moving several [[mattress]]es from the castle to another camp and decided that it would be his way out. He let the French officers moving the mattresses know that one would be a little bit heavier. Allan, a fluent German speaker thanks to his schooling in Germany before the war, prior to attending [[Tonbridge School]], dressed himself up in a ''Hitlerjugend'' ([[Hitler Youth]]) uniform, stuffed ''[[German reichsmark|Reichsmarks]]'' in his pockets, and had himself sewn into one of the mattresses. He managed to get himself loaded onto the truck, and unloaded into an empty house within the town. Cutting himself out of the mattress several hours later, when all he could hear was silence, he climbed out of the window into the garden and walked down the road towards his freedom.

Along the 161&nbsp;km (100&nbsp;mi) route to [[Vienna]] via [[Stuttgart]] he got a lift with a senior SS officer. Allan recalled that ride as the scariest moment of his life, "To be vulgar, I nearly needed a new pair of trousers." Allan had been aiming to reach Poland, but soon after reaching Vienna he found he was out of money. At this time the Americans had not yet entered the war, so Allan decided to ask the American consulate for assistance. He was refused. Allan's stepmother, Lois Allan (founder of [[Fuzzy Felt]] toys in the UK), was a US citizen and he felt that they would provide sanctuary because of this. Allan had been on the run at this point for nine days. Broke, exhausted, and hungry, he fell asleep in a park. Upon waking he discovered he could no longer walk owing to his [[starvation]]. Soon afterwards he was picked up and returned to Colditz, where he spent the next three months in solitary confinement.

===The bed sheet rope===
[[File:The rope used by Dominic Bruce to escape from Colditz during the 'tea chest' escape.jpg|thumb|Photo of the bed sheet rope used in the 'tea chest' escape from Colditz by [[Dominic Bruce]].]]

On 12 May 1941, Polish Lieutenants Miki Surmanowicz and Mietek Chmiel, attempted to rappel down a 36&nbsp;m (120&nbsp;Ft) wall to freedom on a [[rope]] constructed out of [[bed sheet]]s. In order to get into position, both men put themselves into solitary confinement. After forcing open the door and picking the locks, they made their way to the courtyard, where they climbed up to a narrow ledge. From the ledge they were able to cross to the guard house roof, and climb through an open window on the outer wall. Reusing their bed sheet rope, they lowered themselves towards the ground.  They were caught when the German guards heard the hobnailed boots of one of the escapers scraping the outside of the guardhouse wall. The guard who spotted the escapers shouted 'Hände hoch!' (Hands up!) to the men as they were descending the rope.

===The German lady===
[[File:Lietenant Bouley after failed escape attempt from Colditz.jpg|thumb|upright|Lieutenant Bouley after his failed escape attempt from Colditz]]
On 5 June 1941, while returning from the park to the castle, some British prisoners noticed that a passing lady had dropped her watch. One of the British called out to her, but the lady kept walking instead of retrieving her watch. This aroused the suspicion of the German guards and, upon inspection, "she" was revealed to be a French officer, Lieutenant ''[[Chasseurs Alpins]]'' Bouley, dressed as a very respectable woman.<ref>((cite web |url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/naziprison/cold_05.html |title=Escaping Colditz 5: June 1941 |author= |date=January 2001 |work=Nazi Prison Escape |publisher=PBS |accessdate=3 June 2011))</ref>

===The canteen tunnel===
Early in 1941, the British prisoners had gained access to the sewers and drains which ran beneath the floors of the castle. Entrance to these was from a [[manhole cover]] in the floor of the canteen. After initial reconnaissance trips, it was decided that the drain should be extended, and an exit made in a small grassy area which was overlooked from the canteen window. From here, they planned to climb down the hill, and drop down below the steep outside east wall of the castle. Knowing which sentry would be on duty on the night of the escape, they pooled their resources and collected 500 [[Reichsmark]] for a bribe (100 of which were paid up front). This plan took three months of preparation. On the evening of 29 May 1941, Pat Reid hid in the canteen when it was locked up for the night. He removed the bolt from the lock on the door and returned to the courtyard. After the evening meeting, the chosen escapees slipped into the canteen unnoticed. They entered the tunnel and waited for the signal to proceed. Unknown to the prisoners, they had been reported by the bribed guard. Waiting on the grassy area was [[Paul Priem|Hauptmann Priem]] and his guard force.

Pat Reid recalls:
<blockquote>"I climbed out on to the grass and Rupert Barry, immediately behind me, started to follow. My shadow was cast on the wall of the Kommandantur, and at that moment I noticed a second shadow beside my own. It held a gun. I yelled to Rupert to get back as a voice behind me shouted, ''Hände hoch! Hände hoch!''. I turned to face a German officer leveling his [[Vis pistol|pistol]] at me."</blockquote>

Behind him in the tunnel were seven British and four Polish officers. On his order the remaining men backed up the tunnel to evade detection, but the Germans were waiting for them outside the canteen. Not wanting to give their captors any satisfaction, the British burst into laughter as they came out.

Hauptmann Priem ends the story: 
<blockquote>"And the guard? He kept his 100 Marks; he got extra leave, promotion and the [[War Merit Cross|War Service Cross]]." </blockquote>

===The French tunnel===
[[File:Museum of World War II Natick Massachusetts 2015. Allied POW escape equipment fake replicas etc 03 Colditz Castle "French tunnel" photos, lamp.jpg|thumb|Equipment etc. from 'the French tunnel'. Exhibits in The International Museum of WW2.<br><small>Photo: Lee Wright, 2015</small>]]
<!-- since the images current fair use is disputed it is temporarily commented out. -->
<!-- [[Image:Map of the French Tunnel.jpg|thumb|200px|right|Map of the "French Tunnel" on display in the museum.]] -->

Nine French officers organized a long-term tunnel-digging project, the longest ever attempted out of Colditz Castle. Deciding that the exit should be on the steep drop leading down towards the recreation area, outside the eastern walls of the castle, they began to scout for a possible location for the entrance. The problem was solved by Lieutenants Cazaumayo and Paille, who had gained access to the clock tower in 1940. [[File:Inner courtyard of Colditz castle.png|thumb|The inner courtyard of Colditz castle which was used as the prison yard when the castle was the [[POW]] camp [[Oflag IV-C]] during [[World War II]]. French prisoners used the bell tower (left) to access the wine cellar from which they tunneled under the chapel (behind the tree).]]

Their tunnel began at the top of a chapel's [[clock tower]] and descended 8.6 meters (28.2&nbsp;Ft) into the ground using the shaft which contained the ropes and weights for the clock. They found that the weights which used to hang down the shaft, and the chains, had been removed. This left an empty shaft which extended from the clock to the cellars below. After the previous escape attempts by Cazaumayo and Paille, the doors (one on each floor) which had provided access to the tower, had been bricked up in order to prevent further escape attempts. However, by sealing up the tower the Germans had in essence provided a secure location where tunnelling could be done without being noticed. The French this time gained access to the tower from the attics, descended 35 m to the cellars, and began work on a horizontal shaft in June 1941. This shaft work would continue for a further eight months.

The horizontal shaft towards the chapel progressed 4&nbsp;m (13&nbsp;Ft) before they hit rock too hard to dig. They then decided to dig upwards towards the chapel floor. From here the tunnel continued underneath the wooden floor of the chapel for a distance of 13.5&nbsp;m (44.3&nbsp;Ft). To do this, seven heavy [[oak]] timbers in the floor, measuring 0.5&nbsp;m (1.3&nbsp;Ft) square, had to be cut through. Homemade saws, assembled from German table knives, were employed for this task. With this completed, the tunnel dropped vertically from the far corner of the chapel a further 5.2&nbsp;m (17&nbsp;Ft). The tunnel then proceeded out towards the proposed exit with two further descents, separated by shafts in the tough stone foundations of the castle. The tunnel now ran a horizontal distance of 44&nbsp;m (144&nbsp;Ft), reaching a final depth of 8.6&nbsp;m (28.2&nbsp;Ft) below the ground.
[[File:The French tunnel, Colditz Castle.jpg|thumb|French prisoners, incarcerated in Colditz Castle during the Second World War, spent some 8 months digging an escape tunnel. This 5.2m vertical shaft, located in a corner of the chapel, is a small part of the construction.]]

Tunnelling continued well into 1942. By then Germans knew that the French were digging somewhere, based on the noise of tunnelling reverberating through the castle at night. The French thought that its entrance was undetectable. However, on 15 January the Germans eventually searched the sealed-off clock tower. Noises were heard below, and after lowering a small boy down the shaft, three French officers were found. After searching the cellar thoroughly, the entrance to the tunnel was eventually discovered a mere 2&nbsp;m (6.5&nbsp;ft) short of completion. The French were convinced that they had been betrayed by one of their own countrymen, but this was denied by the guards who demanded the French pay to repair the damage (estimated at 12,000 Reichsmark).

The tunnel had electric lighting along its whole length, powered by electricity from the chapel. This allowed the tunnellers to see what they were doing and signal the arrival of sentries. The entrance to the tunnel in the wine cellar was concealed by five large stones covering a small door, which left little trace of any hole. Debris was transported in sacks hoisted up the clock tower to the castle's attics. The wine cellar was regularly cleaned and re-dusted using dust harvested from the attic, so as to hide the reddish clay dust which was not present in the cellar ordinarily.

===The "Colditz Cock" glider===<!-- This section is linked from [[glider (aircraft)|glider]] -->
((main article|Colditz Cock))
[[Image:Originalglider.jpg|thumb|200px|right|The only known photo of the original "Cock" glider taken by newspaper correspondent  Lee Carson on April 15, 1945.]]
[[Image:Colditz glider replica.jpg|thumb|200px|right|A replica of the Colditz Glider as seen at the [[Imperial War Museum]] in [[London]], [[England]].]]
In one of the most ambitious escape attempts from Colditz, the idea of building a [[glider (aircraft)|glider]], was brought up by two British pilots, [[John William Best|Jack Best]] and [[Bill Goldfinch]], who had been sent to Colditz after escaping from another POW camp. They were encouraged by two army officers, [[Tony Rolt]] and David Walker, who had recently arrived in the camp. It would be Tony Rolt who would recommend the chapel roof, since he noticed it was obscured from the view of the Germans.

The two-man glider was to be assembled by Bill Goldfinch and Jack Best in the lower attic above the chapel, and was to be launched from the roof in order to fly across the [[river Mulde]], which was about 60&nbsp;m (200&nbsp;feet) below. The [[runway]] was to be constructed from tables and the glider was to be launched using a pulley system based on a falling metal [[bathtub]] full of [[concrete]], which would accelerate the glider to 50&nbsp;km/h (30&nbsp;mph).

Prisoners built a false wall to hide the space in the attic where they slowly built the glider out of stolen pieces of wood. Since the Germans were accustomed to looking down for [[tunnel]]s, not up for secret workshops, the prisoners felt safe from detection. However, they still placed lookouts, and created an electric alarm system, to warn the builders of approaching guards.

Hundreds of [[Rib (aircraft)|ribs]] had to be constructed, predominantly from bed slats, but also from every other piece of wood the POWs could obtain. The [[wing]] [[spar (aviation)|spar]]s were constructed from floor boards. Control wires were made from electrical wiring taken from unused portions of the castle. A glider expert, [[Lorne Welch]], reviewed the stress diagrams and calculations made by Goldfinch.

The resulting glider was to be a 109&nbsp;kg (240&nbsp;lb) two seater, high wing, monoplane design. It had a Mooney-style [[rudder]] and square [[Elevator (aircraft)|elevator]]s. The [[wingspan]], was 9.75&nbsp;m (32&nbsp;Ft), and the fuselage length was 6&nbsp;m (19&nbsp;Ft). Prison [[sleeping bag]]s of blue and white checked [[cotton]] were used to skin the glider, and German [[ration]] [[millet]] was boiled and used to seal the cloth pores. The war ended before the glider was finished.

Although the Colditz Cock never flew, the concept was fictionalized, depicting a successful flight and escape, in the 1971 TV movie ''[[The Birdmen]]'' starring [[Doug McClure]], [[Chuck Connors]], [[René Auberjonois]], and [[Richard Basehart]].

A replica of the Colditz glider was built for the 2000 [[Channel 4]] (UK) 3-part (150 minute total) ''Escape from Colditz'' documentary, and was flown successfully by John Lee on its first attempt at [[RAF Odiham]] with Best and Goldfinch in tearful attendance. It is currently housed at the [[Imperial War Museum]] in [[London]]. The Channel 4 material was edited to 60 minutes and shown in the US in 2001 as ''Nazi Prison Escape'' on the [[Nova (American TV series)|NOVA television series]].

{| cellspacing="0" cellpadding="8" align="center" width="80%" style="border:1px solid black"
|colspan="2" align="center" style="border-bottom:1px solid black"|'''A list of tools used in constructing the Glider''' <small>Source: [http://www.colditz-4c.com/glider.htm]</small>
|-
|valign="top" style="font-size:8pt"| 
:Side-framed [[saw]]
::* handle of [[beech]] bed board
::* frame of [[iron]] window bars
::* blade of [[phonograph|gramophone]] spring with 8 teeth / in (3 mm teeth)

:Minute saw for fine work
::* gramophone spring blade, 25 teeth / in (1 mm teeth)

:5/8 in (16 mm) metal [[drill]] obtained by bribery
::* [[Drill bit]]s for making holes made from [[nail (fastener)|nails]]

:A gauge
::* made of beech, with cupboard bolt and [[Stylus|gramophone needle]]
|valign="top" style="font-size:8pt"|
:Large [[Plane (tool)|plane]], 14½ in (368 mm) long
::* 2 inch blade obtained by bribing a German guard
::* Wooden box (four pieces of beech screwed together)

:Small plane, 8½ in (216 mm) long
::* blade made from a table [[knife]]

:Plane, 5 in (127 mm) long

:[[Try square|Square]] 
::* made of beech with gramophone spring blade

:Set of [[key (lock)|key]]s including:
::* universal door pick, forged from a [[bucket]] handle
|-
|}

==Successful attempts==
Pat Reid claimed in ''Colditz: The Full Story'' that there were 31 "home runs", whereas German authorities cite 30, and some other sources count 36. Reid included prisoners from the hospital and prisoners being transported, who were not directly under Colditz staff control. [[Henry Chancellor (author and filmmaker)|Henry Chancellor]] in ''Colditz: The Definitive History'' claims 32 escaped, but only 15 were "home runs": 1 Belgian, 11 British, 7 Dutch, 12 French, and 1 Polish. The difference is that Reid claims any successful escape by an "official" Colditz POW a "home run" whereas most other historians only consider escapes from the castle or castle grounds itself as a "home run". Also a subject of debate is whether or not Lieutenant William A. Millar's escape should be considered a "home run", but since he is listed as "[[Missing in action]]" (unofficially, he is assumed dead), Chancellor does not count him as such.

At the end of May 1943, the ''[[Oberkommando der Wehrmacht]]'' ("Armed Forces High Command") decided that Colditz should hold only British and Commonwealth officers. Because of this decision, all of the Dutch and Polish prisoners and most of the French and Belgians were moved to other camps in July. Three British officers tried their luck by impersonating an equal number of French when they were moved out, but they were later returned to Colditz. Several officers tried to escape during transit, having first caused themselves to be transferred for that purpose. German security gradually increased and by the end of 1943 most of the potential ways of escape had been plugged. According to Reid, efforts to escape ceased to be worthwhile once the prospect of an Allied victory (and consequent liberation of the camp) seemed assured — probably around the time of the [[Normandy landings]] (D-Day) in June 1944.<ref name=ReidColditzStory>Reid, Patrick Robert (1952). ''The Colditz Story'' ([[Hodder & Stoughton]])</ref>((rp|423))

Some officers faked illnesses and [[mental illness]] in order to be [[repatriation|repatriated]] on medical grounds. A member of the [[Royal Army Medical Corps]] (RAMC), Captain [[Ion Ferguson]], wrote a letter to an Irish friend in which he suggested that [[Republic of Ireland|Ireland]] join the war; the letter was stopped by the [[censorship|censors]], but his wish to be moved elsewhere was granted. In [[Stalag IV-D]] he certified a number of prisoners as insane; they were consequently repatriated. He then convinced the Germans of his own insanity and returned to Britain the same way. Four other British officers claimed symptoms of [[Peptic ulcer|stomach ulcers]], insanity, [[high blood pressure]], and back injury in order to be repatriated. There were, in addition, officers who went genuinely insane.

===From Colditz Castle and grounds===
# French Lieutenant [[Alain Le Ray]] escaped April 11, 1941. He hid in a terrace house in a park during a game of [[Football (soccer)|football]]. First successful Colditz escapee and first to reach neutral [[Switzerland]].
# French Lieutenant René Collin escaped May 31, 1941. He climbed into the rafters of a pavilion during exercise, hid there until dark and slipped away. He made it back to France.
# French Lieutenant [[Pierre Mairesse Lebrun]] escaped July 2, 1941. He was captured trying Collin's method. Later vaulted over a wire in the park with the help of an associate. He reached Switzerland in eight days on a stolen bicycle. 
# Dutch Lieutenant [[Hans Larive]] escaped August 15, 1941. He hid under a [[manhole]] cover in the exercise enclosure, emerged after nightfall, took a [[train]] to [[Gottmadingen]], and reached Switzerland in three days.
# Dutch Lieutenant [[Francis Steinmetz]] also escaped August 15, 1941, with Larive
# Dutch Major C. Giebel escaped September 20, 1941, using the same method as Larive and Steinmetz.
# Dutch Lieutenant O. L. Drijber escaped September 20, 1941, with Giebel.
# British Lieutenant [[Airey Neave|Airey M. S. Neave]] escaped January 5, 1942. Crawled through a hole in a camp theatre (after a prisoner performance) to a guardhouse and marched out dressed as a German soldier. He reached Switzerland two days later. This first successful British escape was a joint British-Dutch effort. Neave later joined [[MI9]].
# Dutch Lieutenant [[Anthony Luteyn]] escaped January 5, 1942, with Neave. 
# Australian Flight Lieutenant [[Hedley Fowler]] (RAF) escaped September 9, 1942. Slipped with four others through a guard office and a storeroom dressed as German officers and Polish orderlies. Only he and van Doorninck reached Switzerland. Like Luteyn and Neave, this was another successful British-Dutch effort. 
# Dutch Lieutenant [[Damiaen Joan van Doorninck]] escaped September 9, 1942, with Fowler.
# British Capt. [[Pat Reid|Patrick R. Reid]] escaped October 14, 1942. Slipped through POW kitchens into the German yard, into the Kommandantur cellar and down to a dry moat through the park. It took him four days to reach Switzerland.
# Canadian Flight Lieutenant [[Howard D. Wardle]] (RAF) escaped October 14, 1942, with Reid. 
# British Major [[Ronald B. Littledale]] escaped October 14, 1942. He slipped through POW kitchens into the German yard, into the Kommandantur cellar and down to a dry moat through the park. He reached Switzerland in five days.
# British Lieutenant-Commander William E. Stephens escaped October 14, 1942, with Littledale.
# British Lieutenant William A. Millar<ref>((cite web|url=http://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2628121|title=Casualty Details|first=Reading Room|last=Manchester|publisher=))</ref> escaped January, 1944. He broke into the German courtyard and hid in a German truck intending to go to [[Czechoslovakia]]. He never reached home and is listed missing on the Bayeux memorial. There is speculation that he was caught and executed in [[Mauthausen-Gusen concentration camp|Mauthausen]] concentration camp as a victim of the secret ''[[Kugel-erlass]]'' ("Bullet decree") July 15, 1944.

===From outside Colditz Castle===
# French Lieutenants J. Durand-Hornus, G. de Frondeville and  J. Prot escaped while on a visit to the town [[dentist]] on 17 December 1941.
# Polish Lieutenant Kroner was transferred to [[Königswartha]] Hospital where he jumped out of the window.
# French Lieutenant Boucheron fled from [[Zeitz]] Hospital, was recaptured, and later escaped from [[Düsseldorf]] prison.
# French Lieutenants Odry and Navelet escaped from Elsterhorst Hospital.
# Belgian Captain Louis Rémy escaped from [[Gnaschwitz]] military hospital. His three companions were captured, but he reached [[Algeciras]] by boat, and later Britain.
# British Squadron Leader [[Brian Paddon]] escaped to [[Sweden]] via [[Gdańsk|Danzig]] when sent to his previous camp for a court-martial.
# French Lieutenant Raymond Bouillez escaped from a hospital after an unsuccessful attempt to jump from a train.
# Dutch Lieutenant J. van Lynden slipped away when the Dutch were moved to [[Stanislau]] camp.
# French Lieutenant A. Darthenay escaped from a hospital at [[Hohenstein-Ernstthal]], later joined the [[French Resistance]], and was killed by the [[Gestapo]] on 7 April 1944.
# [[India]]n RAMC Captain [[Birendra Nath Mazumdar]] M.D. was the only Indian in Colditz. He went on a [[hunger strike]] to have himself transferred into an Indian-only camp. His wish was granted three weeks later and he escaped from that camp to France and reached Switzerland in 1944 with the aid of the French Resistance.<ref>((Cite journal|last=Joshi|first=Vandana|date=2020|title=The Making of a Cosmopolitan Jangi Qaidi: A Leaf from Sohan Singh's Prison Notebook written in Annaburger Stammlager D/Zin German captivity during the Second World War (1942-45)|url=https://www.projekt-mida.de/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Joshi-Vandana-The-Making-of-a-Cosmopolitan-Jangi-Qaidi-A-Leaf-from-Sohan-Singh.pdf|journal=MIDA Archival Reflexicon|page=7))</ref>
# Royal Navy ERAs W. E. "Wally" Hammond (from the sunken submarine ((HMS|Shark|54S|6))) and Don "Tubby" Lister (from the captured submarine ((HMS|Seal|N37|6))) campaigned for a transfer from Colditz, arguing that they were not officers. They were transferred to Lamsdorf prison, escaped from a Breslau work party, and reached England via Switzerland in 1943.<ref name="Reid, Patrick Robert 1953">Reid, Patrick Robert (1953). ''The Latter Days at Colditz''. London: Hodder and Stoughton</ref><ref>((Cite web |website=Sea Your History |url= http://seayourhistory.org.uk/component/option,com_gallery2/Itemid,402/g2_itemId,21056/ |title=Photo of Hammond and Lister in Switzerland |department=Royal Naval Museum |access-date=2 January 2023|quote=Photograph showing W.E. Hammond and D. Lister in Switzerland after escaping from their prisoner of war camp at Lamsdorf. Armed with forged identity papers, money and civilian clothing, Hammond and Lister volunteered to wash up the Sunday soup cauldrons in the wash house and slipped out of the camp through a nearby garden. They travelled by train to join the Colditz escape route at Dresden, showing German cigarettes as they passed through the police checks. Going via Nuremburg they continued to Ulm, accepting a drink from a German soldier along the way. Finally they ended up in Switzerland where they later held a great Christmas party with other escapers. ))</ref><ref>((cite book| last= Chancellor| first= Henry| authorlink= Henry Chancellor (filmmaker)| title= Colditz: The Definitive History| year= 2001| publisher= Hodder & Stoughton| location= London| quote= In September 1942, Chief Petty Officers Wally Lister and Tubby Hammond arrived in Colditz with the Royal Navy contingent. They had been promoted to the rank of officer so that they might stay with their friends, but technically they were in the wrong camp, and after a month they applied to be transferred to the troop camp at Lamsdorf, where they joined work gangs in the local fields and factories: escaping was easy, and after a series of adventures, they crossed the Swiss frontier on 19 December. |pages= 210| isbn=978-0-340-79494-4))</ref>

==="Ghost" prisoners who hid inside Colditz Castle===
#British pilot [[John William Best|Jack Best]], "ghost" from 4 May 1943 to 28 March 1944.
#Numerous Others

==See also==
* [[Christopher Hutton]]
* [[Georg Martin Schädlich]], Colditz prison guard who kept a diary (posthumously published)

==References==
((Reflist))

==Sources==
* [[Henry Chancellor (filmmaker)|Henry Chancellor]], ''Colditz: The Definitive History: The Untold Story of World War II's Great Escapes'' London: Hodder & Stoughton, 2001. 
* [[Reinhold Eggers]], ''Colditz: The German Story'' Translated and edited by Howard Gee. London: Robert Hale, 1961.
* [http://www.colditz-4c.com/glider.htm Flight to Freedom &mdash; The Colditz Glider] &mdash; An excerpt from the ''Soaring'' magazine article on the Colditz Glider by Wade H. Nelson. Retrieved March 21, 2005.
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20050507125501/http://www.ean.co.uk/Data/Bygones/History/Article/WW2/Colditz/html/body_oflag_ivc.htm The Escapes from Colditz] &mdash; Contains data on the escapees. Retrieved March 19, 2005.
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20041211192448/http://www.globalfindata.com/frameset.php3?location=%2Fgh%2F124.html History of German Currency] &mdash; A complete history of changes in German Currency. Retrieved April 5, 2005.

==Further reading==
((main article|Bibliography of Colditz Castle))

==External links==
((Commons|Colditz))
*[http://www.losapos.com/colditzcastle Escape from Colditz Castle] &mdash; Article about escape attempts from Colditz Castle
*[http://www.virtualcolditz.com VirtualColditz.com] &mdash; Videos and photos of Colditz Castle as it is today.
*[http://www.colditz-4c.com/tour/p01/p01.htm Virtual Tour of Colditz] &mdash; Site is predominantly in [[German language|German]], some sections have an English translation.
*[https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/naziprison/colditz.html NOVA "Nazi Prison Escape"] &mdash; Homepage to the NOVA TV episode "Nazi Prison Escape"
*[http://perso.wanadoo.fr/ph.pallu/captivite/bibliographie.htm Bibliographie par Frédéric Mortimore] &mdash; Site is in [[French language|French]] but has a good list of books available about Colditz and its POWs.
*[http://www.colditz-4c.com/links/pows.htm Colditz Castle &mdash; Oflag IVc &mdash; POW Information Sources] &mdash; Links to resources about German POWs and has links to obituaries for some former prisoners.
*[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/3132265.stm ''Escape to Colditz'' by Andrew Walker] &mdash; [[BBC]] News Magazine 8 August 2003.
*[http://www.colditzcastle.net Guide Oflag IVc & Colditz] ((Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200812141951/http://www.colditzcastle.net/ |date=2020-08-12 )) &mdash; A Guide for Visitors
*[http://www.fiddlersgreen.net/AC/aircraft/Colditz-Glider/colditz.php The Colditz Prison Escape Glider] &mdash; How to make your own Colditz Glider with plans.

((Colditz))

[[Category:Non-combat military operations]]
[[Category:Military history of Germany during World War II]]
[[Category:World War II prisoner-of-war camps in Germany|German]]
[[Category:Colditz Castle]]
[[Category:POW escapes and rescues during World War II|Oflag IV-C]]

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