One of the men who was part of the famous Great Escape believed that the prisoners were betrayed by two English Nazi collaborators, documents reveal.
Flight Lieutenant Desmond Plunkett was one of the 76 airmen who attempted to flee the Stalag Luft III Prisoner of War camp in March 1944. All but three were recaptured and 50 brutally executed.
Although the men ingeniously dug three tunnels – named Tom, Dick and Harry – to get out of the camp successfully, they made crucial mistakes that quickly led to their re-arrest.
Their tragic story was told in 1963 classic film the Great Escape, which stars Steve McQueen.
Plunkett forged maps for the escapers and was fortunate to have his life spared after being caught.
Now, experts re-examining wartime documents at the National Archives have unearthed Plunkett’s claim that the murdered men were in fact betrayed.
Writing in a questionnaire in May 1945 after he was liberated from another PoW camp, Plunkett wrote: ‘There are two individuals … whose activities have a direct bearing on the fate of the 50 executed prisoners of war.
‘These two persons must be traced, as both are undoubtedly indigenous Englishmen, and must be tried for their collaborating activities with the enemy.’
Map maker Desmond Plunkett (pictured), who lived to the age of 86, was the unlucky 13th of the Allied airmen to flee Stalag Luft III in what became known as ‘The Great Escape’
![Charles Bronson, James Coburn and men listening to Richard Attenborough in a scene from the film 'The Great Escape', 1963](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/03/22/02/82759635-13225937-image-m-76_1711074033547.jpg)
Charles Bronson, James Coburn and men listening to Richard Attenborough in a scene from the film ‘The Great Escape’, 1963
![Richard Attenborough (left) and Steve McQueen (right) reenact the men's escape from Stalag Luft III in the Great Escape (1963)](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/03/22/02/82759619-13225937-Richard_Attenborough_left_and_Steve_McQueen_right_reenact_the_me-m-78_1711074101735.jpg)
Richard Attenborough (left) and Steve McQueen (right) reenact the men’s escape from Stalag Luft III in the Great Escape (1963)
![James Garner (Hendley), Gordon Jackson (MacDonald), Donald Pleasence (Blythe) and Richard Attenborough (Bartlett) in The Great Escape](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/03/22/02/82759643-13225937-image-a-79_1711074116096.jpg)
James Garner (Hendley), Gordon Jackson (MacDonald), Donald Pleasence (Blythe) and Richard Attenborough (Bartlett) in The Great Escape
The document was found while PoW questionnaires were being digitised.
WIll Butler, head of the National Archives’ military records and the curator behind the current exhibition on great wartime escapes, said there has never previously been a claim of betrayal relating to the event.
He told The Guardian: I’ve read a lot of the material that was produced postwar around the executions of the 50 officers, and I’ve never come across any suggestion that there was some kind of collaboration.’
Mr Butler added it was ‘absolutely possible’ that the men were betrayed.
But historian Guy Walters, author of The Real Great Escape, is skeptical about Plunkett’s claim.
He told MailOnline: ‘The story is a bit of an empty one really. I think Desmond Plunkett was incredibly confused and wrong about what happened.
‘The Great Escape wasn’t betrayed by anybody. There were collaborators in the camps, but no, the Great Escape, they managed to get out.
‘And when they were captured they got captured because they made mistakes.
‘And no, there weren’t traitors responsible for getting them murdered, that was a decision by Adolf Hitler.
‘I don’t really think it’s a story to be honest. I think Desmond Plunkett was mistaken.
‘He had spent ten months in Gestapo confinement, he had lost his mind somewhat, he had had a breakdown, so ultimately I think he was very mistaken.’
The escapers’ mistakes included the presence of errors in their false identity papers, and having clothing that was not suitable for wintry weather. Many were also exhausted.
Second World War historian James Holland echoed Mr Walters’ view.
He told The Times: ‘Everyone was super-alert and aware of strangers. And in a town where there were lots of people, you stood out like a sore thumb.’
Mr Holland added: ‘There’s a lot of bitterness if you’re a prisoner of war for that length of time, and bitterness and guilt about the fact that 50 of them got executed.
![Steve McQueen in The Great Escape](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/03/22/02/82759609-13225937-Steve_McQueen_in_The_Great_Escape-m-83_1711074251854.jpg)
Steve McQueen in The Great Escape
![Richard Attenborough and Charles Bronson filmed as two British PoWs in the Great Escape](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/03/22/02/82759617-13225937-Richard_Attenborough_and_Charles_Bronson_filmed_as_two_British_P-m-84_1711074291717.jpg)
Richard Attenborough and Charles Bronson filmed as two British PoWs in the Great Escape
‘Those feelings of resentment are entirely understandable, but it doesn’t mean to say that just because someone has accused someone else of betraying them that it’s correct.’
Plunkett pointedly did not repeat his betrayal claim in his book, The Man Who Would Not Die, which was published in 2000.
The discovery of Plunkett’s statement comes as the 80th anniversary of the Great Escape, on the night of March 24, 1944, draws near.
Plunkett was arrested by the Gestapo near the Austrian border. He was taken to Stalag Luft I and freed at the end of the war.
As was the norm for freed prisoners of war, he was given a questionnaire to recount his experiences.
Plunkett feared that the information he gave during his interrogation by the Gestapo could have led to the deaths of the 50 captured men.
However, his comrades assured him the escape had been foiled long before he was caught at the Austrian border.
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