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Escape from Germany : the greatest PoW break-out of the First World War / Neil Hanson.

by Hanson, Neil.

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940.547243 H251e

Prisoner-of-war escapes -- Germany -- Holzminden.

Prisoner-of-war escapes -- Germany -- History -- 20th century.

World War, 1914-1918 -- Prisoners and prisons, German.

Prisoners of war -- Germany.

9780552155496 (pbk.)

0552155497 (pbk.)

412 p., [16] p. of plates : ill. (some col.), col. maps, ports. ; 20 cm.

Originally published: London: Doubleday, 2011.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

"July, 1918. Surrounded by steel palisades and barbed-wire fences, Holzminden was the most heavily guarded POW camp in the world. Patrolled by ferocious dogs and armed guards with orders to shoot to kill, it was a brutal punishment camp, housing 700 prisoners of all nationalities. To escape would take boundless ingenuity and nerves of steel. Many tried. Prisoners used sardine-tin openers to pick locks, forged documents, sent messages using milk as an invisible ink, and created fake uniforms and elaborate disguises--one even impersonated the notorious camp commandant. Every attempt failed, leading only to ever-tighter defences. But on the night of 23 July 1918, twenty-nine undaunted Allied prisoners achieved the impossible. They had spent nine months using knives and spoons to move tonnes of earth, clay and stone, digging a tunnel over 150 feet long through the foundations of the barracks and under the walls and barbed-wire fences, to the farmland beyond. This is the fascinating story of how they did it--and of the many who had failed before them. Neil Hanson provides a rare insight into the minds of these prisoners of war, revealing their resourcefulness, courage and persistence--and inexhaustible good humour."--From publisher.

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