International military service commemorates Great Escape on eve of 80th anniversary

Military personnel from allied nations convened at a cemetery in Poland to commemorate those lost in a significant atrocity that took place in March 1944.

In the days and weeks that followed the ‘Great Escape’ from Stalag Luft III in central-west Poland, 73 of the 76 allied airmen who had escaped had been recaptured by the Gestapo.

Adolf Hitler, furious at the news of the breakout, ordered summary executions for 50 of those recaptured. 

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It was a war crime that eventually led to convictions for the German officers responsible, and in 1947, 13 Nazis were executed for the roles they played in the killings. 

Now, 80 years on from the events of March 1944, dozens of military personnel from multiple nations have gathered to pay their respects to the 50 who were lost. 

Those in attendance at the Old Garrison Cemetery in Poznan included soldiers and aviators from the UK Armed Forces, Polish Army, Australian Defence Force and Canadian Army. 

The British contingent on parade included a troop of soldiers from the 1st Queen’s Dragoon Guards and a large selection of regular and reservist personnel drawn from across the Royal Air Force.

The UK’s Ambassador to Poland, Anna Clunes, laid a wreath alongside Defence Attaché Group Captain Chris Brown, at the focal point of the military cemetery which also includes graves of Polish soldiers and those lost from Russia’s Red Army.

Wreaths were also laid by ambassadors from Australia, New Zealand and Norway, alondside defence attachés from countries The Netherlands, Lithuania and Germany.

Representing Chief of the Air Staff was Air Commodore Andrew Dickens OBE, Commandant RAF College Cranwell. 

The ceremony was part of a weekend-long programme of events being held to commemorate both the audacious nature of the breakout, and the shocking subsequent murder of those who were recaptured. 

On Saturday evening, members of the RAF will take part in a 10km run through the forests surrounding the site of Stalag Luft III, which is designed to give those participating an idea of what navigating through the night would have been like for those airmen escaping, 80 years ago. 

On Sunday, the actual day of the breakout eight decades ago, military personnel will again convene, this time at the site of the tunnel used for the escape – nicknamed Harry.

Events will conclude with a rousing rendition of the famous theme tune to the 1963 film, The Great Escape, performed at the PoW camp by RAF musicians.