ZAGAN, Poland – Polish, British, and American service members commemorated the 78th anniversary of the “Great Escape” from Stalag Luft III, a German World War II prisoner of war camp located here on March 24, 2022.
Families of those who were held in the camp were also present, as flowers and candles were laid on the memorial, commemorating the 50 escapees who were executed shortly after the escape attempt.
“It’s great to be with our allied forces, both the Polish, American forces, here to remember it wasn’t just Royal Air Force, it was the air forces of Czechoslovakia, America, Belgium, and Poland, they all contributed to this,” said British Royal Air Force Squadron Leader Stephen Parlor, assigned to the No. 22 Group Royal Air Force. “To stand arm in arm, shoulder to shoulder to confront and challenge those things in the world that are not very pleasant, together with our friends is an amazing feeling and I’m very proud to be a part of it.”
Stalag Luft III, a German prisoner of war camp managed by the Luftwaffe, held various airmen from Allied forces, among them British Royal Air Force, who plotted an escape in order to return to friendly forces in 1944.
Seventy-three out of 76 service members who attempted to escape were recaptured and 50 were ordered to be summarily executed, an action that was declared a war crime after the end of WWII.
“Working with our Polish allies, especially being on some of their bases, as we serve out here, currently, it’s very sobering to realize how important this is to them,” said U.S. Army Capt. Stephen Ekblad, acting chaplain of the 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division. “It reminds us how important our alliance is for both Poland and NATO itself.”
The events of the escape attempt were made into a movie named “The Great Escape” in 1963, featuring a fictionalized account of the event.
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