The Great Escape recalled
60 years on, survivors tell of famous breakout

Paul Royle reflects on the mass prison breakout that ended in the execution of 50 of his colleagues: “I haven’t a clue as to why I wasn’t chosen.” Photo by CPL Gary Dixon

Bill Fordyce, one of the last men to enter the tunnel before it was discovered, with caricatures of fellow prisoners he did during his time in Stalag Luft III. Photo by SGT Dave Grant

By David Edlington

There was only ever a glimmer of hope at the end of the tunnel – but that was enough.

Reflecting on their involvement in the legendary breakout from Stalag Luft III on the night of March 24-25, 1944, former RAF Flight Lieutenant Paul Royle, 90, of Perth, and ex-RAAF Flight Lieutenant Bill Fordyce, of Melbourne, who turns 90 on March 30, said the escapers knew the magnitude of the challenge they were up against.

“I was to attempt to make it across country on foot. There was four foot of snow and we were in Germany – I’d have never made it, but we believed it was our duty to escape,” Bill Fordyce said.

The audacious plan called for 200 Allied airmen to escape through a 110m-long tunnel dubbed “Harry”. Seventy-six made it out – Paul Royle among them – before the German guards discovered the shaft.

The Australian-born No. 53 Squadron RAF pilot, who had been shot down and captured in France in 1940, drew No. 54 in the order of escape. “When my turn came, I hopped on the trolley and was dragged along on that through the tunnel,” he said.

He remembers feeling exhilarated when he emerged beneath a scatter of icy stars. He and British Flight Lieutenant Edgar Humphreys teamed up to trek to freedom.

“We started walking for Switzerland and we came across an autobahn, which I had never seen before. There was no shelter but fortunately there were no cars and we made it across safely.”

He said less than 24 hours later members of the German home guard “stopped us in a village, and that was that”.

They were taken to Gorlitz prison – “an awful place” – and subjected to interrogation and intimidation, including the threat of execution.

“I remember being in this big concrete room with two or three other blokes and every day some were taken out and others replaced them, or I was moved to a different cell,” he said.

Only three of the airmen made it back to England and of those that were recaptured, 50 were shot in cold blood on Hitler’s orders, including five Australians.

FLTLT Royle was returned to the prisoner of war camp at Sagan. He cannot fathom why he survived when so many were killed, including his travelling companion, FLTLT Humphreys.

“Edgar and myself were together when we were recaptured and behaved in the same manner. There’s no reason why one should live and not the other,” he said. “Rationality didn’t come into it [the selection of POWs for execution]. I haven’t a clue as to why I wasn’t chosen.”

FLTLT Fordyce, whose Wellington bomber was downed in the Mediterranean in 1942, drew No. 86 on the escape list – he remembers thinking “how good is that?”

But he did not enter the passage until close to 5am, one of the last to do so. The delay came about because the tunnel had come up several metres short of a screen of trees, which slowed the flow of escaping airmen.

“I was near the exit when there were shots. I had to crawl back hurriedly because there was no pulley system by then. When I got back to the hut it was chaotic,” he said.

The other POWs were destroying forged documents and devouring specially prepared rations before they were confiscated by the Germans.

Although it cost 50 lives, Bill Fordyce believes the breakout was validated.

“There were tens of thousands of German troops whose sole job was to look for those that escaped, so it caused a massive amount of disruption,” he said. “It was very successful, even if it was so tragic.”

Next edition: The 5 executed Australians

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