Oflag V-B - www.prisonerofwar.org.uk |
The Biberach Tunnel was arguably the most successful mass
breakout of Allied POWs from a German camp during World War Two. One of the architects was Michael G Duncan a Lieutenant
in the Territorial Army. He had been captured near Watou in France on 30 May 1940 as his unit fell back towards
Dunkirk along with a
large part of the British Expeditionary Force. Oflag VII C/H (Laufen) was his
first prison camp until March 1941 when he was moved to Stalag XXID at Posen.
Although conditions had improved in the fort before his arrival, they were still
classed as poor.
It was a brick barracks behind a conventional barbed wire
fence, but geographically the camp was realistically within reach of neutral Switzerland . Duncan and O’Sullivan soon began work on an
escape plan. One of the huts in Block 6 was just six feet from the wire and perimeter track. The idea
was for a group of seven men to tunnel from the floor, with the entrance being
hidden under a stove. The tunnel length had been calculated at a minimum of one
hundred and forty five feet. It would have to be sunk to a depth of ten feet in
order to pass under the road which carried heavy vehicles. The exit point was to
be on open ground just over the crest of a small ridge.
Prisoners at Oflag VB - Marjory Wood www.pegasusarchive.org |
The Camp Escape Committee ordered the men to wait because there
was already another tunnel underway which they did not want compromising. During the delay, the team realised that
three additional men would be required, making up the numbers to ten - six
diggers, plus two for the soil and two lookouts. As the time without any action passed
they also began to collect and improvise tools and materials for the job.
Permission to go ahead was finally given, providing that the
first tunnel remained the priority. Work began on 24 June 1941 and there were
two immediate problems:
1) Initial digging through reinforced concrete would be
difficult to do without attracting suspicion.
2) There was no open space under the hut to store soil and
any initial concrete rubble. In the early stages of work, it was reported that a number of tools had been discovered by the Germans, which set back operations, although the initial hole remained undetected. The team could make little further progress anyway until the problem of hiding dirt was resolved. An idea to conceal it between the ceiling and sloping roof of the hut seemed a good one, and work started again with four further volunteers shifting the excavated soil and concrete. The shaft was sunk to the required depth, but as they tunnelled outwards, the usual problems of being unable to see or breathe sufficient air had to be tackled.
Camp Theatre Stage Hands - Oflag VB - Marjory Wood www.pegasusarchive.org |
Their camp theatre group provided bulbs and sockets for the lighting, and wire was stolen from an unused hut. Electrical conduits were used as air pipes and a bellows made of wood and a ground sheet worked as a pump for fresh air.
Roof falls became a problem at one point, but a fortunate
coincidence occurred, as the Germans began to change the single beds for timber
two and three tier bunks. A small number of the old beds were secretly
broken up and the material used for shoring up the tunnel where weak spots
existed.
As the passage lengthened, moving sufficient quantities of
soil quickly and efficiently back down to the entrance became difficult. To
counter this, the men made two small trolleys out of large biscuit tins cut in
half, mounted on wooden runners and pulled by string. There are distinct
similarities in the various aids used to counter problems, as those utilised in
the Great Escape three and a half years later. It is interesting in tunnel work
how the ingenuity and improvisation required often led POWs
along the same lines of thinking.
The electrical conduit used for air pipes ran out, so stiff
paper was rolled into tubes and soaked in fat to protect against damp and
retain its constitution. Small tins provided the connecting joins so that a
pipe to the tunnel face was in place to supply the air generated by the pump.
The diggers made a larger recess part way down the tunnel, so that ‘equipment’
could be stored in addition to men having an area for turning around and rest.
The recess was fashioned out once calculations had indicated the tunnel was
clear of the perimeter wire thus reducing the chances of detection. Further
additions then had to be made to the manpower of the team. The men were
tiring on their thin diet, and some had developed sores and angry abrasions on their arms and
elbows.
In early September, information reached the Camp
Intelligence Officer and Escape Committee that the prisoners were about to be
moved to another camp. The tunnellers frantically attempted to finish the rest
of the dig by ‘blitzing’ but still ran out of time. Luck was on their side; as
the move was postponed for three weeks and they went on to complete the work.
The night of 13-14 September was set for the escape. Poor
weather outside suited the twenty six men. They were ready to go. The
Escape Committee had selected the participants, maps of the area had been smuggled in
via MI9 (see previous posts on escape aids to POWs) and neutral Switzerland
was the destination.
Most of the men planned to travel in pairs. Duncan and
O’Sullivan were two of the early ones out of the tunnel and made the tricky
crawl over the first hundred yards before breaking away without being detected.
All twenty six men successfully got out. The tunnel had done its job. Duncan
and O’Sullivan made it to Tunnel Exit as Discovered in 1981 - www.prisonerofwar.co.uk |
The rest of the men were recaptured, but this escape is viewed by many as the most successful from a German POW camp during World War Two. It is significant that the camp was soon closed to POWs with all prisoners being moved to other locations further away from the Swiss border than Oflag VB (only 110 km (68 miles))
More on the men’s individual escapes and how they reached
safety in future posts.
Sources
Author's Notes
Conscript Heroes - Keith Janes www.conscript-heroes.com
Captivity Flight and Survival - Alan J Levine
©Keith Morley
THIS BLOG claims no credit for any images posted on this site unless otherwise noted. Images on this blog are copyright to its respectful owners. If there is an image appearing on this blog that belongs to you and you do not wish for it appear on this site, please message me with a link to said image and it will be promptly removed.
Conscript Heroes - Keith Janes www.conscript-heroes.com
©Keith Morley
THIS BLOG claims no credit for any images posted on this site unless otherwise noted. Images on this blog are copyright to its respectful owners. If there is an image appearing on this blog that belongs to you and you do not wish for it appear on this site, please message me with a link to said image and it will be promptly removed.
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