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| Colditz Castle - Wikipedia |
The Escape Line is back with weekly posts which will focus on Colditz until the end of 1942, before including other areas of escape and evasion in World War Two.
On 24 July 1941, sixty eight Dutch officers arrived at Colditz. They joined the existing complement of 140 Poles, 50 British and about 250 French. Around 500 officers and other ranks were now incarcerated in the castle and the Dutch walked straight in to the escaping season. Most of them were Netherlands East Indies officers who had sailed home with their army to
After the German invasion of the Low Countries and
capitulation of Holland on the 15th May, the Dutch Armed Forces were
regarded as prisoners of war by the German High Command. At the end of the
month, on direct orders from Hitler, a list of terms for release of the Dutch military
was given. Conscripts were released immediately, but specific conditions applied
to the regular forces. Officers were required to sign a declaration stating that
whilst the Netherlands remained in a state of war with the German Reich, they would
not take part directly or indirectly in the fight against Germany and neither
would they take any form of direct or indirect action which would endanger the
Reich.
Most Dutch officers and other ranks signed the declaration and were subsequently sent home (many later joined the resistance). The sixty eight officers who arrived at Colditz plus five others of various ranks who remained POWs elsewhere, refused to put pen to paper. For officer ranks and above, this would have been against their oath of allegiance to the Queen of the Netherlands who was now in England continuing the fight against the Germans.
The officers who walked in to Colditz on 24th July were special men. Principled, well organised, resilient, impeccably turned out and with a high standard of discipline; they would create major problems for their captors. Multilingual and German speakers, the Dutch were quiet and rigorously routine. The enemy was simply unable to glean anything from them via observation or conversation. Under Senior Officer Major Engles and escape officer Captain van den Heuvel, they became a formidable unit. German records recovered by the Allies after Colditz was liberated stated:
‘The Dutch prisoners of war are Anglophiles and hostile towards the Germans. They have a strong desire to be free which makes it mandatory to establish special security measures.’
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| Senior Dutch officer in Colditz. Major Engels is standing far right - IWM |
All escape plans were submitted to van den Heuvel for authorisation, which was also standard practice for the other nationalities and their respective escape officers in Colditz. The Dutch decided on priority and order for escape attempts according to their countries’ situation in the war at that time. Personnel deemed to be of best and immediate use to the Dutch military were considered first. The nation still had a navy which had stayed operational after Holland fell and a small air force was stationed in Britain.
Naval officers and pilots received first priority to schemes with the best chance of success. The bigger picture was of overriding importance, although opportunities did exist for anyone who came up with a good plan. They had a chance of being added to a team if it did not jeopardise the escape attempt. This line of thinking ensured continuing proactivity. There were also occasions when low priority young officers were assigned to team up with someone of high priority. This was on condition they did everything possible to assure the escape of the other, including risking their own safety.
Close cooperation in Colditz between the Dutch and English was soon established. During the very early days, neither side revealed their specific escape plans to one another, but ‘notice’ of an impending breakout attempt was communicated between escape officers. It is interesting that van den Heuvel had decided not to make any attempts himself. Instead, he would be proactive in looking for escape opportunities and channel his efforts into the escape work of fellow Dutch officers.
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| Dutch Escape Officer Captain 'Vandy' van den Heuvel - The Colditz Story |
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| The manhole cover and bolt would have looked similar to this - You Tube |
Further investigation was warranted. On the next exercise in the park van den Heuvel surrounded himself with a similar group of men and managed to lower a stone on the end of some string into the shaft. The depth was calculated at about eight to ten feet, with a water and a conduit at the bottom. An escape attempt was possible. It is interesting that there is no evidence anyone had seriously considered the possibilities of this manhole before.
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| Location of the manhole in the Park (present day) - virtual colditz. com |
The men were ready but to the layman two major problems were obvious:
How could the men remain hidden and undetected after the head count at the re-entry point to the castle did not tally? The park would then be thoroughly searched and a full appell called .
The bolt would have to be left off the manhole cover in
order for the men to exit the shaft. This would be easily spotted by guards
searching the park.
Next week – How They Did It
Sources
The Colditz Story - Major P R Reid MBE MC
Colditz The Full Story - Major P R Reid MBE MC
Colditz The German Viewpoint - Reinhold Eggers
Escape From Colditz 16 First Hand Accounts - Reinhold Eggers
Author's Notes
©Keith Morley
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Another great account here Keith...I shuddered at the thought of going onto that shaft.
ReplyDeleteThanks Maria. The shaft becomes an integral part of a number of escape attempts. The conditions inside were extremely challenging; both physically and mentally.
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