The Great Escape

In this movie, several Americans (including Hilts and Henley) were amongst the escapees. In real life, American officers assisted with the construction of the escape tunnel, but weren't amongst the escapees, because the Germans moved them to a remote compound just before the escape.

Timbers are needed to hold back thousands of pounds of dirt from a tunnel collapse. The three feet long, 1/2 inch thick pieces taken from the bed frames shown used in the tunnel could not withstand the weight. However documentary interviews and excavation of the actual Stalag Luft 3 site, shows that the films depiction of the tunnel's construction was accurate. While the material used may not have been adequate for a professional tunnel or mine, they were apparently adequate for the task and some are still holding up the tunnel even now.

Some TV versions edit the scene in which Ives is shot and killed for trying to escape over the fence.

Edited into Return to 'The Great Escape' (1993)