The Colditz Story

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Reid was married three times; firstly in 1943 to Jane Cabot. They had three sons and two daughters, and were divorced in 1966. His second marriage in 1977 to Mary Stewart Cunliffe-Lister ended in 1978, with her death. In 1982 he married his third wife, Nicandra Hood, but they separated after a few years. [ citation needed] He died at Frenchay Hospital, Bristol, [7] on 22 May 1990, at the age of 79. [2] Other activities [ ] It was an unlikely location for the reunion of a group of men who had spent years as enemies, trying to outwit one another in the midst of a brutal global war. No mention was made in the series of Squadron Leader/Group Captain Douglas Bader, the real-life RAF pilot who lost both legs in a plane crash before the war and ended up in Colditz after various escape attempts from other camps. He remained imprisoned until the liberation. [14] DVD release [ edit ] Colditz (Hodder & Stoughton, 1962): This was an omnibus edition of the first two books, and served as the basis for the BBC Television series Colditz, which ran from October 1972 until April 1974. Reid served as technical advisor to both the TV series and the 1955 film. Leutnant Erich (Martin Howells) – Erich, the son of the Kommandant, is a Luftwaffe officer in his early twenties. He is anxious to fly for the Luftwaffe, despite the deep concern of his father and mother.

Escape from Colditz: The Two Classic Escape Stories: The Colditz Story, and Men of Colditz in One Volume (Lippincott, 1953) [15] Pilot Officer Peter Muir ( Peter Penry-Jones) – P.O. Muir is a rash officer who has a reputation for not "looking before he leaps". Nevertheless, he is a keen member of the escape team. He formed part of Pat Grant's escape team, but was wounded by a gunshot when he and Player were recaptured. [1] Hauptsturmführer Schankel (John Pennington) – Schankel is a yes-man who puts up with the patronising attitude of his superior officer with a smile.Reid became an "escape officer", helping to coordinate break-outs, and eventually made his own successful "home run", one of only 23, arriving in Switzerland in October 1942 where he spent the rest of the war.

Reid then returned to his pre-war career in civil engineering, serving as a director of the construction companies Richard Costain (Projects) Ltd. and Richard Costain (Middle East) Ltd. between 1959 and 1962, and working for the consulting engineers W.S. Atkins & Partners in 1962–63. [2] Personal life [ ] Within days of his arrival, Reid was planning an escape, determined to return home by Christmas. After seven weeks digging Reid and a group of prisoners completed a tunnel, 24 feet (7.3 m) long, from the prison basement to a small shed adjoining a nearby house. At 06:30 on 5 September 1940 Reid and five others broke out and made for Yugoslavia, only 150 miles away. However, after five days the escapees were recaptured in Radstadt, Austria. Reid was sentenced to a month of solitary confinement, on a diet of bread and water. [5] And the guard? He kept his 100 Marks; he got extra leave, promotion and the War Service Cross." The French tunnel [ edit ] Equipment etc. from 'the French tunnel'. Exhibits in The International Museum of WW2. trip - you get a better feel for the place, and the castle looks wonderful lit up at night! You can stay in the On 19 January 1945 six French Generals — Lieutenant-General Jean Adolphe Louis Robert Flavigny, Major-General Louis Léon Marie André Buisson, Major-General Arsène Marie Paul Vauthier, Brigadier-General Albert Joseph Daine, and Brigadier-General René Jacques Mortemart de Boisse — were brought from the camp at Königstein to Colditz Castle. Major-General Gustave Marie Maurice Mesny was murdered by the Germans on the way from Königstein to Colditz Castle.

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Pat Reid claimed in Colditz: The Full Story that there were 31 "home runs", whereas German authorities cite 30, and some other sources count 36. Reid included prisoners from the hospital and prisoners being transported, who were not directly under Colditz staff control. Henry Chancellor in Colditz: The Definitive History claims 32 escaped, but only 15 were "home runs": 1 Belgian, 11 British, 7 Dutch, 12 French, and 1 Polish. The difference is that Reid claims any successful escape by an "official" Colditz POW a "home run" whereas most other historians only consider escapes from the castle or castle grounds itself as a "home run". Also a subject of debate is whether or not Lieutenant William A. Millar's escape should be considered a "home run", but since he is listed as " Missing in action" (unofficially, he is assumed dead), Chancellor does not count him as such.

Reid then returned to his prewar career in civil engineering, serving as a director of the construction companies Richard Costain (Projects) Ltd. and Richard Costain (Middle East) Ltd. between 1959 and 1962, and working for the consulting engineers W.S. Atkins & Partners in 1962–63. [2] Personal life [ edit ] Reid remained in Switzerland until after the end of the war, serving as an Assistant Military Attaché in Bern from 9 March 1943 until early 1946, and receiving promotion to Temporary Major on 1 November 1945. [2] He was unusually discreet about his duties there, and was in fact working for the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6) gathering intelligence from arriving escapees. [9] Postwar [ edit ] Colditz Castle — Oflag IVc — POW Information Sources — Links to resources about German POW's and has links to obituaries for some former prisoners. Flight to Freedom — The Colditz Glider— An excerpt from the Soaring magazine article on the Colditz Glider by Wade H. Nelson. Retrieved March 21, 2005. Then there was Julius Green, a tubby Jewish dentist from Glasgow who spent his incarceration fantasising about food while sending and receiving coded letters from the British intelligence services. "Bader and Reid had none of his modesty and bravery and self-irony," says Macintyre.

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Wing Commander Marsh ( Michael Bryant), an assistant to the British Medical Officer, decides to use his extensive knowledge of mental illness for an escape. He proposes to "go insane" and be repatriated. Colonel Preston agrees to let him, so long as he follows through with it to the bitter end. Marsh does a very thorough job: his bizarre, disruptive behaviour continually annoys the other allied officers, who are mostly unaware of the scheme. However, the Germans are not convinced, and Ulmann asks a Corporal to observe Marsh closely. The Corporal has a brother who is insane, so Ulmann believes he is a better judge of Marsh's condition than any doctor. The Kommandant initially refuses to allow the Swiss authority to examine Marsh but relents when Marsh's evident madness embarrasses him in front of an important visitor. By the time the Germans are willing to consider repatriation, Marsh has done such a convincing job that even the Doctor is uncertain whether or not Marsh is simply pretending to be insane. After Marsh has been successfully repatriated to the UK, Colonel Preston receives a letter from Marsh's wife, revealing her husband's feigned psychosis has become genuine, and that he has been committed to a mental hospital for long-term care, with little hope of recovery. Colonel Preston immediately forbids any further escape attempts along the same lines. ColditzCastle.Net Oflag IVc & Colditz — A definitive history & guide to visiting: large photo gallery, then & now French Lieutenant Alain Le Ray escaped April 11, 1941. He hid in a terrace house in a park during a game of football. First successful Colditz escapee and first to reach neutral Switzerland.