About this episode
The episode explores the true story behind the Great Escape from a German POW camp and the subsequent manhunt for the perpetrators of the murders of the escapees.
n the spring of 1943, a group of Air Force officers began work on an ambitious plan to tunnel their way out of a German POW camp called Stalag Luft Three. A year later the tunnel was ready and seventy-six made their escape. All but three were recaptured, but fifty were then systematically executed on orders from German High Command. This much was made internationally famous by Hollywood in the film The Great Escape, which mixes a meticulous depiction of the tunnelling plan with highly fictionalised American characters on motorbikes. But there is a stranger part of the story which starts where the film leaves off, and reveals the real history behind the nation-building legend. The British Government vowed to avenge the murders, and within weeks of the war's end, sent RAF investigators into the ruins of Germany, with orders to track down the killers, and bring them to exemplary justice. Award-winning dramatist Robin Brooks and internationally best-selling novelist Robert Radcliffe tell the extraordinary story of the escape, the murders, and the postwar manhunt in the chaos of divided Germany, through the eyes of one of the senior investigating officers: a straightforward…
Topics covered
- World War II
- POW camps
- escape plans
- postwar justice
- historical dramatization
Keywords
- Great Escape
- Stalag Luft Three
- Robin Brooks
- Robert Radcliffe
- World War II
- POW
- German High Command
- postwar manhunt
- aviation history
Mentioned in this episode
Places: Stalag Luft Three, Germany, Blackpool
More episodes of TimesPastOTR on Huffduffer
- A Prairie Home Companion from Ryman Auditorium in Nashville Tennessee · May 31, 2026
- Hollywood Radio Theater - The Cowboy And The Lady · May 31, 2026
- Indiana Jones And The Bridge To Yesterday · May 20, 2026
- Devil In A Blue Dress (2011) by Walter Mosely; read by Paul Winfield · May 19, 2026
- BBC Radio 4 Extra - Jack London - The Call of the Wild · May 19, 2026
- Sea Change, Drama on 3 120129 · May 19, 2026
Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the TimesPastOTR on Huffduffer podcast page.