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. On the night of 28 December 1942, one of the French officers deliberately blew out the fuse on the lights in the courtyard. As they had anticipated Pöhnert was summoned, and while he was fixing the lights, Lieutenant Perodeau, dressed almost identically to Pöhnert and carrying a tool box, walked casually out of the courtyard gate. He passed the first guard without incident, but the guard at the main gate asked for his token — tokens were issued to each guard and staff member at the camp guardhouse specifically to avoid this type of escape — with no hope of bluffing his way out of this, Perodeau surrendered. Macintyre said that The Great Escape, the 1963 film about a real-life escape from Stalag Luft III, was another example of our desire for history to be turned into an uplifting tale of British heroics. British Squadron Leader Brian Paddon escaped to Sweden via Danzig when sent to his previous camp for a court-martial.

Mazumdar eventually became a GP in Somerset and married an Englishwoman. He rarely spoke of his wartime experiences but recorded his experiences on microcassettes around 10 years before his death, which Macintyre used as research material. It also informed the long-running 1970s TV drama Colditz and even a popular board game, Escape From Colditz, that still sells today. Reid became famous, and rich. In the 17th century, the cloth and linen manufacture developed. In the 18th century, clay from the Colditz area started to be used in the Meissen porcelain factory that was established in 1710 by Elector Augustus the Strong. In 1804 a ceramics factory was established in Colditz by Thomsberger & Hermann.The book “digs a bit deeper” into the legend. One such legend is that of Douglas Bader, the flying ace who lost both legs in a crash in 1931 but became the RAF’s most celebrated Spitfire pilot during the Second World War. Another was Giles Romilly, a Daily Express journalist and nephew of Winston Churchill, held against the Geneva Convention among the so-called "prominente", high-value prisoners kept as hostages. The aircraft museum was a ‘labour of love’ put together by broadcaster Keith Fordyce when he moved to Devon in 1970. He had made his name hosting TV and radio shows throughout the Swinging Sixties, and worked with all the big names of the era.

History of German Currency— A complete history of changes in German Currency. Retrieved April 5, 2005. 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. Dominic Bruce served as navigator with Bomber Command, 1939–1941; POW in Spangenburg Castle and Oflag IV C, Colditz in Germany, 1941–1945Drue Heinz, and the little literary mystery of a wartime striptease". phoenixarkpress.com. 15 December 2010 . Retrieved 10 October 2011.

Several escapes that should have worked end badly, with Ulmann waiting for them in hiding spots along the way. Suspecting an informer, Colonel Preston asks the other Senior Officers to interrogate their contingents. His suggestion is met with scorn, but he proceeds to interrogate the British and the others grudgingly follow suit. The perpetrator is caught: a Polish officer whose family was threatened with torture by the Gestapo. The Poles court martial him and condemn him to death, despite the extenuating circumstances. Colonel Preston tries to get him reprieved, with the help of the Catholic Priest, but to no avail. Finally, he goes to the Kommandant (reminding him that the Germans are entirely responsible for the current situation) who sends Ulmann in a race to rescue the Polish traitor. Lorne Welch was a British NCO flying instructor in GB, 1938–1942; officer with 25 Operation Training Unit, RAF in GB, 1942; POW at Stalag Luft III, Sagan and Oflag IV C, Colditz in Germany, 1943–1945 After the liberation of Colditz Castle by the Americans, he retired from active service and returned to his post as a teacher as he was able to prove that he had never joined the Nazi Party. He became a headmaster and then a lecturer at Halle University.Macintyre interviewed his widow, Joan, 96, living in Devon. "She said he made these tapes about his experiences. They ended up in the Imperial War Museum but I don't think many people have heard them because he didn't fit into the story as it was told. Listening to them was incredible. In PBS's NOVA documentary series, " Escape From Nazi Alcatraz" (Season 41, Episode 12), is about a planned escape by a group of British officers from Colditz Castle.