List of prisoner-of-war escapes

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This list of prisoner-of-war escapes includes successful and unsuccessful attempts in chronological order, where possible.

Contents

Thirty Years' War

American Revolutionary War

American Civil War

Second Boer War

World War I

Polish-Soviet War

Spanish Civil War

World War II

Allied

Axis

Of the hundreds of thousands of POWs shipped to the U.S., only 2,222 tried to escape. [15] There were about 600 escape attempts from Canada during the war, [16] including at least two mass escapes through tunnels. Four German POWs were killed attempting to escape from Canadian prison camps. Three others were wounded. Most escapees tried to reach the United States when it was still neutral, though Karl Heinz-Grund and Horst Liebeck made it as far as Medicine Hat, Alberta, before being apprehended by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. The two men had planned to travel to Vancouver, British Columbia, and leave Canada courtesy of the Japanese merchant marine. Only one person ever succeeded in returning to the Axis - Franz von Werra - though a couple of others settled in the United States under false identities.

The Angler breakout was the single largest escape attempt orchestrated by German POWs (28) in North America during the war. The December 23, 1944, breakout of 25 Kriegsmarine and merchant seamen from Papago Park, Arizona, was the second largest. In both instances, all escapees were recaptured or killed.

Korean War

Vietnam War

Dieter Dengler Dieter Dengler 19961201.jpg
Dieter Dengler

Indo-Pakistani war of 1971

See also

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Prisoner-of-war camp</span> Site for holding captured combatants

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stalag Luft III</span> World War II Luftwaffe-run prisoner of war camp

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bowmanville POW camp</span>

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oflag IV-C</span> German prisoner-of-war camp during World War II in Colditz, Saxony

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harry Day</span> Royal Marine & RAF officer (1898-1977)

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Prisoners made numerous attempts to escape from Oflag IV-C, one of the most famous German Army prisoner-of-war camps for officers in World War II. Between 30 and 36 men succeeded in their attempts - exact numbers differ between German and Allied sources. The camp was situated in Colditz Castle, perched on a cliff overlooking the town of Colditz in Saxony.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dulag Luft</span>

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James Brian Buckley, was a Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm pilot who became a notable prisoner of war during the Second World War. He died during an escape attempt on 21 March 1943.

Major John Bigelow Dodge, also known as "the Artful Dodger", was an American-born British Army officer who fought in both world wars and became a notable prisoner of war during the Second World War, surviving The Great Escape.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sydney Dowse</span> Royal Air Force officer (1918–2008)

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peter Stevens (RAF officer)</span>

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vincigliata</span>

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Great Papago Escape</span> WWII Axis prisoner-of-war escape in Arizona

The Great Papago Escape was the largest Axis prisoner-of-war escape to occur from an American facility during World War II. On the night of December 23, 1944, twenty-five Germans tunneled out of Camp Papago Park, near Phoenix, Arizona, and fled into the surrounding desert.

Ulrich Steinhilper was a World War II Luftwaffe fighter ace who made numerous attempts to escape after he was shot down and captured. As a post-war IBM typewriter salesman, he was an early proponent of word processing, considered by some to have either coined the phrase or even originated the concept.

References

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  19. "Mount Kenya: Simon Calder tackles Africa's other summit". The Independent . October 27, 2007.
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  23. "Have You Seen These Men? R.C.M.P. Discloses Details on Seven Escaped Nazis Still at Large". Winnipeg Tribune . March 2, 1946 via Newspapers.com. Open Access logo PLoS transparent.svg
  24. "Push Search For Prisoner". Lethbridge Herald . September 2, 1944. Police and soldiers are continuing their search today for a German prisoner of war who escaped from the Medalta Potteries at Medicine Hat, where he was working on Thursday afternoon. The man is believed to be Max Weidauer.
  25. 1 2 "PoWs: Murder in Medicine Hat on The National TV news show". CBC Digital Archives. November 10, 2003. Retrieved December 5, 2012.
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Sources