Paul Royle, Who Fled Nazis in a ‘Great Escape,’ Dies at 101

[Omaha Steve]

Too late for LBN.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/30/world/paul-royle-who-fled-nazis-in-a-great-escape-dies-at-101.html?_r=0

By DANIEL E. SLOTNIKAUG. 29, 2015


Paul Royle in June, holding a photo of himself in uniform. He was one of 76 escapees from Stalag Luft III in 1944. Credit Garry Sarre/Gordon Royle, via Associated Press

Paul Royle, whose escape from a German prisoner of war camp in 1944 with 75 other Allied soldiers inspired the 1963 Steve McQueen movie “The Great Escape,” died on Aug. 23 in Perth, Australia. He was 101.

His son Gordon wrote in an email message that Mr. Royle died from complications after surgery for a fractured hip. The Australian Broadcasting Corporation reported that his death left only one remaining survivor of the escape: Dick Churchill, who is in his 90s and lives in England.

Mr. Royle, a Royal Air Force flight lieutenant originally from Australia, was one of 200 prisoners who dug several tunnels using improvised tools at the Stalag Luft III camp in Sagan, then a part of Germany and now in Poland. His job was to dispose of the excavated dirt.

“Long, thin tubes made of material, like long underpants, were put under our ordinary trousers,” Mr. Royle told The Sunday Mercury, a British tabloid, in 2008. “The bottom was tied together with a bit of string, we shoveled this stuff into the long underpants, then you would nonchalantly wander around getting rid of the dirt.”

He was one of 76 prisoners who made it through a tunnel on a freezing night in March. He and a comrade wandered in the German countryside for about a day before they were recaptured. Only three of the escapees reached freedom — 50 were executed, including the man who was with Mr. Royle.

FULL story at link.

[shenmue]

1. ...

[dhill926]

2. can't even conceive how bad ass....

these guys were.