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Favourite War Movies

  • Thread starter Thread starter D-n-A
  • Start date Start date
I once told my wife, whom I met in the service, that she was my Julie Hallam. She didn't get the reference.

For me, though, "In Which We Serve" is probably my best WWII naval movie (just a little over The Cruel Sea), and I was lucky enough to record it to CD once on the so rare occasions it plays on TV.
 
In honour of the escape from Stalag Luft III on the night of 24 March 1944 by 76 POWs I am watching the movie "The Great Escape". While they did change quite a few of the details, especially the names and nationalities of the POWs they got the main details right. Just ignore Steve McQueens impressive stunts on the motorcycle, that certainly did not happen.
 
Of course it didn't happen. Stalag Luft III was entirely Commonwealth nations. Not a single American in the camp at any time regardless of wether they could scrounge or not..

While the North Compound of the camp was the point of origin for the escape and was used mostly to hold Commonwealth prisoners (with a leavening of Poles, Czechs, etc who flew in RAF sqns), at the time of the escape, American prisoners were held in other compounds.

AMERICAN PRISONERS OF WAR IN GERMANY
Prepared by MILITARY INTELLIGENCE SERVICE, WAR DEPARTMENT 15 July 1944
STALAG LUFT 3

STRENGTH: 3,363 AAF Officers.
LOCATION: Pin point: 51º35' North latitude. 15º19'30” East longitude. Camp is situated in pine-woods area at Sagan, 168 kilometers Southeast of Berlin.
DESCRIPTION: Three of the camp's 6 compounds are occupied by Americans, 3 by RAF officers. Each compound isdivided into 15 buildings or blocks housing 80 to 110 men. The 12 rooms in a block each house 2 to 10 men. Barracks are one-story, wooden hutments resembling old CCC barracks in this country. Beds are all double-deckers.

And a statement made by Keith 'Skeets' Ogilvie (79th man thru the tunnel).

From September 1943 until March 1944 I was in charge of the Red Cross parcel store in the Vorlager of the North Compound. Occasionally I was helped by Flight Lieutenant Snow, RAF and Flying Officer Nurse, RCAF. We removed specially marked parcels from the store and smuggled them into the North Compound. During this time I was in close contact with Captain Williams, USAAF, who was doing similar work in the same store for the South Compound (American Camp).
 
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