Officers march in Poland 70 years after the Great Escape to honor 50 executed escapees

Published January 08, 2015

A group of 50 British air force officers are marching from the site of a Nazi prisoner camp to a war cemetery in western Poland to mark 70 years since the Great Escape of Allied airmen and to honor 50 of them who were caught and executed.

Marek Lazarz, director of the Stalag Luft III Museum, said Tuesday the group started in rain from the place where 76 prisoners of war emerged, one by one, from a tunnel on March 24 and 25, 1944. The 77th man was spotted by guards, who gave chase. The 1963 Hollywood movie "The Great Escape," starring Steve McQueen, tells the story.

Only three airmen made it home. Fifty others were executed when caught, and 23 were sent to other camps but survived the war.

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