List of mass escapes from German POW camps

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Mass escapes occur when 5 or more prisoners escape from a prison or prisoner-of-war camp at the same time.

Most mass escapes occur after many months of careful planning and preparation, but seldom achieve complete success as usually the detaining power maximises the effort to find and recapture the escapees.

Below is a list of Mass Escapes known to have taken place from German POW camps during World War II.

Date Escape known as POW Camp Nationality Main Organiser Number Attempted Escape Number Escaped from Camp Number Home Runs
5 September 1940 Laufen Six Oflag VII-C British Army Pat Reid 6 6 0
30 May 1941 Canteen Tunnel Oflag IV-C British Army Pat Reid 12 12 0
June 1941 Dulag luft tunnel Dulag luft British RAF Harry Day 18 18 0
13 September 1941 Biberach Tunnel Oflag V-B British Army Michael Duncan 26 26 4
11 May 1942 Kirchain tunnel Stalag IIIE British RAF Sgt Alexander 52 52 0
14 July 1942 Majdanek Mass Escape Majdanek Soviet Military ?? 86 84 84
6 November 1942 Birkenau Mass Breakout Birkenau Soviet Military Andrey Pogozhev and others 60+ Several Dozen At least 2
30 August 1942 Warburg Wire Job Oflag VI-B British Tom Stallard 41 28 3
5 March 1943 Schubin Tunnel Oflag XXI-B British RAF Eddy Asselin and Bill Ash 35 35 0
3 June 1943 Eichstatt Tunnel Oflag VII-B British Army Jock Hamilton-Baillie 65 65 0
12 June 1943 Delousing break Stalag Luft III British RAF Roger Bushell 32 26 0
July (?) 1943 Hydekrug tunnel Stalag Luft VI British William Ash 50 7 0
17 and 18 September 1943 La Grande Évasion Oflag XVII-A French Army ? 132 132 2
3 September 1943 Franz Josef Attempt Oflag IV-C British Mike Sinclair 38 0 0
20 September 1943 Escape from Dossel Oflag VI-B Polish Army ? 47 47 10
24 March 1944 The Great Escape Stalag Luft III British RAF Roger Bushell 250 76 3
30 August 1944 The Crow's Flight / Raid at Ožbalt Stalag XVIIID Australian, British, French and New Zealander Pte Ralph Churches (Aus) 105 105 105