IT is a supreme irony that a German Prisoner of War Camp selected on a site believed to be difficult to tunnel out of became the scene for two of the most famous such escapes of all time.

Stalag Luft III, or Permanent Camp for Airmen No 3, in Zagan, Poland, was a remote Luftwaffe run prisoner-of-war camp for captured air force servicemen.

The two famous prisoner escapes which took place there by tunnelling were depicted in the films The Great Escape (1963) and The Wooden Horse (1950).

These were based on the books by former prisoners of Stalag Luft III, Paul Brickhill and Eric Williams, respectively.

The first prisoners, nicknamed “kriegies”, were British RAF and Fleet Air Arm officers, arriving in April 1942, later joined by American prisoners.

The North Compound for British airmen, where the Great Escape occurred, opened in March, 1943.

Squadron Leader Roger Bushell, RAF, conceived a plan for a major escape from the camp for the night of March 24-25, 1944.

Three tunnels, Tom, Dick and Harry were dug 30ft below the ground and around 200 tons of sand was removed by secret means.

Of the 220 prisoners meant to escape, only 76 got through the only usable tunnel, Harry.

Eventually, 73 men were caught and 50 of them were executed by the Gestapo.

The Great Escape film, was directed by John Sturges, starring Steve McQueen, Richard Attenborough (who played Bushell) and James Garner.