Squadron Leader Frank "Fearless" Day, who has died aged 91, came close to freedom during the Great Escape from Stalag Luft III; he was near the end of the tunnel when the exit was discovered, by which time 76 airmen had broken free, but he was forced to retreat and was soon in solitary confinement.
In the spring of 1943 the escape committee decided to construct three tunnels and make a mass breakout. Day volunteered to assist but his health did not allow him to go underground as a digger. He became one of a large army of prisoners responsible for dispersing the excavated sand. They did this by filling bags, which they suspended inside their trouser legs, an encumbrance that made them walk in an ungainly fashion, attracting the codename "penguins". By pulling a drawstring inside their pockets to open the bags they were able to scatter the sand around the compound.
The first 40 men to go down the 330-foot tunnel "Harry" had the most realistic chance of success. They knew the language and had been well-equipped. Day was amongst the second batch of escapers known as the "hard arsers". They too had escape maps but a motley collection of clothing. In Day's case this included an Army greatcoat. The "hard arsers" planned to jump freight trains but Day had decided on an equally improbable method, and was going to head for the nearest airfield and attempt to steal an aircraft.
On the night of March 24 1944, the escapers broke the surface outside the prison fence much later than they had hoped and delays had built up. Day had reached one of the tunnel's holding areas, "Piccadilly Circus", with a few men ahead of him, when the tunnel exit was discovered. By the time he had managed to reverse to the entrance of the tunnel under the stove of Hut 104, the German sentries had arrived and Day was arrested as he emerged. With 10 others he was promptly marched off to solitary confinement, the "cooler", to a regime of two slices of bread in the morning and as much water as they wanted. A few days later, he learned that 50 of the escapers had been shot on the orders of Hitler.
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