did anybody else catch this last night? about a replica glider built to the same plans launched from the roof of the castle?
It was just amazing, the POW’s planned to lay tables on the pitched roof in the dark to act as runway, and launching the glider with a bathtub full of cement…. I won’t say more in case anybody has it on record, but well worth getting it from the C4 website or the replay channel if you missed it.
By: Ant.H - 15th August 2012 at 12:52
Entertaining, but I must admit I didn’t expect it to work, and at least it showed it was possible!
On a tour of Dachau a few years ago, I was surprised to learn that British prisoners were kept in a separate block, away from the other inmates, and treated very well in comparison – they even had a regular mail service to their loved ones back in the UK…
Did you mean Dachau or Buchenwald? The Buchenwald PoW’s were allied airmen of various nationalities who’d been hidden by the French resistance around the Paris area. Unfortunately, the Paris resistance were almost entirely swept up by the Gestapo in an operation in 1944, the PoW’s being discovered and transported to the camp as though they too were resistance fighters. They were eventually transferred to conventional PoW camps in October, but not before some had died at Buchenwald.
Sorry to drag the thread off topic, I haven’t seen the Colditz docu’ yet…
By: GliderSpit - 15th August 2012 at 10:29
I had heard about the Colditz glider, but didn’t know anything about it until I saw the programme. I liked it a lot.
By: Mike Smart - 14th August 2012 at 17:33
ailerons!
Still, it was much fun, pretty stressful, but ultimately satisfying, and I hope proves to be well received by all
FB
A very entertaining programme, well done 🙂
By: G-ASEA - 14th August 2012 at 13:40
Good programme. Nice to see a wooden glider being built. But my father did spot a big Knot in the wood used for the spar!
Dave
By: TonyT - 14th August 2012 at 12:23
On a rare visit to England, I saw the programme. Some surprises for me. They used porridge instead of dope for the fabric.
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Laurence
Good to see someone has finally found a use for porridge… Eating it would be a last resort.
By: knifeedgeturn - 14th August 2012 at 12:23
I tend to think it would have worked; most of these chaps were aircrew(thats why they were in Germany) and were used to flying in the dark; I think even if they were recaptured, it would have been seen as a success, and I also think the Germans would perhaps have had a quiet moment of admiration for them.
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August 14, 2012 at 11:09 am