# Visit to Colditz



## Marcel (Jun 17, 2014)

Recently I have made a trip to Colditz. Colditz was a POW camp known as the "Bad Boys Camp". You had to "earn" your place there by escaping at least twice from other camps or being remarkably "Deutch Feindlich". 
I have always been fascinated with the story as I told in another thread, since I read the book of security officer Eggers as a child. The sheer ingenuity and courage of the escapees, the constant game of hide-and-seek and the boyish mischief in the stories work with my imagination. I always wanted to see what the place looked like and now I got the chance. I try to make this into an entertaining thread with many pictures. It'll take a while as I have many. I will try to explain what you see on the photo's as some are difficult to read.

In the past, and especially in WW2, the castle had a grim appearance. Unfortunately, the government of Saxony, totally oblivious of the Colditz fame, decided to restore the into it's medieval glamour. Which means the old mean fortress now has the appearance of a joyful summer palace. It takes away the atmosphere. But fortunately they recently realised the castle's tourist potential (most people only came because of the POW camp) and now they finally started to preserve the tunnels and all that the prisoners dug during their 5 year stay.


----------



## Marcel (Jun 17, 2014)

Member T Bolt asked me to take pictures of the town as some of his ancestors originate from it. So I did.

Colditz town is a sleepy little town on the banks of the river Mulde. Economics seem to have been bad for the town as it looks pretty poor, many empty buildings and ruins. The railway line that brought the prisoners has been shut down. Also they don't realise the potential they have with the castle. There are not many parking spots for visiting tourists. 









View of the Mulde and the castle. Taken from the bridge the prisoners had to cross when arriving.





Castle towering over everything.










Had to laugh about this one. The sign on the seats says "Muldental Stadium" or Mulde-Valley Stadium. I guess the Stadium is always filled 
I guess this is the place where prisoners played football against local teams and in the mean time making nice anti-propaganda against the germans. 




View on the POW-part of the castle. You're looking on the guard's house and behind it the French quarters and the terraces famous for the Mike Sinclaire and Jack Best escape (far left). On the right side of the guard's house, you can see the wall of the passage from the German- to the prisoner's courtyard. 

































The small passage down from the Castle to the town-square. Pretty steep. There is a road next to it and I almost slipped down again in the drizzle we had at that time.

Reactions: Like Like:
4 | Like List reactions


----------



## herman1rg (Jun 17, 2014)

Good start looking forward to seeing more, there may be Bacon!


----------



## Thorlifter (Jun 17, 2014)

Nice pictures and explanations Marcel. Looking forward to more.


----------



## T Bolt (Jun 17, 2014)

Very nice pictures Marcel. It's nice to see where my great-grandparents came from.


----------



## Airframes (Jun 17, 2014)

Excellent Marcel! Looking forward to more pics and 'commentary'.
It's a shame the town can't realise its potential, and benefit from the potential tourist economy.


----------



## Capt. Vick (Jun 17, 2014)

Sweet! Jealous! First time I have ever seen a road with a handrail!


----------



## Marcel (Jun 17, 2014)

Thanks guys. Terry, I guess all will come. They are now working on the caste, trying to reveal more about the escape attempts. Quite often, new things are discovered, contrabande etc. They have to find the remains of about 30 tunnels, which is quite a feat. But they're now realising what the appeal is to the castle and trying to improve matters. Hopefully for the town it will be beneficial for them as well.

Still sorting pictures. First I will try to give some overviews and exterior shots. After that I would like to give some more detailed stories and pictures about escaper attempts. Have patient with me, it will take some time.
Below, still on the subject of the town, a couple of pictures from a window in the theatre in the castle (more on that place later in the thread). This is located on the top floor and it's quite a way down. Picture yourself jumping out of that window with only a couple of knotted bedsheets as a security rope....





Here in the middle you can see the Colditz bridge. It is the bridge where the prisoners had to cross the Mulde when arriving. This is where they first got a glance of the castle.


----------



## Marcel (Jun 17, 2014)

The castle is over 1000 years old. Has been destroyed and rebuild twice during it's long history. It has been anything from stronghold to huntingcastle to poorhouse and later mental hospital. The years since the end of WW2 it has been an hospital, the last patient left in the '90ies. 

View of the castle from the banks of the Mulde. You can clearly see 2 different parts. The left is medieval, largely untouched. This part encloses the prisoners' courtyard and also contained the prisoners' quarters. You can just see the tip of the famous clocktower, the start of the French tunnel. Somewhere in the middle, the centre of the photo, you see a building sticking out. That's where one of the isolationcells were. On the right of that building, the German kommandantur starts, enclosing the German courtyard. This part is clearly not medieval, but rebuild in early romantic style in the 18th century. It now contains a youth hostel. 





I love my zoomlens. Here a closeup of the guardhouse. To there, lt. Neave and his Dutch friend lt. Luteyn went after escaping from the theatre. The theatre is in the taller building to the right of the guard house on the top floor (not on this picture). They escaped successfully to Switzerland. More on this escape later when I cover the theatre. On the left of this, you can just see a part of the terrace where the 60 seconds escape took place. lt. Sinclaire and lt. Best made it to the Dutch border before caught. More and that one later as well.





The gatetower and a view on the roofs of the castle. Many escapees tried to escape over the roofs. You should not be afraid of heights.








Pictures while standing in the dry moat in front of the castle. This is where you can park you r car now, although there is not much room. Many escapees had to find their way down these terraces. Most famous one among them was Pat Reid, author of the two famous books. He supposedly jumped down somewhere near the old stone round bastion on the corner (more on this escape as well in later posts).

















Yup, it's Colditz allright 





The bridge and main gate, where you entered. Here, Lt. A. Perodeau impersonated Willi the small engineer in an attempt. They looked remarkably similar, but alas, the attempt failed.

Reactions: Like Like:
2 | Like List reactions


----------



## Marcel (Jun 17, 2014)

The German courtyard is the first square you enter after crossing the bridge and the gate in the last picture of the previous post. It was enclosed by buildings used by the German army. It contained the comandantur, that functioned for the whole region and also the unit that had to guard the prisoners. During WW2 it looked much different. The courtyard was full of little buildings and the German kitchen protruded into the square. 

We're looking towards the Germanin staircase and Commandantur. The gate I used to enter is on my right and on my left is the gate containing the isolation cell and the route to the prisoners courtyard. The wall on the right was lower in WW2 and there was a flowerbed. Up there is Pat Reid's cellar. Left, just out of site is the gate leading to the tiergarten, where the prisoners could practice sport and try out some of their escape plans..





When I turn my face 90 degrees to the left, I look upon the place where the German kitchen once stood (actually this picture was taken from the far south east corner, at the entrance of Reid's cellar). You can clearly see the wall being coloured grey where it used to be attached to the other buildings. Pat Reid and his group of 4 jumped out of one of those windows upon the roof of the kitchen. Then went to the groundfloor on the right of the kitchen. They waited for Douglas Bader's little band to stop playing which told them the coast was clear. They then ran to the flowerbed I mentioned above. On the far left you can see the gate containing an isolation cell and leading to the passage that eventually leads to the prisoners courtyard. 





The ditch with the door in which Reid's party hid themselfes is now covered with a wooden structure.








Reid's initial plan was to open this door, about 15 metres from their hidingplace. Unfortunately he was not able to open it and had to think of something else. Funney story was that a few years ago, one surviving british prisoner vistited the castle again and told his German guide he could open this door. To the amazement of the German onlookers, he produced a piece of metal and opened the door in seconds. My guide still laughed when she remembered that.





When failing to open the door, Reid tried the door in their hidingplace, which was unlocked. They came into an old coal cellar. Here they managed to escape through a small opening in the wall. They had to take off all their clothes to be able to do so. It took one of the escapee 20 minutes to pass through the opening. After that he barely had any skin left on his back.











This is the opening outside of the castle. Where they came out.

Reactions: Like Like:
2 | Like List reactions


----------



## fubar57 (Jun 17, 2014)

Great photos and commentary Marcel.

Geo


----------



## T Bolt (Jun 17, 2014)

Great pictures Marcel. Can't believe they fit through that small opening.


----------



## Airframes (Jun 17, 2014)

Great stuff Marcel, keep it coming. 
There have certainly been some changes over the years - I remember a TV documentary, probably about 20 years ago now, which showed the courtyard and some other areas, which had hardly changed. At that time though, large parts of the castle were semi-derelict, and work had only just started on renovation, with tours, I think, by appointment only. Of course, this was not long after the re-unification of Germany, so at that time the place hadn't been touched much since the end of the war.


----------



## Marcel (Jun 17, 2014)

Yes Terry, I have that documentary as well. It's with Jack Best in the castle iirc. It's been recorded in 1992 I think. A year later they found the complete radioset that had been hiding for 50 years. All this time. the castle was in use as an hospital. Pretty amazing. My guide told me that Jack pointed to a certain part of the floor ans simply said. "I would take a look down there if I were you" and left. They later opened the floor and found all kinds of things. The place is still full of hidden places.

I still have a lot to cover, the Tiergarten, the Dutch tunnel and of course the French tunnel. Also the prisoners courtyard and the cells of the prominente etc. Too much to tell.


----------



## mikewint (Jun 17, 2014)

With all the above Marcel really nice pics and info, thank you


----------



## Airframes (Jun 17, 2014)

I'm hoping you managed to get pics of the attic where the glider was built - that must have been a heck of a project !


----------



## Marcel (Jun 17, 2014)

Airframes said:


> I'm hoping you managed to get pics of the attic where the glider was built - that must have been a heck of a project !



Actually I didn't Terry, sorry. That part of the castle is closed because of the renovation. They will get the replica next year and hopefully will then be on display in the attic. Definately a reason for me to go there again. As it was now, I could only walk on ground level and below, not much above that, apart from the theatre.


----------



## herman1rg (Jun 17, 2014)

This thread is like a quality Tv documentary


----------



## Marcel (Jun 17, 2014)

Thanks Herman!

Let me first say that I love the BBC TV series. But it has a major flaw. I always feel like they downplay the roles of other nationalities, especially the Dutch and the Poles. This seems to be somewhat unfair, partly because I'm a little patriotic of course, but mainly because both, Pat Reid and Hauptman Eggers considered the Dutch contingent to be the most efficient escape machine with relatively the highest ratio of succesfull escapes. 

This brings me to the tiergarten, the place where a lot of escapes took place, mainly by Dutch and French prisoners. The tiergarten used to be the castle's hunting ground. It's a big forrest, stretching to the east. A smaller part, close to the castle has been separated by a stone wall, perfect for the Germans. According to the Geneva convention, the Colditz courtyard was too small, so the Germans were forced to let the prisoners loose in the tiergarden for a few hours a day so they could get some exercise. These journeys however were not popular with the prisoners, apart from a possibility to escape. The officers had to give their word not to escape, but the Dutch and the French did not feel bound to that. No British officers escaped from the tiergarten, apart from the tragic attempt by Mike Sinclaire. 

Here the gate leading from the German coutyard to the tiergarten:





After passing the gate you look straight into the tiergarten, down below. At first both sides of the little road you see were used for recreation. Unfortunately most escapes happened in the area to the right, so later the Germans closed that part and only used the open field. The Dutch well was in that area on the right.





The road down. A French officer managed to get into the cellar of the building you see and tried to escape. Don't remember if it worked or not. Have to read the books again, I guess  In the first pic here on the left, you see a pile of rubish. That's the area were most attempts were made and were the Dutch well is located.








Six Dutch officers escaped in three shifts from the park by this well. They seemed to be very religious and did bible readings and prayer while standing round this area. In the mean time, they replaced the iron bolt on the cover of this well with a self made glass one and put 2 officers into the well. The Germans inspected the bolt and didn't see it was replaced. THe two, stiff after hours of standing in the small well, climbed out at night, breaking the glass bolt. They then thoroughly removed the glass and put the original bolt back on. 4 of the 6 made a homerun, best result up until then for any group. The method was discovered after they let the British join in the method. The Germans than put a metal lid on and bricked the lid shut.l It cannot be opened and the well hasn't been open since.





View on the castle from the tiergarten





About a meter in front of this wall, there was barbed wire. Here French officer Mairesse Lebrun did his famous escape by jumping over the wire in broad daylight. He kept on moving between the wire and the wall until the guard had fired and missed. Then he climbed over the wall while the guard was reloading. He made a homerun.





Looking to the other side, you can see the playground. Sinclair tried to escape in the far end and he was killed in that attempt. The only prisoner to be killed on escape during the war.

Reactions: Like Like:
1 | Like List reactions


----------



## Airframes (Jun 17, 2014)

More great pics Marcel, and no problem re the attic. The castle looks so different from what we are used to seeing in the war time pics, now that the facades are all painted.


----------



## Gnomey (Jun 17, 2014)

Great shots Marcel!


----------



## Marcel (Jun 18, 2014)

While the Dutch team is playing boring football against the Aussies, I thought I would continue our journey through the great castle (while writng tis, the Dutch just scored the 1-0, I should have started this earlier  ). 

Anyway, we were in the Tiergarten, so going up again (in the mean time the Aussies scored  ). 
Walking up to the castle, you can see the place where Sinclair tried his famous Franz Josef escape. He dressed up as the German Unterofficier and almost made 32 prisoners escape. Between the two big buildings you see a lower one. This is the old prisoners canteen. Behind the lamppost you can just see the hollow buttress where the Dutch tunnel started.






Here a closeup of the canteen from the outside. There used to be a window where the door is. The exit of the tunnel was about a meter in front of this door. 17 men tried to escape through this tunnel. The prisoners first bribed the guard on duty. But the guard went straight to the Kommandant. When Reid opened the tunnel, the Germans were waiting. Many prisoners were arrested and a lot of contrabande was taken by the Germans.





The canteen is no more. It's now an open passage from the prisoners courtyard to the outside. You can still see the contours where the tunnel started in the picture below. The other picture is taken from the courtyard towards the Polish quarters and the prisoners kitchen. There used to be a building in front as you can see, but it has gone now. On the left you see the opening where the canteen once was.









Well, the game is still 1-1 with a bleak performance of the Dutch team. So maybe I'll do another one in a few minutes.

Reactions: Like Like:
1 | Like List reactions


----------



## Marcel (Jun 18, 2014)

Game is still boring, so I continue. (well, not so boring, 2 goals in 2 minutes again)

From the canteen, we enter the prisoners courtyard. The first impression is that it's rather small if you remember that there were more than 400 prisoners in this camp. In ww2 it was even smaller, there was another building in front of the kitchen as we saw in the previous post. Also on the terrace in front of the theatre, there was a shed where they killed lice. 
Another thing I noticed was the slope of the ground. The slope runs from the British quarters to the entrance. I wonder how they ever played their stoolball here.

The first picture shows the entrance to the courtyard on the west side. I'm standing with my back to the British quarters. On the left is the canteen and the kitchen, on the right the chapel. The little building next to the gate contained some isolation cells. 





Here you see the Theatre building, also containing the German casino and rooms for the superior British officers. The theatre is on the top floor. You can see the terrace where the shed used to stand.





View from the gate to the British quarters and prominente cells. To the right the Dutch quarters.





View towards the chapel. This is where the French tunnel runs. From the tower on the left to the basement, then under the chapel, underneath the British quarters and ending outside the castle. But more on that later. In the attic on top of this chapel, the famous glider was build. Unfortunately we were not able to go there as they are restoring it.





The Belltower where the French tunnel starts. On the right the attic where the glider was build.





Hmm now the Dutch are leading with 3-2, definitely not boring anymore. Sorry I quit for the day..

Reactions: Like Like:
2 | Like List reactions


----------



## Airframes (Jun 18, 2014)

Football ? A waste of good grazing land!!
Great pics again Marcel - I'm really enjoying this !


----------



## Marcel (Jun 18, 2014)

Well, especially when England plays I guess 

Thanks Terry. I enjoy it as well (better than the football anyway  ). It's nice to order the info together with the pics. And if you guys enjoy it as well, even better.

Still got more (not necessarily in this order):
1. The passage from the German to the Prisoners courtyard
2. The French tunnel
3. The hollow buttress and Dutch tunnel
4. The theatre and Neave's escape
5. The prominente cells

Will have to do some sorting and resizing, so I will continue tomorrow. 

Edit: forgot the 60 minites escape. Will do that one as well.

Reactions: Like Like:
1 | Like List reactions


----------



## Marcel (Jun 19, 2014)

Okay, if you're not tired of the thread, I would like to continue with the passage from the German courtyard to the prisoners courtyard. First the gate, this is on the north-west side of the courtyard under the Saalhous, which contained the SBO quarters and some isolationcells.

The first picture is taken from the German courtyard and you can see the windows of the SBO. the gate leading to the passage can be seen below. You can also see the typical angled windows that can be seen in all the staircases Colditz.





In the gate, on the right side when facing north is a door. Here are two isolation cells. One of which was the scene of the escape of the Polish officer Just. He climbed out the window, but broke his foot when reaching the ground.
The first picture is the office where the guard could sit, guarding the isolation cells. The second is the interior of one of the cells. The crucifix was also there during WW2 and the prisoners also could use a bible.









On the other side is an opening that was barred. I believe this used to be the airraid shelter. Some prisoners tried to escape here (Mike Harvey was one of the I believe) because they thought the shelter had another exit. Unfortunately this was not the case and it meant the end of Harvey's role as a 'ghost'. I tried to take a picture through the bars with the flash to see what it looked like inside.





And now the passage itself. We're standing with our back to the German courtyard. Straight ahead we see the Guards house. Just around the corner on the right is the gate to the prisoners courtyard. The wall on the left is a single one and is one of the outer walls of the castle. It's facing west, towards the town. The passage was the place where the prisoners had to gather and be counted before walking to the park. This was usually quite a scene as the prisoners always tied to disrupt the counting.

Reactions: Like Like:
1 | Like List reactions


----------



## Marcel (Jun 19, 2014)

In 1942, the French made an ambitious tunnel which is now famous as the French tunnel. It kept the German busy for months. They knew a tunnel was being made but could not discover it. The strange thing about the tunnel is that it doesn't start at groundlever, but 7 stories higher in the Belltower. The French had to do this because their quarters nowhere reached groundlevel. The tower contained 'tubes from top to floor, where the weights for the clocks used to hang. This provided the French with a perfect transportation system or hoisting the debris to the attic where it could be stored. Here a picture of the tower from outside:





One of the french worked outside on the roof. He had to carry the bags with debris from the tower to the attic, seen here.





From the tower, they ended up in a horizontal ventilation shaft. This was perfect as the hole cannot be seen from any angle. Hard to see, but tHis is the ventilation shaft from the inside. The hole must still be up there, somewhere halfway the shaft.





They ended up in a wine-cellar. THis was still used by the Germans, so they had to be careful. After in French style first 'scoring' a couple of bottles they started to dig towards the chapel. They expected a crypt there which would cut the work considerably. The plan was to dig under the full width of the castle from this western part to the eastern part and then escape through the Tiergarten. Here you can see the entrance of the second part of the tunnel. The entrance was concealed by a cover, made of the original stones that were taken away here. THe Germans had great problems locating this when they discovered the tunnel. At the end, the tunnel goes up in a shaft of about 2 metres, to end up under the wooden floor of the chapel. Unfortunately there was no crypt, so they had to go all the way. Sorry for the bad quality of the photo, it was very dark there.





Inside the chapel looking down in the shaft.





The chapel had a wooden floor, lying on the stone floor. The wood was very old and hard. The French had to saw through the old beams, using only a dinnerknive. Quite a feat. Here you can see one of the beams sawn through.





Unfortunately the exit out of the chapel was covered, so I could not see it. From here the tunnel drops 9 meters. Then continues under the BRitish quarters until outside of the castle. They were very close. Only had to dig a couple of meters in loose soil. A few years ago, while restoring the pavement on the terrace there, workmen discovered the end of the tunnel. Here a picture, although I realise it's hard to recognise. This is where the tunnel breaks through the outer wall. And.. there are still frogs in the French tunnel.... (green ones this time ) The tunnel is over 40 meters long. It took 8 months to make. Can't believe how close they were. I can imagine how frustrated they were when the Germans discovered it just in time.





The chapel is in the process of being restored. Actually we should not have entered, but our friendly guide opened the door for us. Here a few interior shots:










This was also the place where the 'ghosts' Jack Best and Mike Harvey hid. Their 'home' was under the stairs of the counsel. It was very cramped as you can see. For more room, they extended the room downwards. THey also started a tunnel there. The first picture is the room under the stairs:




The extension of the hidingplace under the floor...

Reactions: Like Like:
1 | Like List reactions


----------



## Airframes (Jun 19, 2014)

Excellent Marcel, really excellent !
I don't think such a comprehensive photo-coverage of Colditz castle has ever been done before - have you though about putting the whole lot together, with an introduction and expanded text, in booklet form?
I'm sure it would be warmly welcomed, albeit perhaps to a relatively limited market but, done correctly, perhaps in collaboration with the castle 'authorities' and maybe in multi-language form, it could also be marketed by the castle, both directly to tourists, and by mail-order/on-line shopping to historians, students and the 'general interest' market etc.
You've aroused my interest so much, that I'm going to stretch out and re-read my copy of 'The Colditz Story' which, coincidentally, I found on the bottom of my bedside table only a couple of weeks ago!


----------



## Marcel (Jun 19, 2014)

Thanks for your kind words Terry.
No, didn't think of that. Sounds interesting. I'm hesitating a bit, because, while many photo's are good enough to be published, others are not so good. I think I would need better pictures of the French tunnel for instance. Also I'm missing parts, like the glider's attic and inside the quarters. So I don't know. But I'll think about it.

Any way, I hope to continue this tomorrow.


----------



## Airframes (Jun 19, 2014)

A good excuse for a second visit !
Looking forward to the next batch of pics - and I must say I've seen worse, much worse, in some publications.

Reactions: Like Like:
1 | Like List reactions


----------



## Gnomey (Jun 19, 2014)

Good shots Marcel!

Reactions: Like Like:
1 | Like List reactions


----------



## vikingBerserker (Jun 19, 2014)

Awesome pics, and I really appreciate you taking the time to explain them. Well done sir!

Reactions: Like Like:
1 | Like List reactions


----------



## Marcel (Jun 20, 2014)

Thanks guys. Don't worry, still have a lot of material. First a little intermezzo. There are several plaquettes in the castle which I wanted to show you. I would like you to remember that it were not only Allied soldiers and the POW camp that was here, but much more happened, even related to WW2.

For the ones who don't read German, I'll translate.







> To honour them, to remind us..
> 
> This castle served as a "protective custody camp" in the years 1933-34. For many sincere antifascists, the ordeal in the concentration camps started here.
> 
> They fought, so we can live









> In the autumn of 1945, Colditz castle served as a collection camp for Sachsischer nobelmen and landowners, who were expelled from there possessions after the landreform.
> From here they were deported to the island of Ruegen, where they lived in inhumane conditions.
> Owing to the lack of guards, most of the unowned could return to the Sachsische fatherland in the following months or escape to the western part of Germany. They they never saw their family posessions back , which had often been in the family for hundreds of years.









> To remember the Polish POW's that were imprisoned in Sepcial camp OFLAG IV C Colditz in the years 1939-1940. Officers and soldiers of the Polish army, participants of the defencebattle in September 1939. Among them more than ten Generals and a group of higher officers of the "homeland army". With General Tadeuz Komorowski nicknamed "Bor" high command of the homeland army and colonel Antoni Crusciel, nicknamed "Monter", commander of the Warshaw uprising 1944.

Reactions: Like Like:
2 | Like List reactions


----------



## Marcel (Jun 20, 2014)

Okay, after that, I'll continue with a few pictures of the buttress on the east side of the castle. It is a special one. The Germans thought it was massive. The Dutch prisoners however discovered it was actually hollow. This presented great opportunities. First of all it give them a great secret storage. The dummies used at appel (Max and Morris) were stored here, together with a great number of other escape items. Second, they could start a tunnel here, undisturbed by the German guards. Eggers considered this to be the "most dangerous tunnel of them all", because the Germans were oblivious of the room and because it was very close to the Tiergarten, outside. The Dutch were already as far as the French tunnel, before they even started digging. The whole project however is most important because it set the standard for secret doors later. Most concealed entrances and covers made by prisoners of all nationalities were inspired by the door made by Van den Heuvel (Vandy). Unfortunately for the Dutch, Hauptman Eggers decided for himself to check if the Buttress was indeed hollow and so they were discovered.

Eastern part of the castle as seen from the Tiergarten. The butress is clearly visible on the right-hand building





A closeup. After the discovery, the Germans placed a small window (seen here on the left in the lower extension) and let the light burning inside the buttress all day.





Inside the buttress. I got a peek inside the buttress. Can't see much. Unfortunately we were not allowed to inspect the entrance higher in the building.
Looking down:





And up:

Reactions: Like Like:
1 | Like List reactions


----------



## Marcel (Jun 20, 2014)

The Germans also placed highly valued prisoners in Colditz. These were mainly relatives of important Allied commanders and politicians, like the nephew of Chuchil (Gilles Romily) and a nephew of Marshall Haigh. They all had their own cell and were treated in a special way. They were woken a couple of times every night to see if they were still there. Also they were not allowed to go to the Tiergarten like the other prisoners. On the other hand they had more privacy, as they each had a cell of their own. Below a cell which I believe belonged to Romilly. Compared to the others he had a quite spacious room. Very considered of the Germans. The cells btw are located on the groundfloor, next to the buttress, below the Dutch quarters.









One of the prominente (don't remember who) was quite an artist. He used his skills forging German papaers and the like, but also made this beautiful painting on the wall of his cell.

Reactions: Like Like:
1 | Like List reactions


----------



## Wayne Little (Jun 20, 2014)

great series of pics Marcel!


----------



## Marcel (Jun 20, 2014)

Thanks Wayne, 
I still have the terrace/60 seconds escape and the theatre/ Neave's escape left. Both of which I extensively photographed, so I need to select some pictures for that. 
If you guys have any questions, please ask. I'll try to answer them as far as my knowledge allows. If I made any mistakes, please point them out, so I can fix the errors.


----------



## Airframes (Jun 20, 2014)

Great shots again Marcel, thanks for posting and taking the time to describe the scenes.


----------



## Marcel (Jun 20, 2014)

In the south-west corner of the prisoners yard, there is a large building, called the Saalhaus. It contained senior British officers quarters (The SBO lived there, as well as Douglas Bader), the German officers casino and on the top floor the Theatre. From here several escapes attempts were made, most noteworthy that of Airey Neave and Dutch officer Tony Luteyn. Neave was the first British prisoner that made a homerun.
The first picture shows the Saalhaus from the prisoners courtyard. It;s located in the middle. On the far right is the Kellerhaus, where the parcels office used to be. There used to be a de-licing shed in front of the Saalhaus (now a terrace). On the left, high in the wall, you can see the windows of the Hexengang, a corridore often used by the Germans to observe the prisoners. At one time, even a light machine gun was installed there, but it was quickly removed. One shivers thinking of the consequences if it had ever been used. 
The entrance to the Theatre was through the door and the staircase in the middle of the photo





The old German casino last refurbish was obviously in the '70ies 





The theatre and it's ceiling. I thought it to be quite beautiful. The prisoners performed several plays here. I think you all have seen the pictures. Somewhere in this building, there used to be a lightwell. It's been used for several attempts. Unfortunately it is gone now. Neave and Luteyn escaped from underneath the podium.










For the escape, a hole had been made in the floor under the podium. They got into an unused corridor that lead over the gate to the guardshouse. I was in that corridor and the hole is still there:





Pat Reid had made a cover for the hole, so it could be used again. Unfortunately it was not to be as the Germans discovered the escape route a week later. The cover is still on display in the castle's museum which is located in the former guards house, where Neave and Luteyn passed during their escape.





View from outside. On the left the Saalhause. The below the closed windows are the windows of the corridor where the hole is and that was entered by Neave and Luteyn. I guess the closed windows are the backside of the podium. They then walked over the gate here on the right on the photo (you can just see one window of that part of the corridor. At the end there was a door leading to the staircase of the guardshouse. Dressed as German officers and with Luteyn fluend in German, they bluffed their way passed the Guard and walked into the passage, to the German courtyard and out the main gate (photos in my earlier posts). 





Pff, dat was difficult to describe. If anything is not clear, please ask.

Reactions: Like Like:
1 | Like List reactions


----------



## Airframes (Jun 20, 2014)

Clear enough Marcel, and thanks again!


----------



## Marcel (Jun 20, 2014)

Thanks Terry. Reading back, I see I make quite some typing errors. That's what you get when you don't have an editor, eh 

The last part I want to do is the terrace. This is located on the north-west side (facing the town), outside of the castle. Coming from the south (main gate), it's behind the guards house and from the courtyard, behind the Kellerhaus. The French quarters were looking down on it. From the terrace there is a 12 meter drop to a grass field and from there it's still a significant drop to the street level. On the north side of the terrace, there is a little round tower. In ww2 there was a machine gun on top of this tower. During the day, there was a sentry on the terrace and two on the grass field below. There was a 2.5 meter high barbed wire fence on the edge of the grass. In the north-west corner of the grass, there was a structure called a "pagode", also containing a sentry. The sentry on the terrace was only there at daylight and was replaced by a sentry in the tower.

I would like to mention two escapes that happened here, starting with what is known as the "60 seconds escape". The notorious Mike Sinclair had noticed that there was a 60 seconds gap after the sentry in the pagode left (the one on the terrace was already gone) before the sentry on the tower arrived and the lights went on. His plan was that he and Jack Best would be flung out of a window (using polished tables) with a rope and descent down to the barbed wire on the grass within that 60 seconds. So they did. Unfortunately Best hit an alarm, causing a guard to come to the terrace. In the mean time, Sinclair was already working on the wire and cut through. The guard spotted the rope being hauled in and went back to report it. Best and Sinclair climbed down the second drop, where a woman spotted them. Without raising alarm, she went inside, another narrow escape. Best and Sinclair reached the Dutch border before being caught and send back. Sinclair was later killed in another attempt. Best lived to build the famous glider.

Here on the terrace. In the back, you can see the tower that contained the machine gun. On the right, the former French quarters.






Looking down onto the grass. In the corner you can see a mark where the pagode used to stand. You can also see the Mulde river in the back and on the other bank of the river the field where the glider was supposed to land if it had ever been used.





Another view from the guards house





The former French quarters from which the escape started, seen from the terrace and from the guards house








Another attempt was made by Flight officer Don Thom. The terrace was used for the prisoners in solitary confinement to get some fresh air. Don Thom was a very athletic guy. When coming out of the guards house, he suddenly jumped from the terrace, grabbing the bars in the angled windows seen here, letting loose and grabbing the next one, all the way to the grass. He had to give up when a bullet touched his scalp while he was trying to get over the barbed wire fence. Quite daring, and probably a little mad attempt.





Looking from the street level up to the terrace. My brother is 1m90, so you can guess the height.





Another view from the north towards the terrace.

Reactions: Like Like:
1 | Like List reactions


----------



## Marcel (Jun 20, 2014)

Well, that concludes my photo tour through Colditz. Thanks for the attention and encouragement. It was a great experience being there and I definitely would like to go back some day. Would be great if we could organise a trip with a couple of you, but I doubt if that would ever materialise. 

Below some left-overs, just for the fun of it. The radio on the photo was only discovered in the 90'ies, more than 50 years after it had been concealed in one of the attics. It's now on display in the castle's museum.

Reactions: Like Like:
1 | Like List reactions


----------



## Airframes (Jun 20, 2014)

An excellent thread Marcel, very enjoyable and informative, many thanks again for posting this. You've got me so interested, that I'm just about to lie back and re-read 'The Latter Days at Colditz', by Pat Reid.
It's a place that's fascinated me for the past 50 years or more, and I've always wanted to go there, so you never know, if we were able to organise a trip, it might actually happen !

Reactions: Bacon Bacon:
1 | Like List reactions


----------



## Marcel (Jun 21, 2014)

You're welcome and thanks. I will think about your suggestion to make a booklet. 
I had the same and was planning to go there for years. Now I finally managed and you saw the results. I also started in Egger's book again 

Well maybe we can pull that off in the coming years. I really would enjoy that.


----------



## Airframes (Jun 21, 2014)

It's something to aim for Marcel. Probably not next year, as I'll have quite a few things happening then, but maybe the year after, in 2016 ?
Hopefully, I'll still be able to get around enough to allow me to do the trip - if not, I'll have wheels grafted onto my feet, with an electric motor !!


----------



## GrauGeist (Jun 21, 2014)

Great photo-tour and narration, Marcel!

It looks like you had a great tour and many thanks for taking us along with you!

Reactions: Like Like:
1 | Like List reactions


----------



## Marcel (Jun 22, 2014)

My pleasure Dave.

Terry, sounds like a plan. If you cannot walk, I'll carry you up the stairs


----------



## Wayne Little (Jun 22, 2014)

Thanks for sharing Marcel, much appreciated!

Reactions: Like Like:
1 | Like List reactions


----------



## vikingBerserker (Jun 22, 2014)

That was awesome, thanks!

Reactions: Like Like:
1 | Like List reactions


----------



## Vic Balshaw (Jun 23, 2014)

I've spent a couple of mesmerising hours reading through this thread Marcel and all I can think of to say is 'WOW' and thanks, thanks, thanks. The little snippets of history with the pictures is a great idea and certainly puts a great deal of perspective into the efforts of the escapees. Thoroughly enjoyable, again thanks.

Reactions: Like Like:
1 | Like List reactions


----------



## Gnomey (Jun 23, 2014)

Great shots Marcel!

Reactions: Like Like:
1 | Like List reactions


----------



## Capt. Vick (Jun 23, 2014)

In the "left over" pictures it looks like a Bv 141 getting shot down by a I-16 in the mural.


----------



## Marcel (Jun 24, 2014)

Yes, it's a map used by the prisoners and some-one made cartoons on it. There were more like those funny things in the museum. Diner menus for Christmas for instance. Only difficult to photograph, so I only took this as an example.


----------



## Capt. Vick (Jun 24, 2014)

Great stuff Marcel. Thanks

Reactions: Like Like:
1 | Like List reactions


----------



## Marcel (May 25, 2018)

Can't believe it's been 4 years since this. 

 Airframes
, We might stille do that trip once.


----------

