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The Colditz Story

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P.R. Reid was interned in an old Austrian Schloss (castle) in the town of Colditz during World War II. He wrote the first book about his experiences in the camp, and The Latter Days At Colditz describing what happened after he successfully escaped. He effectively describes the colorful and engaging characters he was privileged to meet during what would be a bleak existence to an outside observer. The prisoners of Colditz, deemed dangerous by the Third Reich, were concentrated in this one place deep within Austria. The escape attempts described included tunnels that began in top of the clock tower. A glider (that was never discovered by the Germans) that was built to take off from the rooftops. A tunnel the French built that made so much noise that tunnelling could be heard at all hours of the day and night throughout the castle. These two books are rivetting accounts of life as a prisoner of war.

This is one of the greatest novels concerning escape in World War 2 ever written. It focuses on a series of escapes attempted at the famous fortress prison at the town of Colditz known as OFlag IVC. The massive castle was dubbed 'escape proof' by the Germans, yet hundreds of escapes were attempted. Few succeded, but they proved that the castle wasn't 'escape proof'. Reid's book tells the story about his own experiences, as well as those of others in Colditz Castle. This is a fascinating book and everyone should read it. Also check out the movie 'The Colditz Story' which is based on this book. Also be sure to check out two other very good escape books: 'The Wooden Horse' by Eric Williams, and 'The Great Escape' by Paul Brickhill.

If you ask anyone in Britain to name a German prisoner-of-war camp from World War II, the answer (unless it is "don't know") will almost certainly be Colditz; few, if any, other camps have achieved anything like the same level of fame. Much of the reason for this lies with this book, the film that was made from it in 1955 and the 1970s television series "Colditz".

The author, Pat Reid, was one of the first British prisoners at Colditz, and he tells the story of his escape from another camp, Laufen, in November 1940, his recapture while trying to make his way to still-neutral Yugoslavia, his detention in Colditz and his eventual successful escape to Switzerland in October 1942. He also wrote another book, "The Latter Days", telling the story of the camp from 1942 until liberation in 1945.

Throughout the book Reid's main concern is the repeated attempts by the prisoners to escape. There must have been thousands of Allied POWs who never attempted to escape, and may never even have thought seriously of doing so, but they were unlikely ever to end up in Colditz. The camp, officially known as Oflag IV-C, was regarded by the Germans as a "Sonderlager", or "special camp"; it was also referred to by them as a "Straflager", or "punishment camp". Situated in a mediaeval castle in the heart of the Third Reich, it was used to house prisoners- British, Polish, French, Dutch and Belgian- who were regarded as particularly anti-German or who had escaped from other camps before being recaptured. The Germans were determined to house such men in an especially secure, escape-proof camp where the inmates would always be outnumbered by their guards.

The prisoners, naturally, were equally determined to prove the enemy wrong about the camp being escape-proof, and there were a number of successful escapes. The German plan was, in fact, self-defeating; by concentrating the most determined and skilful escapers in a single camp they had effectively created a "university of escaping". Indeed, so keen were the inmates to escape that each nationality had to set up its own "escape committee" to vet all escape plans and to weed out those judged to have no chance of success.

The most striking thing about the book is the ingenuity which the prisoners displayed in their escape attempts. Getting out of the camp itself was only half the battle. The escaper also had to be prepared for a long trek across German or German-occupied territory to the safety of neutral Switzerland, which meant that he had to be supplied with food, German currency, civilian clothing and travel documents. We learn how the prisoners managed to procure or manufacture these items, as well as how they managed to break out of the castle, generally tunnelling, by surmounting the barbed-wire fences, by picking locks or (as was done on more than one occasion) by impersonating a German. The future Conservative MP Airey Neave, later murdered by the IRA, walked out disguised as a Nazi officer and became the first British officer to make a "home run" back to Britain.

"The Colditz Story" may be a book about men in captivity, but there is nothing depressing about it. It is, indeed, notable for a light-hearted tone, and it is clear that many of the inmates of the castle responded to their situation with a good deal of wit and humour. Despite his evident patriotism and his equally evident detestation of Nazi philosophy, Reid clearly had no bitterness or hatred towards his German captors, whom he saw as men doing a job as professional soldiers. Often amusing, often exciting, this is a highly readable volume of war memoirs.

Let us see, when you have a group of proven escape artists, and you don't want them escaping any more, what do you do?

Oh, you send them all to the one supposedly secure facility so they can all combine their talents and come up with even more impressive methods and escapes.

Pretty much that is a lot of what happened at Colditz, it seems. An excellent look at the ingenuity of some prisoners of the Germans.

This book is an excellent description of the life of a prisoner-of-war in Nazi Germany. The ones sent to Colditz were those determined by the Third Reich to be "dangerous." These include those determined to be (held for future use in bargaining with the enemy) political prisoners, repeated attempts to escape, etc. More than just a description of escape attempts, P.R. Reid describes the psychology of a protracted stay in a prison camp in an extremely candid manner.

Many WWII stories are somber, and for many good reasons. That is not the case with TCS; at times, in its humour it sounds more like Hogan's Heroes than real life. Perhaps the guards at Colditz were not nazis but merely Germans caught on something beyond their control. Whatever, they treated British, French and Dutch prisoners quite decently and involuntarily provided them with several opportunities to escape. These are very well told, in a proficient literary style, by Captain Reid, making for a very entertaining reading. The book is also a testament of the prisoners' heroism and their commitment to personal freedom.

"The Colditz Story" by P. R. Reid, tells the story of Mr. Reid's escapes from German POW camps and attempts to get out of Germany during World War II from his initial capture until he finally succeeded in October 1942. Mr Reid was a captain in the British Army and was captured in June 1940. His book is interesting on several levels ... first, it shows how the escapees initially started out very inexperienced but rapidly became more sophisticated in their techniques, as did their German captors. Second, it touches upon some of the stresses and motivations of the prisoners and how they coped (or didn't cope) with being held captive. And finally, it's a rousing good story, well and often humorously told.

The book, first published in 1952, reads like "we're on a grand adventure" and "never say die" kind of tale, in keeping with stereotypical British tendency to understate problems and difficulties. Colditz Castle was where the Germans started sending the officers of all nationalities who had attempted escapes from other POW camps or were deemed a threat to Germany. Colditz was considered escape-proof by the Germans, although by concentrating the most active and experienced escape artists in one place, the Germans were also unwittingly creating an "escape university", whereby the officers held there could compare notes and use their various skills and experience to the best effect.

The book itself ends in October 1942 when Mr Reid and another officer reach Switzerland. As an aside, he authored two other books, one dealing with Colditz from the time he escaped until the end of the war, and the second giving full inside story about how the prisoners at Colditz accomplished many of the things that they did, details that he withheld in his earlier books so that they could be re-used by future prisoners.

I highly recommend this book. Along with "The Great Escape" by Paul Brickhill, it's one of the best books I've read about POW camp life and escape attempts by a one of the participants.

This book is an easily read, often light-hearted testament to the ingenuity and perseverance of a large group of would-be escape artists during WWII. It reads like fiction, in that it is somewhat superficial and understated. Nowhere does the reader feel the rigors and deprivation of captivity. Does this reflect artistic license, or the British gift of understatement? You be the judge. The book is a triumph nonetheless.