A Fascinating POW Escape from Germany

by Cindy K. Stewart

Many of you are familiar with the movie "The Great Escape," depicting a major attempt by American and British soldiers to escape from a POW camp in Germany. Although the movie is based on a true story, elements are fictionalized for the sake of the film.

Stalag Luft III. Courtesy of the Imperial War Museum. © IWM HU 21018

The escape I'm sharing today took place in 1943, months before the Great Escape but in the same prisoner of war camp, Luft Stalag III. The plan was simple - dig a tunnel from the exercise yard to the outside of the camp rather than from the barracks or other structures, which were far from the fences. Three British officers, Lieutenant Michael Codner, Flight Lieutenant Eric Williams, and Canadian Flight Lieutenant Oliver Philpot, with the help of many other POWs, put the escape plan into action. 

Life in Luft Stalag III. Public Domain.

The POWs built a large wooden horse from crates used to transport Red Cross packages. They added four handles and carried the horse out to the exercise yard each day under the guise of practicing their vaulting skills. In the beginning, the Germans thoroughly inspected the horse and didn't find anything suspicious. 

Lt. Codner and Lt. Williams took turns hiding inside the horse before it was hauled outside. After it was put in place, the man inside began digging a tunnel. He scooped dirt into sacks and hung them inside the horse. At the end of practice, the digger placed a wooden cover over the hole and spread a layer of topsoil on top. Then the prisoners carried the horse back to the barracks. To throw the Germans off, sometimes no one would hide inside, and the POWs "would knock the horse over to demonstrate that nothing was going on underneath." 

British Prisoners of War Tend Their Garden at Stalag Luft III.

Courtesy of the Imperial War Museum. © IWM HU 20930

Lt. Philpot's job was to arrange for men to carry the horse outside, practice vaulting (for many hours), and dispose of the dirt at the end of each day. The yellow sand, which the diggers encountered a few feet below ground, had to be mixed into the soil of the prisoner's garden and the topsoil of the yard without detection by the guards. As they worked, Codner and Williams suffered from stale and unhealthy air due to the build-up of carbon dioxide in the tunnel. Eventually they used a pipe to poke air holes to the surface only a few feet above them. The finished tunnel was less than three feet wide and three feet high.

Drawings of the Wooden Horse Escape on display at the Museum of Allied Forces Prisoners of War Martyrdom, Sagan, Poland

After three months, on October 29, 1943, Codner, Williams, and Philpot escaped from the completed tunnel dressed as French laborers. After they were in the tunnel, a fourth POW hid inside the horse "to cover the entrance one last time." The escapees waited until dusk to exit the other end of the tunnel and slip into the woods. Philpot split from the others and traveled by train to Danzig in Poland. His false papers, created in the prison camp, satisfied the inspectors who checked his documents along the way.

Codner and Williams made it to Stettin on the north coast of Germany, hid in the bilge of a ship heading to Copenhagen, Denmark, and then were smuggled on a fishing boat to neutral Sweden. Philpot located a sympathetic Swedish captain in the port of Danzig, Poland, who agreed to take him to Sweden. The captain bribed the German inspectors who checked departing ships and delivered the POW safely to Sweden a few days before Codner and Williams. The three soldiers reunited at the British consulate and were sent by plane back to their home base in England.

The Swedish merchant vessel Aralizz that Philpott smuggled himself onto in Danzig Harbor
Courtesy of Creative Commons via Wikipedia

 

*********

Source:

Strange and Ocscure Stories of World War II by Don Aines. Skyhorse Publishing, 2020.

*********

Cindy Stewart, a high school social studies teacher, church pianist, and inspirational historical romance author, writes stories of hope and love. Her first manuscript was a 2020 finalist for the Georgia Romance Writers Maggie Award of Excellence, placed second in the 2019 North Texas Romance Writers Great Expectations contest, semi-finaled in the American Christian Fiction Writer’s Genesis contest, and won ACFW’s First Impressions contest in the historical category. Cindy is passionate about revealing God’s handiwork in history. She resides in North Georgia with her college sweetheart and husband of forty years. Their married daughter, son-in-law, and four adorable grandchildren live only an hour away. Cindy’s currently writing two fiction series set in WWII Europe.

HHH June Book Day

 

THE DÉBUTANTE’S SECRET

(The Quilting Circle 4)

By Mary Davis

Washington State, 1894

Geneviève Marseille has one purpose in coming to Kamola—stopping her brother from digging up the past. Deputy Montana has lived a simple life. But when a fancy French lady steps off the train and into his arms, his modest existence might not be enough anymore. A nemesis from Aunt Henny past arrives in town threatening her with jail. Will she flee as she’d done all those years ago, or stand her ground in the town she’s made her home? When secrets come out, will the lives of Geneviève, Montana, and Aunt Henny ever be the same?

AVAILABLE FOR PRE-OREDER NOW!

CORNERSTONE

By Nancy J. Farrier

Men are not to be trusted, and rarely true to you. It happened to Cinda Bryant when the man she’d been engaged to for years did the unthinkable. So why does her heart skip when her shop is broken into, and the very attractive Officer Ortega helps her? Daniel Ortega has been waiting for the right woman to come along, and Cinda is that woman. But is Cinda too wounded to see how much he cares for her? When Daniel asks Cinda to teach a quilting class for the teens he’s helping, can she work a miracle in their lives?

AVAILABLE FOR PRE-OREDER NOW!

 

 

SWORD OF TRUST

By Debbie Lynne Costello

“Complete with all the medieval details, charm and wonderfully strong characters, this book has it all. Secrets, betrayal, forgiveness and trust… It’s a book you want to read to the end, but yet, never want it to end!”~Reviewer

Deirdre Mackenzie is caught reiving by a hated English Laird. A beautiful reiving lass is the least of Bryce Warwick’s worries with King Richard’s distrust of his nobles. Despite the odds against them, the two are drawn together. But there are adversaries seeking to ruin their chances at love. The stakes are high, secrets prevail, and treason is just a kiss away.

 

 

 

OUT OF MY MIND: A Decade a Faith and Humour

By Terrie Todd

For ten years, Terrie Todd has been writing a popular "Faith and Humour" column for The Graphic Leader in Portage la Prairie, Manitoba, Canada. This book celebrates a decade of wit and wisdom found in Terrie's hand-picked favorites. Arranged by category and excellent for use in public readings on various topics or simply for your own enjoyment, this book could be called a weirdly out-of-order memoir of a life in which faith and humour dwell hand in hand. Categories include: Marriage & Family, Health & Fitness, Faith, Writing Life, Christmas, Easter, Mothers & Fathers Day, Thanksgiving, Remembrance Day.

 

 

THIMBLES AND THREAD

By Suzanne Norquist, et al

4 Love Stories Are Quilted Into Broken Lives

 

“Mending Sarah’s Heart” By Suzanne Norquist

Rockledge, Colorado, 1884

Sarah doesn’t need anyone, especially her dead husband’s partner. With four brothers to mentor her boys and income as a seamstress, she seeks a quiet life. If only the Emporium of Fashion would stop stealing her customers and the local hoodlums would leave her sons alone. When she rejects her husband’s share of the mine, his partner Jack seeks to serve her through other means. But will his efforts only push her further away?

 

“Bygones” by Mary Davis

Texas, 1884

Drawn to the new orphan boy in town, Tilly Rockford soon became the unfortunate victim of a lot of Orion Dunbar’s mischievous deeds in school. Can Tilly figure out how to truly forgive the one who made her childhood unbearable? Now she doesn’t even know she holds his heart. Can this deviant orphan-train boy turned man make up for the misdeeds of his youth and win Tilly’s heart before another man steals her away?

 

 

A SONG FOR HER ENEMIES

By Sherri Stewart

She has the voice of an angel. But the devil is listening.

After Nazi soldiers destroy Tamar Kaplan’s dream of becoming a professional singer, she joins the Dutch Resistance, her fair coloring concealing her Jewish heritage. Tamar partners with Dr. Daniel Feldman to help escaping refugees. When they are forced to flee themselves, violinist Neelie Visser takes them into hiding. Tamar struggles with the paradox that a loving God would allow the atrocities around her. From a prison hospital to a Nazi celebration to a concentration camp, will the three survive to tell the world the secrets behind barbed wire?

 

 

RESCUING HER HEART

By Cindy Ervin Huff

The last thing rancher Jed Holt expected is to be shot at from the barn next to a burned-down homestead. But the soot-covered woman hiding inside needs protecting, and Jed is the man to do it whether. Can two broken people form a forever bond? Can he save her from her past?

 

 

BENT TREE BRIDE

By Denise Weimer

Susanna Moore can’t get him out of her mind—the learned lieutenant who delivered the commission from Andrew Jackson making her father colonel of the Cherokee Regiment. But the next time she sees Sam Hicks, he’s leading prisoners into a frontier fort and wearing the garb of a Cherokee scout. As Susanna’s father and Sam’s commander, Colonel Moore couldn’t have made his directive to stay away from his daughter clearer to Sam. Then a suspected spy forces Moore to rely on Sam for military intelligence and Susanna’s protection, making it impossible for either to guard their heart.

 

 

A BRIDE FOR KEEGAN

By Linda Shenton Matchett

The past clashes with the present to jeopardize their future.

Fiona Quigley’s parents came to America for a better life, but illness and the Civil War took them from her. Now, she’s barely scraping by as a seamstress to Boston’s elite. A chance for a new start arises in the form of being a mail-order bride, but to her dismay, she must marry the man by proxy. Once they’re wed, there will be no turning back.

 

 

GRACE’S FORGIVENESS

By Molly Jebber

Grace has a birthmark on her cheek, and Amish men pass her by, until Mark. They fall in love, but when her father discovers Mark’s secret, he withdraws his blessing for them to marry. Then, Mark’s secret brings trouble to their community. Grace prays for a miracle.

 

 

THE ANONYMOUS BRIDE

By Vickie McDonough

Three mail-orders brides arrive in Lookout, Texas, each expecting to marry the local marshal—but Luke didn't order a bride. At the mayor’s insistence, a friendly contest ensues to discover which bride will make Luke the best wife, but on contest day, there is a surprise fourth entry--an anonymous one. Mayhem occurs as the whole town tries to figure out who the anonymous bride is, and the mayor pressures Luke to pick a bride or lose his job. Will Marshal Davis tuck tail and run for the hills? Or will he lose his heart and his bachelorhood?

On sale for $2.99/Free KU

 

 

MAIL-ORDER REFUGE

By Cindy Regnier

Rand Stafford isn't looking for love. He'd ridden that trail ending with a shattered heart. What he needs is help caring for his orphan nieces. Desperate, he places an advertisement for a wife. Fleeing her employer who would use her in his crimes, the ad sounds like the perfect refuge to Carly Blair. Escaping the city, the intrigue, and the danger to hide on a Kansas cattle ranch is worth a shot. Its sanctuary comes with a price—a husband. But it's better than being caught by the law. Or is it?

 

 

CACTUS LIL AND THE CITY SLICKER

By Donna Schlachter

A rough-and-tumble cowgirl, “Cactus” Lil Duncan longs for true love, but is afraid to let down her prickly exterior when a city slicker from New York City, with less-than-honorable intentions, tries to win her trust and her hand.

 

 

WILTED DANDELIONS

By Catherine Ulrich Brakefield

Rachael is eager to leave her life of luxury in Boston to share the gospel with Native Americans in the west. The only problem is the missionary alliance won't let her go unless she's married. When Dr. Jonathan, another missionary hopeful learns about the restrictions, he is desperate to find a wife. They agree to a marriage of convenience and learns God doesn’t create coincidences—He designs possibilities. “…one gripping, compelling read. Wilted Dandelions by Ms. Brakefield had me eagerly turning pages and sighing over the love story premise as well as taking comfort in the spiritual message…” ES Amazon Reader

 

 

UNDER THE TULIP TREE

By Michelle Shocklee

Sixteen-year-old Lorena Leland’s dreams of a rich and fulfilling life as a writer are dashed when the stock market crashes in 1929. Seven years into the Great Depression, Rena accepts a position interviewing former slaves for the Federal Writers’ Project. There, she meets Frankie Washington, a 101-year-old woman whose honest yet tragic past captivates Rena. Frankie’s story challenges Rena’s preconceptions about slavery, but it also connects the two women whose lives are otherwise separated by age, race, and circumstances. Will this bond of respect, admiration, and friendship be broken by a revelation neither woman sees coming?

 

THE PROMISE TREE 

(Montana Treasure, book 1)

By Janalyn Voigt

A preacher’s daughter shouldn’t encourage a troublemaker, no matter what her wayward heart desires. Liberty has always believed she should marry a man of God, but Jake doesn’t qualify. The promises they’d made at age twelve can’t change that. If only Jake would stop pursuing her, she might keep from falling in love with him. Jake fears he’ll lose Liberty to Beau, the new man in town. He doesn’t trust the smooth-talker—and certainly not with Liberty. Jake and Liberty must each overcome their own false beliefs. Only then can they experience the truth of God’s redeeming love.

Barn Quilts - an Artful Heritage

Choose a state where farming is important, and you’re sure to find barn quilts, single, giant, painted quilt blocks decorating barns and outbuildings. You might even be able to locate a road map for a barn quilt tour. Here in Wisconsin, just drive across the middle or southern portions of the state, and like a child playing a road trip game, you can look for and count the number of beautiful barn quilts splashed across the countryside—magnificent pieces of art that will have you saying ooh and ahh for miles. In fact, my first introduction to the beauty of barn quilts happened some years back while driving across Wisconsin’s Shawano County, renowned for hosting more of those beautiful 8’ by 8’ canvases than any other county in the United States.

The primary barn quilt size is 8 feet by 8 feet, though quilt block designs can be found of every size and on structures other than barns.

Photo Credits: William Sturgell from Pixabay

Barn quilts have a quite recent history of renewed popularity, but they date back nearly 300 years, well before barns were fully covered in paint at all. They arrived along with immigrants from the central regions of Europe; Germany, Austria, and the Netherlands who brought the idea of decorating their buildings with folk art designs representing their heritage, or in some cases their superstitions.

The Pennsylvania Dutch settlers who arrived primarily from Germany sought religious freedom and new beginnings. They incorporated folk art throughout their homes. Beautiful carvings, drawings, and paintings decorated everything from birth certificates to dower chests—and even tombstones. So why not barns? Some of the more secular-minded settlers, or those of superstitious religious backgrounds, decorated their barns with colorful six-pointed stars, sometimes set in a circle known as a hex sign. The hex signs were said to represent everything from good luck to fertility. Other paintings—those of stricter religious peoples—were simply beautiful designs that reflected a love of nature and beauty, or they were family symbols passed down for generations.

This one reminds me of a maple leaf. I wonder what it's meaning is.

I like how this one incorporates the date 1805, possibly the year of the farm's founding.

Gradually (and as the availability and cost of paint came down) the practice of painting designs on buildings spread throughout other parts of the country, particularly the Midwest. 

The popular resurgence of barn quilts began as recently as 2001, when a woman named Donna Sue Groves painted a quilt block on her tobacco barn in memory of her mother, and soon the idea spread. It has since become a movement. You can search for “barn quilt maps” that feature driving routes to viewing barn quilts all throughout the country. In fact, if you'd like to try your hand at design, barn quilt printables are available on line for anyone to create their own barn quilt.

This lovely barn quilt is on my cousin Barry's barn in central Wisconsin, painted by his wife Michelle.

Photo credit: Barry D Sparks

How about you? Do you have a barn quilt? Or have you ever thought about painting one on your outbuilding, home—or even a mailbox? Maybe now you will!

Loving life on the farm,

Naomi

www.naomimusch.com

Please join me July 1st and 2nd as multiple authors "Fall into Summer" with a Facebook event featuring book or swag giveaways with every author post! Find the event here: 

Fall into Summer Multi-Author Book Event

Looking for a change of pace? Try Heart Not Taken, a contemporary novella that'll fire up your 4th of July reading list.

Buy Now

The Story Behind June Weddings By Donna Schlachter (with Giveaway)

Photo by Dmitry Zvolskiy from Pexels

In America, June is a popular time for weddings. Flowering trees are often in bud, and those early summer blooms such as lilacs and apple blossoms are prevalent. But have you ever wondered why June was selected as the most popular month to get hitched?

Photo by jimmy teoh from Pexels

According to many sources, this tradition dates back to the Romans, and their goddess of fertility, Juno, who is likely closely related to the Greek goddess Hera.

 

Photo by Maksim Goncharenok from Pexels

Another story credits the practice with the warming temperatures which encouraged bathing, so having your annual bath and getting married seemed like a good idea.

Then again, the Christian tradition of Lent might have had some effect on the choice of dates. Couples longing to wed had to wait until after the Lenten season was passed, usually by mid-April, and then banns could be posted, which often carried the couples to the end of May before they could legally wed.

Photo by Secret Garden from Pexels

Flowers are another interesting part of the wedding tradition. Before the 18th century, bathing was not so popular, so often flowers were included in the ceremony to cover the scent of unwashed bodies. And waiting until June meant the choices for blooms were greater.

 

No matter the reason for the date, weddings are an important milestone in every couple’s life, and in the romance stories we love to read. Testing Tessa is one of those stories. While the heroine, Tessa, doesn’t set out to find a husband, she soon finds that the love that develops for one of her patients extends to his father. But can Seth, a widower, let go of the past and look beyond his dead wife’s memory to see the positive attributes of another woman? You can learn more about this story at https://www.amazon.com/Testing-Tessa-Donna-Schlachter/dp/1943688761

 

Question for readers: Leave a response to the following question to be entered into a random drawing for an ebook or print (US only) copy of Testing Tessa.

 

Which do you think is the best reason for marrying in June? Your answer doesn't have to be one of the theories mentioned above. 

Resource: https://brombergs.com/the-tradition-of-the-june-bride/





About Donna:

Donna lives in Denver with husband Patrick. As a hybrid author, she writes historical suspense under her own name, and contemporary suspense under her alter ego of Leeann Betts, and has been published more than 30 times in novellas and full-length novels. She is a member of American Christian Fiction Writers, Writers on the Rock, Sisters In Crime, Pikes Peak Writers, and Christian Authors Network; facilitates a critique group; and teaches writing classes online and in person. Donna also ghostwrites, edits, and judges in writing contests. She loves history and research, and travels extensively for both. Donna is represented by Terrie Wolf of AKA Literary Management. You can find her at www.HiStoryThrutheAges.com