I did a littel bit of research into the real Great Escape, the event upon which the Steve McQueen/James Garner movie is based. While doing so I came across a bill of materials used to construct the three tunnels ('Tom', 'Dick' and 'Harry'):
4,000 bed boards; 1,370 beading battens; 1,699 blankets; 161 pillow cases; 635 palliasses; 34 chairs; 52 20-man tables; 90 double tier bunks; 1,219 knives; 478 spoons; 30 shovels; 1,000 feet of electric wire; 600 feet of rope; 192 bed covers; 3,424 towels; 1,212 bed bolsters; 10 single tables; 76 benches; 246 water cans; 582 forks; 69 lamps.
My question was this: How do you not notice that much stuff going missing?
The answer:
Allied aircrew shot down during World War II were incarcerated after interrogation in Air Force Prisoner of War camps run by the Luftwaffe...Stalag Luft III was situated in Sagan, 100 miles south-east of Berlin...After several major expansions, Luft III eventually grew to hold 10,000 PoWs; it had a size of 59 acres, with 5 miles of perimeter fencing.
8 bloody kilometeres of perimeter! 59 freakin' acres!
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