In the dead of night in March 1945, 70 German POWs tunnelled from a camp in Bridgend and escaped over the sand dunes.
The Welsh Great Escape follows their fate as a huge manhunt was set underway and soldiers, the home guard, dogs, local children and girl guides tracked them down.
Two of the German POWs return to the site for the first time since the war and visit the hut from which they escaped. One describes how they stole the doctor's car, were given a 'jump start' by three British soldiers and then picked up a Welsh hitchhiker, who showed them the way to Gloucester.
The film includes interviews with a former camp guard, the daughter of camp commandant Lt Col Darling, and the daughter of Inspector May, responsible for Police Plan X. She recalls how, as the prisoners were rounded up one by one, her father tracked the progress of the operation by sticking swastikas into a map.
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Sat 10 Apr 2010
In the dead of night in March 1945, 70 German POWs tunnelled from a camp in Bridgend and escaped over the sand dunes.
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