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.
-
-
The Welsh Great Escape 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.
-
MORE:
-
The Great Escape: The Reckoning
1 Episode
Favourite ShowThe true story of the 76 Allied airmen who famously escaped from Stalag Luft in 1944, and the subsequent hunt for the Gestapo officers who executed 50 of the re-captured airmen
-
Escape from Colditz
1 Episode
Favourite ShowDuring World War II, a group of British officers planned to escape from Colditz POW camp in a glider made from sheets and floorboards. A team of engineers resurrect their plan.
-
The Somme
1 Episode
Favourite ShowTold through letters, diaries and journals written at the time, the film draws on the thoughts and feelings of the men who fought there to capture the eyewitness experience of the Battle of the Somme
-
Time Team Specials
22 Episodes
Favourite ShowFrom the secrets of Stonehenge to the hidden tunnels and dugouts of World War I, Sir Tony Robinson and the Team take on some very special archaeological assignments
-
The Pawn King
1 Episode
Favourite ShowIn the tough economic climate, pawning is no longer just the preserve of the poor. First Cut provides a fascinating insight into the pawn-broking business.
-
MotherTruckers
1 Episode
Favourite ShowHow do women lorry drivers get on with their male colleagues, juggle families, and stay feminine? This amusing film meets the new queens of the road.
-
Terror at Sea: The Sinking of the Concordia
1 Episode
Favourite ShowOn Friday 13th January, the £400 million Costa Concordia cruise ship capsized off the Italian coast. This programme explores how and why it went down.
-
Bouncers
1 Episode
Favourite ShowFunny, irreverent and often surprising film following the boys of Newport's biggest security firm over a summer of booze and brotherhood
-
Spying on Hitler's Army: Secret Recordings
1 Episode
Favourite ShowThe story of an audacious British operation to eavesdrop on the private conversations of 10,000 German prisoners of war
-
D-Day: As It Happens
2 Episodes
Favourite ShowA real-time multi-platform history event telling the story of D-Day in a new way, following the stories of seven people who were there
-
Monarchy
3 Series, 11 Episodes
Favourite ShowDr David Starkey's complete history of the British Monarchy, which reveals the epic and bloody stories of our Kings and Queens and charts the course of the oldest surviving political institution in Europe
-
Time Team
16 Series, 173 Episodes
Favourite ShowIn this popular and (literally) groundbreaking programme, Tony Robinson and a team of experts travel the country to investigate a wide range of archaeological sites of historical importance
-
Six Wives of Henry VIII
4 Episodes
Favourite ShowThrough dramatic reconstructions and his own passionate narration, Dr David Starkey, the controversial Tudor historian, profiles the six women who married Henry Vlll
-
Time Team Digs
8 Episodes
Favourite ShowTony Robinson and Sheffield University's John Collis delve into the different archeological ages by looking back over Time Team digs
-
Time Team Specials
22 Episodes
Favourite ShowFrom the secrets of Stonehenge to the hidden tunnels and dugouts of World War I, Sir Tony Robinson and the Team take on some very special archaeological assignments
-
The Mystery of the Cocaine Mummies
1 Episode
Favourite ShowDocumentary questioning whether mummies found with high levels of cocaine provide proof of early trade routes between Egypt and South America