In 1942 an escape attempt took place from Stalag Luft I by a group of four men. The only information I have is that the use of milk churns were deployed which I assume means some sort of detail duty carrying churns out from the camp. The escape was thwarted but I am trying to establish more information, they may well be Commonwealth Air Crew of course but I do suspect RAF. Should anyone have come across anything that may be connected to these brief details I will be most pleased to hear from you. With this being an RAF subject I have tried the RAF Commands Forum which brought a negative response.
There is reference to a milk cart in this link http://www.wartimememories.co.uk/pow/stalagluft1.html During the second day, the three had a number of rides with Russian soldiers in Studebaker trucks. There was some walking on blistered feet and the final ride was in a horse drawn milk cart, driven by what appeared to be a former German soldier in hobnailed boots. The ride in the milk cart took the three to the Canadian-Russian lines where they left the milk cart and were allowed to cross into Canadian territory. During the crossing the three were subjected to kisses on their cheeks by drunk Russian soldiers. All in all, it was a small price to pay. The fate of the driver of the milk cart was never learned. Not exactly an escape but stories do get changed with time TD
There are instances of imaginative ingenuity as well as the more spectacular fighting annals like that of Davies Schofield. RAF Padre Niel Nye, captured near Benghazi in North Africa, was involved in an escape attempt from Piacenza [before the Italian surrender] rolling a friend out of a camp in a milk churn quite successfully until the lid came off. http://war-experience.org/events/escape-and-evasion-in-europe/
