I’m Out! Escape from German POW Camps, 1914-18

Peter Hart makes a welcome return to the Wessex WFA branch and we are assured of a lively, enthusiastic talk.

Peter worked as the Oral Historian at the Imperial War Museum from 1981-2020. He is the author of several military history books on the First & Second World Wars.

The presentation ‘I'm Out! Escape from German POW Camps, 1914-18’ picks up on his latest work on the POW experience ‘Beggar Me! I'm a Prisoner! British POWs in Germany, 1914-18'.

Nobody really expected to be made a prisoner of war but once captured it was a cruel, hard world, especially if they weren’t officers. At the mercy of bullying captors, often existing on a minimal diet that left them suffering from malnutrition. Forced to work long hours in appalling conditions, many were too damn exhausted to try and escape.

A few roused themselves and devoted countless hours to escape plans, some taking opportunistic advantage of any brief opening, others engaging in the hard graft of tunnelling.

Escape was no guarantee of liberty; many were all too soon caught, to be ignominiously dragged back to the POW camps. For such men failure was only a spur to greater efforts as they try, try, and tried again.

This is a story of courage and endurance we should not forget.