Blueprint for Courage

You've probably heard of the WWII "Great Escape." Now comes the thrilling story of the "Grand Escape," which served to inspire the World War II getaway made famous by Steve McQueen, James Garner and company.

The WWI prison break is featured in a new book getting rave reviews and I had the great pleasure of speaking with its author.

The Escape Artists: A Band of Daredevil Pilots and Greatest Prison Break of the Great War  by Neal Bascom is the story of British pilots  shot down over German territory and captured,
then their resolve to escape and get back into the fight.

Digging only with spoons, over nine-months they forged a secret tunnel 60-yards long to escape the  Germans' highest-security prison, Holzminden.

The prison was ruled by a brutal camp commandant, Carl Niemayer. Notorious for his temper, he didn't hesitate to have prisoners shot or beaten to death for lesser infractions than trying to escape.

The place was nicknamed  "Hellminden" or "Hellhole" by those within its walls.

The photo below shows three organizers of the tunneling operation posed in their escape disguises. From right to left, are Royal Flying Corps pilots Captain Caspar Kennard, Captain David Gray  and 2nd Lieutenant Cecil Blain.

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Photo courtesy Hugh Lowe

​Despite the risk of discovery and probable execution they found the strength to continue the grueling work for months. Starving and emaciated, disease-ridden and sleep-deprived, inch by inch they carved the tunnel in oxygen-starved darkness, directly under the feet of one hundred armed guards.​​​​​​​

"There’s one kind of daring that is running out and knowing you might get shot," Author Neal Boscom told me.  "Then another is digging in the tunnel, going in thirty feet, not knowing if you’re gonna have enough oxygen to breathe, not knowing if you’re gonna get out."

Bascom has written nine award-winning books for adults and teens, including Hunting Eichmann, Red Mutiny, The Winter Fortress: The Epic Mission to Sabotage Hitler's Atomic Bomb, and The Perfect Mile: Three Athletes. One Goal. And Less Than Four Minutes to Achieve It. 

The Escape Artists is a young adult version of his earlier books The Grand Escape.

Bascom is driven to research and write about people who fascinate him and whose stories will inspire others. "I want know what drove them, what they feared, what stumbling blocks they hit."

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Capt. David Gray, courtesy Patrick Mallahan

In The Escape Artists, Bascom focuses on Davy Gray, the leader of the digging operation. Gray tried and failed to escape from five different camps in one year before Holzmiden.

Bascom was struck my the young pilot's determination and motivation for continually trying to escape. "He was driven by wanting to get back to his squadron and back into the fight. Less about being free, less about his own individual drive, but to get back into the fight knowing that he could be shot down again and killed."

The original conspirators had hoped to keep knowledge of the escape plan to a small group, but July 23-24, 1918, twenty-nine officers belly-crawled through the 16-inch high tunnel to freedom.  Unfortunately some were recaptured, and just ten made their way to Holland and eventually Britain, including Gray, Kennard and Blain.

​​​​​​​Bascom told me there are similar over-arching themes in every book he writes that stem from his teenage years. "I remember to this day sitting in classroom in 8th grade, the teacher wasn’t even talking about history, but she said. 'Never make a decision out of a fear of failure.' Defy the odds and keep going despite the fear of failure."

You can find out about all Neal's thrilling books here: www.nealbascomb.com 

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