Many of the prisoners decided to give up. However, other officers had heard about the plan and decided to help and the new total of prisoners involved was 28. The original trio came to the decision that they had just six months to reach the field before it was harvested. Their thoughts also turned to the things they would need such as collecting supplies and false papers so that once the tunnel was completed, they would have everything they needed to stand a chance of making it to Holland.
It was the role of the new helpers to get contraband such as local money, clothes, food and other supplies. This was were the Red Cross parcels came in. With much of Germany cut off, food was scares for prisoners as well as guards and their families. The Red Cross realised this and sent parcels that contained food and other basic supplies. Families also had the opportunity of sending things as well. It would have been easy to hide things that could aid an escape. For example, A tiny compass could be hidden in the heel of a pair of boots, Maps and train timetables could be hidden in the base of a shaving brush.
The prisoners knew they would need clothes to help blend in with the locals, as their prisoner uniform would make them stand out immediately. One of the main items of clothing needed was a hat and although this seems strange today, at the time every man would wear a hat, so to be seen without one would have been suspicious. As previously stated, guards and their families had little food and some were able to be bribed with what the prisoners received in their parcels. After all it was believed that towards the end of the first world war, the prisoners were probably being fed better than the German people. This would have most probably been how they got the clothes and hats.
A typist at the camp pretended to be in love with one of the prisoners and would be seen kissing each other in a quiet location, whilst all the time she was giving them information about camp inspections so that they knew when they needed to be away from the tunnel.
The tunnel itself was proving difficult. The enamel bowl idea that they had previously used was no longer going to work. They needed to be working at a faster pace than previously to stand a chance of completing the tunnel on time. So instead they took the sack down with them, filled it up and then had to push it all the way back through the tunnel.
Their time was up. On the 30th June 1918, an officer took a rod with a white flag through the tunnel and pushed it up through the roof of the tunnel to try to establish where they were. They discovered that they were short by a few metres. But that wasn't all…
Come back on Wednesday for the third part...
Come back on Wednesday for the third part...
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