Tribute to Alex Lees Stalag Luft III Prisoner

Part of the ‘Great Escape’ from Stalag Luft III

World War Two veteran Alex Lees was one of the prisoners of war whose exploits were immortalised in the film The Great Escape.

He served with the Royal Army Service Corps during the war but was a prisoner at Stalag Luft III in what is now Poland when the break-out took place in March 1944.

He later wrote an autobiography 'Before It's Too Late', about his experiences there.

It was the prisoners' sworn duty to confound their guards and continue to fight the enemy by surviving, communicating information and, if possible, escaping.

Mr Lees slept in Hut 104, where the tunnel used for the famous escape from Stalag luft III started, and had been known as a "gardener" for his role in its creation, dumping tons of soil in the main compound as the escape tunnel grew longer.

Alex Lees
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