The harrowing true story of how the Gestapo murdered the hero of the Great Escape

His escape was immortalised in one of the most famous scenes in the film version of the breakout from Stalag Luft III, but only now – 80 years later – can the full story of hero pilot and serial escaper Roger Bushell be told, writes Guy Walters, author of ‘The Real Great Escape’

Bushell’s daring escape got the Hollywood treatment in 1963 with a revered screen adaptation

(Alamy)

It is one of the most iconic scenes in cinema, and a pivotal moment in the film The Great Escape. Richard Attenborough and Gordon Jackson play Roger Bartlett and Sandy MacDonald, two RAF officers disguised as French workers on the run after having tunnelled out from their prisoner of war camp.

As they wait to board a coach, they are questioned by a Gestapo officer, who engages them in French.

All goes well until MacDonald goes up the steps, when the officer casually wishes them, in English, “Good luck”. The escaper turns round, smiles, and replies, “Thank you”. There is a dreadful pause, and then all hell breaks loose.