The Colditz Glider was an attempt to escape from an infamous, escape proof castle in Germany.  Although it was never used, it was fictionalized in the fine movie, "The Birdmen" which had Chuck Connors and Doug McClure, among others in it.   I have the movie but it is hard to get sadly, but for those who can find it, the movie is worth watching and is in league with the "Great Escape" and 1950's true story, "The Wooden Horse" which can be found on the Internet Archive, as among a handful of the best escape movies of all time.  My father shared many WWII, Korean War, and Vietnam escape and evasion books with me, my three favorites being "The Wooden Horse", "Free As a Running Fox", and "BAT 21", all of which included harrowing excerpts of risk fliers would take to escape and evade to get back into active duty. 

POW escapes that had "home runs", where escapers actually made it home, were very rare.  The Great Escape only yielded three who made it home, and all fliers pay tribute to the 50 the Germans brutally murdered via the well known "Sagan Order". 

There is a Christopher Reeve movie whose name escapes me about those who pursued and caught the German's responsible for the Sagan Order and its execution, one of the most blatant violations of the Geneva Convention, a last gasp at chivalry, since North Korea, North Vietnam, and religious terrorism no longer has chivalry or the moral high ground behind it, to protect prisoners of war and civilian non-combatants.

John

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colditz_Cock

Edited August 3, 20196 yr by John_Cillis

Thanks John. There seems to be a lot of Colditz video on YouTube also. I haven't seen any of it but here's the link:  https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=colditz+glider+movie  ..........Doug

 

Thanks for the link.  I have been to a few German castles, the most notable being Neuschwanstein (inspiration for the Disney Castle and used in the movie "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang") and Burg Eltz, a perfectly preserved and well hidden castle off the Mosel, which branches off the Rhine in Germany.  One has to catch a train to the town nearest, then walk several miles deep into a primeval forest and the castle just leaps into view.  It is the closest castle to Colditz I have seen in Germany.

John

My wife and I will be staying in Germany the whole month of September. We're really looking forward to seeing the castles we've always heard so much about.................Doug

11 hours ago, W2DR said:

My wife and I will be staying in Germany the whole month of September. We're really looking forward to seeing the castles we've always heard so much about.................Doug

If you visit the Rhein near Frankfurt/Mainz, just to the W/NW is the most beautiful stretch of castle ruins and Rhein history, starting with the castle Pfalz, I highly recommend visiting the area.  Schloss Eltz is off the beaten path, off the Rhine, on the Moselle before the Rhine Valley flattens out into the Ruhr district.  The walk to it and the castle itself is so worth a visit, unlike Neuschwanstein, which looks like a Medieval Castle but was built in the 19th century, same century my Grandpa was born in, Eltz is the real deal and goes waaaaay back:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eltz_Castle

Finally, though not castles outright, do not miss the towns of Rotenburg, Dinkelsbuhl, and Nordlingen.  They are the "Holy Trinity" of preserved Germany, before it went on the warpath so long ago, and better yet, try to  book a sightseeing flight over the towns.  Rotenburg was used as a backdrop to the movie "Willy Wonka" (the first one), though most of it was filmed around Munich Germany, one of the reasons I watch it from time to time.  My family has Spanish, French, German, Italian, Scotch and Irish roots, and I enjoyed my last visit to London immensely, especially when I heard that the Rock Band Queen of my day was allowed to perform atop Buckingham palace.....

https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g187319-i1149-k7402825-Rotenburg_Dinkelsbuhl_Nordlingen-Rothenburg_Middle_Franconia_Franconia_Bavaria.html

Thanks John. Great tips. We're traveling with another couple and she is the "Castle Planner" 😂.  I'll get this over to her today so we can be sure to include these on the list. It's strange...we've roamed the world with these folks for almost 20 years now. We've visited well over 100 countries but never Germany (oops) and we're really looking forward to the trip...........Doug

Edited August 5, 20196 yr by W2DR