Human Game: The True Story of the 'Great Escape' Murders and the Hunt for the Gestapo Gunmen (36 page)

Decommissioned out of the RAF, McKenna returned to England and his job at the Blackpool Borough Police on January 1, 1948. For their work on the Sagan case, McKenna and Wing Commander Bowes—who remained in the service—were awarded the Order of the British Empire. Four months later, in May 1948, the Russians sent word to the British government that Dr. Gunther Absalon, head of prisoner security in the Sagan region and participant in the Breslau murders, had died in a Soviet prison the previous October.

In September 1948, Foreign Secretary Ernest Bevin announced that the British government would no longer prosecute war crimes. Bowes wrote a letter to the provost marshal of the RAF, urging that those still being sought in connection with the Sagan murders be tried if captured. His efforts were in vain. Consequently, a number of Gestapo men wanted at one time by the RAF escaped justice. Munich Gestapo chief Dr. Oswald Schäfer came out of hiding in 1950 and never answered for the murders of Lieutenants Gouws and Stevens. Dr. Gunther Venediger of the Danzig Gestapo emerged from the Russian Zone in 1952. A German court acquitted him two years later on charges he murdered four RAF officers. Bowes fiercely pursued the matter, prompting a judicial review of the case. Venediger consequently received a two-year prison sentence. Likewise, Fritz Schmidt—the former Kiel Gestapo
chief—eventually wound up in front of a German court in 1968, only to receive two years in prison for his role in the deaths of Squadron Leader Catanach, Pilot Officer Christensen, and Lieutenants Espelid and Fuglesang.

Although sentenced to life in prison, Max Wielen was released in October 1952 “by British authorities as an act of clemency.” He was sixty-nine and in failing health.

For McKenna, tracking down the killers had always been about justice—not revenge. It was an airman’s “duty to avoid capture” and his “duty to escape” should he ever be caught. After the war, McKenna expressed his thoughts on the matter, saying those who broke out of Stalag Luft III “didn’t see escaping as a sport—and when they used the word ‘duty,’ they did so with typical British reserve and a degree of embarrassment. Those murdered men were doing no more than what they accepted as being their duty, and it seemed to me—and the chaps working with me—that to be murdered in cold blood for doing one’s honorable duty as a serviceman must always be unacceptable to any decent human being. We saw it as being our duty to find the miscreants and thereafter bring them before a court of law.”

McKenna died at the age of eighty-seven on Valentine’s Day 1994, having never sought publicity for his pivotal role in the Great Escape story.

The work of the RAF’s Special Investigating Branch was nothing short of remarkable when one considers the conditions and circumstances under which it conducted the Sagan investigation. With no crime scene, physical evidence, or actual eyewitness accounts to the fifty murders, McKenna and his men launched their inquiry in utter darkness. They had every reason to fail and little prospect of success, but sheer determination and dogged detective work yielded results perhaps not even McKenna initially thought possible. The RAF ultimately identified seventy-two men who played an active role in the Great Escape murders. Of those seventy-two individuals, twenty-one went to the gallows, seventeen received prison sentences, six were killed in wartime, seven killed
themselves, five defendants saw the charges against them dropped, three had their sentences eventually overturned, one turned material witness, and another remained free in East Germany.

Not all seventy-two men were fanatical Nazis brainwashed by Hitler’s deluded ambitions. Many were simple family men who returned home each evening to their wives and children. When questioned by McKenna and other RAF investigators, a good number expressed dismay over what they had been ordered to do. Even if such remorse was sincere, one cannot forget that for every airman gunned down alongside a desolate road, there were families in England, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and a handful of other countries, left to suffer a grievous loss. In the end, justice adequately served those complicit in the killings.

In planning the mass breakout from Stalag Luft III, Roger Bushell hoped to “harass, confuse, and confound the enemy.” He achieved just that, if only for a short time. The Germans assigned one hundred thousand
men to the Sagan search. Although any impact it may have had on the German war effort was negligible at best, the Great Escape was a symbolic victory—an act of outrageous defiance and a triumph of ingenuity. But was it worth the lives of fifty men? Perhaps that’s a question only those who took part in the event could have answered.

The stone memorial to the fallen fifty, as photographed by the RAF in 1946, built by inmates at Stalag Luft III shortly after the Great Escape.   
BRITISH NATIONAL ARCHIVES: AIR 40/2487

A part of Germany during the Second World War, Sagan today is in eastern Poland. It is still possible to visit the site of Stalag Luft III. Nature is slowly reclaiming the area. All that remain are the stone foundations of the barracks and other buildings that once comprised the camp. In 2010, the Royal Air Force built a replica of Hut 104—the barrack block from which tunnel “Harry” extended—near the camp site. Stretching from where the real hut once stood, a gravel pathway marks the length, width, and location of the actual tunnel. A large rock now sits at the spot where the seventy-six escapees emerged just shy of the tree line beyond the camp wire. A simple inscription on the rock reads, “Allied airmen, prisoners of Stalag Luft III, were Great Escape participants.” At the rock’s base, some visitors leave fresh flowers—vibrant life and color in an otherwise bleak landscape. It’s a fitting tribute to the men whose story will continue to touch both young and old for generations to come.

The book is done; I now have six notches scratched into the barrel of my fountain pen. On the research front, I want to thank the staffs at the British National Archives and the Imperial War Museum for their assistance. Thanks to Stephen R. Davies, former RAF Police officer turned author, for his willingness to lend a hand. My longtime agent Ed Knappman passed away during the writing of this book. He was a great guy who always worked tirelessly on my behalf. He is missed. Thanks to Roger Williams of the Publish or Perish Agency, who took over from Ed, for his continued support. In the UK, I want to thank Rachel Calder for her representation.

At Penguin, I owe a great debt to Natalee Rosenstein for her interest and enthusiasm for the project. Many thanks are also due to Robin Barletta for shepherding the manuscript through the publication process. Thanks to Rick Willett for combing the manuscript for typos and other mishaps.

On the personal side, heartfelt thanks go to Simon Blint, Dan Hoffman, Brian Reiser, and Ryan Sawyer for their years of friendship. As always, I must bestow a special note of thanks upon Tony, Phil, Mike, Steve, and Peter for the music. I was thirteen when I decided I wanted to be an author. From the very beginning, my parents—Bill and Susan—offered nothing but support and words of encouragement. I will always be grateful for their love and friendship. The great Max Hastings once wrote, “Only writers’ families know how painful it is to live in a house in which
a book is taking shape.” Katie, my wife, has spent much time as a “writer’s widow” since we met. For her patience and endurance, words alone cannot express my gratitude. Our beautiful son, Spencer, was born during the writing of this book. He has turned our lives upside down in the most fantastic way. Endless love and thanks go to both of them for providing a wonderful home in which to live and work.

Flying Officer Henry J. Birkland (Canadian): Recaptured in Breslau region. Last seen alive in Görlitz jail on March 31, 1944. Cremated in Liegnitz, date unknown.

Flight Lieutenant E. Gordon Brettell (British): Recaptured on train in Schneidemühl on March 26, 1944. Died March 29, 1944, and cremated in Danzig.

Flight Lieutenant Lester J. Bull (British): Captured on the Silesian Czechoslovak border. Died March 29, 1944, and cremated in Brüx.

Squadron Leader Roger J. Bushell (British): Recaptured at Saarbrücken. Died March 29, 1944, and cremated in Saarbrücken.

Flight Lieutenant Michael J. Casey (British): Recaptured near Görlitz. Died on March 31, 1944, and cremated in Görlitz.

Squadron Leader James Catanach, DFC (Australian): Recaptured in Flensburg on March 26, 1944. Died three days later and was cremated in Kiel.

Pilot Officer Arnold G. Christensen (New Zealand): Recaptured in Flensburg on March 26, 1944. Died three days later and was cremated in Kiel.

Flying Officer Dennis H. Cochran (British): Recaptured on German border near Lörrach. Died March 31, 1944, and cremated at Natzweiler concentration camp.

Squadron Leader Ian Cross (British): Recaptured near Görlitz. Died on March 31, 1944, and cremated in Görlitz.

Lieutenant Hallada Espelid (Norwegian): Recaptured in Flensburg on March 26, 1944. Died three days later and was cremated in Kiel.

Flight Lieutenant Brian H. Evans (British): Recaptured in Breslau region. Last seen alive in the prison at Görlitz on March 31, 1944. Cremated in Liegnitz, date unknown.

Lieutenant Nils Fuglesang (Norwegian): Recaptured in Flensburg on March 26, 1944. Died three days later and was cremated in Kiel.

Lieutenant Johannes S. Gouws (South African): Recaptured on a train south of Munich. Died March 29, 1944, and cremated in Munich.

Flight Lieutenant William J. Grisman (British): Recaptured in Sagan region. Last seen alive in the prison at Görlitz on April 6, 1944. Cremated in Breslau, date unknown.

Flight Lieutenant Alastair D. M. Gunn (British): Recaptured in Sagan region. Last seen alive in the prison at Görlitz on April 6, 1944. Cremated in Breslau, date unknown.

Flying Officer Albert H. Hake (Australian): Recaptured near Görlitz. Died on March 31, 1944, and cremated in Görlitz.

Flight Lieutenant Charles P. Hall (British): Recaptured in Breslau region. Last seen alive in the prison at Görlitz on March 31, 1944. Cremated in Liegnitz, date unknown.

Flight Lieutenant Anthony Hayter (British): Recaptured on road between Mülhausen and Altkirch on March 27, 1944. Died on April 6 and was cremated at Natzweiler concentration camp.