One of the most daring episodes of World War Two has recently marked its 80th anniversary. On the night of March 24, 1944, 76 British and Commonwealth airmen escaped from a Nazi Prisoner of War camp.
It would be the incident that would inspire the epic war film The Great Escape, released in 1963 starring Steve McQueen. The film was inspired by Paul Brickhill's 1950 non-fiction book of the same name, an insider's account of the 1944 mass escape from the German PoW camp Stalag Luft III.
Of the 76 PoWs who tunnelled their way to freedom – three made it to the UK, 23 were recaptured and 50 executed on Hitler's orders. Among those who been held prisoner at the camp during the war was a quiet headteacher from Stockport.
READ MORE:The strange, abandoned buildings scattered around Greater Manchester
READ MORE:"It wouldn't be allowed these days": Greater Manchester's last pop men
Flight Lieutenant Ted Nestor, of Dean Lane, was just 23 when he was shot down over Germany during a bombing raid. He spent nearly two years at the infamous Stalag Luft III camp.
Over the next year-and-a-half, the young navigator kept a detailed record of daily life there, including his comrades' dramatic escape plan, the Express previously reported. The diary includes cartoons, paintings, jokes, poems, photos, and money. It was gathering dust in a drawer until a family friend realised its importance.
Try MEN Premium for FREE by clicking here for no ads, fun puzzles and brilliant new features.
Ted wrote about the March 24, 1944 escape in code, as if it were a horse race, describing how, just before the escape the men were "under starter's orders". One cartoon shows the soldiers in training, being given advice on how easy escape would be. Another shows the reality with barbed wire, guard dogs and armed guards.
In a later entry, which he entitled 'The Escape', Ted recorded in precise detail the size of the tunnel, where the exit was and how he learned that many of the escapees had been killed. He wrote: "On May 25th, the cremated remains of 29 of the deceased officers were returned to camp."
Join our WhatsApp Top Stories and, Breaking News group by clicking this link
In 2009 the diary, which had remained locked away for years, became the subject of BBC show Inside Out. The programme followed his daughter, Sharon Cottam, as she journeyed back to the site of the camp, now in Poland following a border change.
Sharon said: "There was a group that plotted the escape that he was part of. My dad was part of the intel and would keep look out for Germans.
"Although he couldn’t go into too much detail in case the Germans got hold of the diary, afterwards he recorded details of the size of the tunnel, where the exit was and how they learned many of the escapees had been killed.
Join our Greater Manchester history, memories and people Facebook group here.
"My dad saw people dying fairly frequently of malnourishment and in winter temperatures would get down to minus 16 centigrade. You could go without food for days until the Red Cross parcels arrived, but in that typical British way, they made the best of it."
Among the most gruelling periods in this time was a 1,000-mile march he and other prisoners were forced to undertake so the Germans could escape the Russian advance. He remained at Stalag Luft III until it was liberated in 1945.
After Ted returned, following the war he became headmaster at St Peter's Primary school in Hazel Grove. He died in 1990 aged 73.
In 2009, just before the BBC programme on her dad's life aired, Sharon said: "My dad’s diary is a massive part of history and is an interesting story for people to learn. Although he was a private man and never spoke much about it, I think he would be really proud.
"He was a hero for me and my family so it was emotional going back to the camp. I learnt a lot about my dad and what he went through, now I just want to sit down and talk to him for hours about it."
Love Greater Manchester's past? Sign up to our new nostalgia newsletter and never miss a thing.
Ted wasn't the only other airman from Greater Manchester who was captured during the war and became involved in the plans for The Great Escape. Bill Dean was born in Fir Street, Cadishead, joined the RAF in 1940 and became part of Bomber Command, completing 14 missions before he was shot down over Berlin in January 1944.
He was sent to Stalag Luft III in Poland, barely a month before the mass escape and helped Flight Lt. Colin 'The Forger' Blythe create the fake passports for the 200 servicemen selected for the escape. Bill was not one of the 200 selected to escape and can still recall the night the plan was put into action.
He told the Manchester Evening News: "It was very bad, very bad indeed. I’d had my doubts about the whole thing, particularly as one of the tunnels didn’t quite make it to the surrounding forest as had been planned.
"We were in our hut and we heard the shooting start when the Germans realised what was going on. Eventually, 76 men got out but it was dreadful because, more or less the next morning we knew it had not been a success."
Following the war Bill Dean got married and went back to serving in the RAF but, because of his wartime experiences, was put off by flying for a long time, preferring to work in a maintenance unit in Nottingham. Gradually, in the 1950s, he took to the cockpit again with the City of Chester Squadron, flying jets and rising to the rank of Acting Squadron Leader.
In 1956 he went into business for himself, as a retailer of luxury goods to delicatessens and cafes in the Manchester area. Never one to attend remembrance services, the celebrated war hero died in 2010, aged 87.
