Were the Great Escape heroes betrayed by one of their own? Map maker flight lieutenant caught after getting out of Stalag Luft III prisoner of war camp believed double agent blew the whistle on the plot, newly found documents reveal

One of the men who was part of the famous Great Escape believed that the prisoners were betrayed by two English Nazi collaborators, documents reveal.

Flight Lieutenant Desmond Plunkett was one of the 76 airmen who attempted to flee the Stalag Luft III Prisoner of War camp in March 1944. All but three were recaptured and 50 brutally executed.

Although the men ingeniously dug three tunnels - named Tom, Dick and Harry - to get out of the camp successfully, they made crucial mistakes that quickly led to their re-arrest.

Their tragic story was told in 1963 classic film the Great Escape, which stars Steve McQueen. 

Plunkett forged maps for the escapers and was fortunate to have his life spared after being caught. 

Now, experts re-examining wartime documents at the National Archives have unearthed Plunkett's claim that the murdered men were in fact betrayed. 

Writing in a questionnaire in May 1945 after he was liberated from another PoW camp, Plunkett wrote: 'There are two individuals … whose activities have a direct bearing on the fate of the 50 executed prisoners of war.

'These two persons must be traced, as both are undoubtedly indigenous Englishmen, and must be tried for their collaborating activities with the enemy.'

Map maker Desmond Plunkett (pictured), who lived to the age of 86, was the unlucky 13th of the Allied airmen to flee Stalag Luft III in what became known as 'The Great Escape'

Charles Bronson, James Coburn and men listening to Richard Attenborough in a scene from the film 'The Great Escape', 1963

Richard Attenborough (left) and Steve McQueen (right) reenact the men's escape from Stalag Luft III in the Great Escape (1963)

James Garner (Hendley), Gordon Jackson (MacDonald), Donald Pleasence (Blythe) and Richard Attenborough (Bartlett) in The Great Escape

The document was found while PoW questionnaires were being digitised. 

WIll Butler, head of the National Archives' military records and the curator behind the current exhibition on great wartime escapes, said there has never previously been a claim of betrayal relating to the event.

He told The Guardian: I've read a lot of the material that was produced postwar around the executions of the 50 officers, and I’ve never come across any suggestion that there was some kind of collaboration.'

Mr Butler added it was 'absolutely possible' that the men were betrayed.

But historian Guy Walters, author of The Real Great Escape, is skeptical about Plunkett's claim. 

He told MailOnline: 'The story is a bit of an empty one really. I think Desmond Plunkett was incredibly confused and wrong about what happened. 

'The Great Escape wasn't betrayed by anybody. There were collaborators in the camps, but no, the Great Escape, they managed to get out. 

'And when they were captured they got captured because they made mistakes. 

'And no, there weren't traitors responsible for getting them murdered, that was a decision by Adolf Hitler. 

'I don't really think it's a story to be honest. I think Desmond Plunkett was mistaken. 

'He had spent ten months in Gestapo confinement, he had lost his mind somewhat, he had had a breakdown, so ultimately I think he was very mistaken.' 

The escapers' mistakes included the presence of errors in their false identity papers, and having clothing that was not suitable for wintry weather. Many were also exhausted. 

Second World War historian James Holland echoed Mr Walters' view. 

He told The Times: 'Everyone was super-alert and aware of strangers. And in a town where there were lots of people, you stood out like a sore thumb.'

Mr Holland added: 'There's a lot of bitterness if you’re a prisoner of war for that length of time, and bitterness and guilt about the fact that 50 of them got executed.

Steve McQueen in The Great Escape

Richard Attenborough and Charles Bronson filmed as two British PoWs in the Great Escape

'Those feelings of resentment are entirely understandable, but it doesn’t mean to say that just because someone has accused someone else of betraying them that it’s correct.' 

Plunkett pointedly did not repeat his betrayal claim in his book, The Man Who Would Not Die, which was published in 2000.   

The discovery of Plunkett's statement comes as the 80th anniversary of the Great Escape, on the night of March 24, 1944, draws near.

Plunkett was arrested by the Gestapo near the Austrian border. He was taken to Stalag Luft I and freed at the end of the war.

As was the norm for freed prisoners of war, he was given a questionnaire to recount his experiences.  

Plunkett feared that the information he gave during his interrogation by the Gestapo could have led to the deaths of the 50 captured men.

However, his comrades assured him the escape had been foiled long before he was caught at the Austrian border. 

Deadly toll of escapees executed... and how WWII's greatest PoW story got a Hollywood makeover in The Great Escape

In the spring of 1943, RAF Squadron Leader Roger Bushell conceived a plan for a major escape from the German Stalag Luft III Camp near Sagan, now Żagań in Poland.

With the escape planned for the night of March 24, 1944, the PoWs built three 30ft deep tunnels, named Tom, Dick and Harry, so that if one was discovered by the German guards, they would not suspect that work was underway on two more.

Bushell intended to get more than 200 men through the tunnels, each wearing civilian clothes and possessing a complete range of forged papers and escape equipment.

In the spring of 1943, RAF Squadron Leader Roger Bushell conceived a plan for a major escape from the German Stalag Luft III Camp near Sagan, now Żagań in Poland 

To hide the earth dug from the tunnels, the prisoners attached pouches of the sand inside their trousers so that as they walked around, it would scatter.

The prisoners wore greatcoats to conceal the bulges made by the sand and were referred to as 'penguins' because of their supposed resemblance to the animal.

When the attempt began, it was discovered that Harry had come up short and instead of reaching into a nearby forest, the first man in fact emerged just short of the tree line, close to a guard tower. 

Plans for one man to leave every minute was reduced to 10 per hour.

The Great Escape starred Steve McQueen (pictured above) as Captain Virgil Hilts

In total, 76 men crawled through to initial freedom, but the 77th was spotted by a guard. In the hunt for the entrance one guard Charlie Pilz crawled through the tunnel but after becoming trapped at the other end called for help. 

The prisoners opened the entrance, revealing the location.

Of the escapees, three made it to safety, 73 were captured, and 50 of them executed.

... and the Hollywood film

The 1963 film The Great Escape was based on real events and, although some characters were fictitious, many were based on real people, or amalgams of several of those involved.

The film starred Steve McQueen as Captain Virgil Hilts, James Garner as Flight Lieutenant Robert Hendley and Richard Attenborough as Squadron Leader Roger Bartlett, and was based on a book of the same name by Paul Brickhill.

Contrary to the film, no American PoWs were involved in the escape attempt, and there were no escapes by motorcycle or aircraft.

Hilts' dash for the border by motorcycle was added by request of McQueen, who did the stunt riding himself except for the final jump.