"It took me three minutes to get through the tunnel. Above ground I
crawled along holding the rope for several feet: it was tied to a
tree. Sergeant Bergsland joined me; we arranged our clothes and
walked to the Sagan railway station. 'Bergsland was wearing a
civilian suit he had made for himself from a Royal Marine uniform,
with an RAF overcoat slightly altered with brown leather sewn over
the buttons. A black RAF tie, no hat. He carried a small suitcase
which had been sent from Norway. In it were Norwegian toothpaste
and soap, sandwiches, and 163 Reichsmarks given to him by the
Escape Committee. We caught the 2:04 train to Frankfurt an der
Oder. Our papers stated we were Norwegian electricians from the
Labour camp in Frankfurt working in the vicinity of Sagan.' Jens
Muller was one of only three men who successfully escaped from
Stalag Luft III in March 1944 - the break that later became the
basis for the famous film the "Great Escape". Muller was no. 43 of
the 76 prisoners of war who managed to escape from the camp (now in
?aga? Poland). Together with Per Bergsland he stowed away on a ship
to Gothenburg. The escapees sought out the British consulate and
were flown from Stockholm and were flown to Scotland. From there
they were sent by train to London and shortly afterwards to 'Little
Norway' in Canada. Muller's book about his wartime experiences was
first published in Norwegian in 1946, titled, 'Tre kom tilbake'
(Three Came Back). This is the first translation into English and
will correct the impression - set by the film and Charles Bronson -
that the men who escaped successfully were American and Australian.
In a vivid, informative memoir he details what life in the camp was
like, how the escapes were planned and executed and tells the story
of his personal breakout and success reaching RAF Leuchars base in
Scotland.
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Review This Product
My review
Sun, 10 May 2020 | Review
by: Phillip T.
AN INSPIRING SUCCESSFUL “HOME RUN” TO THE FREE WORLD
An appreciation by Elizabeth Taylor of Richmond Green Chambers and Phillip Taylor MBE, Head of Chambers, Reviews Editor, “The Barrister”, and Mediator
This story is true- a “home run” from Stalag Luft III by Jens Muller from Operation 200, “The Great Escape”! A short but vivid memoir even though some parts of the story has now been updated now the real facts are available for scrutiny.
"It took me three minutes to get through the tunnel”, writes Jens Muller, setting the scene. He continues, “above ground, I crawled along holding the rope for several feet: it was tied to a tree. Sergeant Bergsland joined me; we arranged our clothes and walked to the Sagan railway station”. With these words two escapees left Stalag Luft III forever and made it home to the free world.
What we found so interesting about this short translation of Muller’s and Bergsland’s story is the way they explained what happened. Muller writes that Bergsland was wearing a civilian suit which he had made for himself converted from a Royal Marine uniform, with an RAF overcoat slightly altered with brown leather sewn over the buttons. He was wearing a black RAF tie with no hat, and he carried a small suitcase which had been sent from Norway.
In it were Norwegian toothpaste and soap, sandwiches, and 163 Reichsmarks given to him by the Escape Committee. “We caught the 2:04 train to Frankfurt an der Oder. Our papers stated we were Norwegian electricians from the Labour camp in Frankfurt working in the vicinity of Sagan.”
Jens Muller was one of only three men who successfully escaped from Stalag Luft III in March 1944 - the break that later became the basis for the famous film called “The Great Escape" although Roger Bushell codenamed it “Operation Escape 200”. It was a success, so the mission was accomplished.
Muller was listed as number 43 of the 76 prisoners of war who managed to escape from the camp near Sagan, now Zagan. Together with Per Bergsland, he stowed away on a ship to Gothenburg having successfully hidden from the Germans.
The escapees sought out the British consulate and were flown from Stockholm and were flown to Scotland. From there they were sent by train to London and shortly afterwards to 'Little Norway' in Canada. Muller's book about his wartime experiences was first published in Norwegian in 1946, titled, 'Tre kom tilbake' or “Three Came Back”, and we now have the translation.
This is the first translation into English and does correct the unfortunate impression - set by the film and Charles Bronson - that the men who escaped successfully were American and Australian. It is a vivid, informative memoir where he details what life in Luft III was like, how the escapes were planned and executed, and it tells the story of his personal breakout and his success reaching RAF Leuchars in Scotland. Thank you very much to Jon Muller and Asgeir Ueland for their assistance in bringing this success story to us 75 years after the event.
The date of publication of this hardback book was 30th April 2019. Jens died in 1999.
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