Mass escapes from German POW camps

Mass escapes occur when 5 or more prisoners escape from a prison or prisoner-of-war camp at the same time.

Most mass escapes occur after many months of careful planning and preparation, but seldom achieve complete success as usually the detaining power maximises the effort to find and recapture the escapees.

Below is a list of Mass Escapes known to have taken place from German POW camps during World War II.

Date	Escape known as	POW Camp	Nationality	Main Organiser	Number Attempted Escape	Number Escaped from Camp	Number Home Runs
5 September 1940	Laufen Six	Oflag VII-C	British Army	Pat Reid	6	6	0
30 May 1941	Canteen Tunnel	Oflag IV-C	British Army	Pat Reid	12	12	0
June 1941	Dulag luft tunnel	Dulag luft	British RAF	Harry Day	18	18	0
13 September 1941	Biberach Tunnel	Oflag V-B	British Army	Michael Duncan	26	26	4
11 May 1942	Kirchain tunnel	Stalag IIIE	British RAF	Sgt Alexander	52	52	0
30 August 1942	Warburg Wire Job	Oflag VI-B	British	Tom Stallard	41	28	3
5 March 1943	Schubin Tunnel	Oflag XXI-B	British RAF	Harry Day	35	35	0
3 June 1943	Eichstatt Tunnel	Oflag VII-B	British Army	Jock Hamilton-Baillie	65	65	0
12 June 1943	Delousing break	Stalag Luft III	British RAF	Roger Bushell	32	26	0
July (?) 1943	Hydekrug tunnel	Stalag Luft VI	British	William Ash	50	7	0
17 and 18 September 1943	La Grande Évasion	Oflag XVII-A	French Army	?	132	132	2
3 September 1943	Franz Josef Attempt	Oflag IV-C	British	Mike Sinclair	38	0	0
24 March 1944	The Great Escape	Stalag Luft III	British RAF	Roger Bushell	250	76	3