Colditz: The Full Story

The Germans thought escape was impossible. These men proved them wrong.

Colditz Castle, located near Leipzig Germany, was the last stop for select Allied prisoners during World War II. It was here, a reportedly impregnable fortress, that the Germans sent all the prisoners who escaped from other prisons. Once within the walls, the Germans reasoned, escaping was impossible. Yet during the four-year period when the castle was used as a prison, over three hundred men escaped, thirty-one through Nazi Germany.

Prisoners from ten different Allied countries worked together to form a truly international escape academy. They created skeleton keys, forged German passes, drafted maps, and constructed all types of tools and machinery out of whatever they could find. The ingenuity of the prisoners knew no bounds: they tried everything from tunneling underneath the castle's walls to hiding in the garbage to disguising themselves as German officers. They even built a glider, which they never used. Resourcefulness and hard work won a few of them their freedom.

Author and former British Army officer, P.R. Reid, was one of the men who escaped from Colditz and made it home to tell the story. This paperback edition, introduced into the Zenith Military Classic series, introduces this thrilling WWII story to a new generation of readers. Four appendices at the end of book provide a full listing of prisoners and staff, all of the attempted escapes, the secret code used to communicate between prisoners and the outside world, and more.

"[T]his book is highly recommended reading."

--The New York Times

P.R. Reid (1910–1990) was a British Army officer who was held captive at Colditz Castle when it was designated Oflag IV-C during the World War II era. Reid was one of the few to escape from Colditz, crossing the border into neutral Switzerland in late 1942 after two years as a prisoner of war. After the war ended, Reid became a diplomat and administrator before eventually returning to his prewar career in civil engineering. He is the author of several books on his time at Colditz Castle, which together were the basis for movies, television series, and a board game.