Escaping

The first attempted escape led by Pat was made up of a group of 12 officers. It relied on the co-operation of a German guard. They hoped a bribe of £34 would persuade him to keep quiet.

The plan was to escape through the sewer system into an outer lawn of the prison. Then there was a forty foot drop to a 12 foot barbed wire wall - then freedom! However, they chose the wrong guard to bribe. He took the money but kept his bosses informed of the plan!

So it was back to solitary for Pat and friends: at least for a few weeks anyway.

Pat Reid escaped
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or the next year and a half Pat Reid helped in many other failed and succesful escape attempts from Colditz.

By 5 October 1942, he and three other inmates decided to risk all one more time.

Following a marathon 11 hour escape route, involving a naked climb through a nine inch by three-foot chimney and a ten foot barbed wire wall, the little group made it out.

In less than four days Pat and one of the team, Hank Wardle, had made the long journey to Switzerland. This photo was taken in October 1942, shortly after his succesful escape.

Here, he rejoined the British Intelligence Service and remained in Berne till the end of the war.