Great Escapes [closed]

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‘Great Escapes: Remarkable Second World War Captives’ was an exhibition revealing iconic and under-told stories of prisoners of war and civilian internees during the Second World War.

It explored famous escape attempts such as the escape from Stalag Luft III that we know as 'the Great Escape', and British officer Airey Neave’s escape from Colditz Castle dressed as a German soldier. It revealed remarkable stories of individuals seeking escape through art, music and finding love.

Drawing on The National Archives’ vast collections of wartime era documents and photographs, the exhibition featured never previously displayed records from MI9 – a highly secretive British government agency set up to help military personnel evade and escape capture. It included recently-catalogued War Office records and incredible loans from organisations including:

• IWM
• Tate
• Leicester Museum and Art Gallery
• Eden Camp Modern History Museum

It gave a glimpse of the courage and ingenuity possible in desperately hard times.

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★★★★☆ – A revelatory insight into the prisoner-of-war experience

The Telegraph

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Great Escapes: Exhibition tour

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