Editing The Great Escape (film) (section)

==Plot==
During [[World War II]], [[Allies of World War II|Allied]] [[Prisoner of war|POWs]] who have repeatedly escaped from [[Prisoner-of-war camp|camps]] in [[Nazi Germany|Germany]] are moved to [[Stalag Luft III|a new camp]] under the command of [[Luftwaffe]] [[Oberst|Colonel]] von Luger. He warns British [[Group Captain]] Ramsey—the highest-ranked POW officer—that escapees will be shot. Regardless, several POWs unsuccessfully attempt to escape on the first day. Hilts, a notoriously prolific escapee, finds a blind spot at the fence. In testing it, he is shot at, but his discovery is unnoticed. He is placed in a cell next to Ives in "the cooler",<ref>{{cite web |title=Inside Tunnel "Harry" |url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/greatescape/harr-nf.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200202014814/https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/greatescape/harr-nf.html |archive-date=February 2, 2020 |access-date=2 February 2020 |website=Nova: Great Escape |publisher=PBS Online}}</ref> and the two become friends.

RAF [[Squadron Leader]] Roger Bartlett re-establishes "the X Organisation", an escape-planning committee from their former camp, with Ramsey's tacit approval. He proposes breaking out 250 men to divert Germans away from the front. The POWs work on three tunnels: [[Tom, Dick and Harry|"Tom", "Dick", and "Harry"]].

All POWs assist the plan: Welinski and Dickes lead the digging, Sedgwick makes picks and air bellows, Ashley-Pitt conceals the excavated dirt, while Cavendish surveys the tunnels’ routes and leads a choir to mask the sounds of any escape-related activities. MacDonald gathers intelligence, Griffith sews civilian disguises, Blythe forges documents, and Hendley secures supplies on the black market. Aware that Hilts is planning his own escape, Bartlett asks him to allow himself to be recaptured so he can draw maps of the surrounding area for the X Organisation; Hilts refuses.

When "Tom" nears completion, Bartlett orders "Dick" and "Harry" sealed off. Meanwhile, Hilts, Hendley, and Goff brew potato [[moonshine]] and celebrate the [[Fourth of July]] with the camp. However, the guards find "Tom" during the celebration. Ives snaps, climbs the fence, and is shot dead. Hilts, shaken, agrees to Bartlett's proposal, and Bartlett orders "Harry" reopened.

Welinski's [[claustrophobia]] is triggered after a tunnel collapses on him. Roger bumps Blythe from the escape upon discovering he has progressive [[myopia]] and is barely able to see; Hendley offers to guide him during the escape. On the night of the escape, "Harry" is completed but it is discovered that the exit is {{convert|20|ft|m}} short of the woods; Hilts uses a rope to signal when the coast is clear. The escape is aided by a fortuitous air raid blackout. Dozens flee before Cavendish slips and Griffith rushes, alerting the guards and ending the breakout.

The 76 escapees flee throughout Germany, but only three avoid capture: Welinski and Dickes steal a boat and board a ship for [[Sweden during World War II|Sweden]], while Sedgwick heads to [[France during World War II|France]], where the [[French Resistance|Resistance]] smuggles him to [[Spain during World War II|Spain]]. The rest are captured: Cavendish hitches a ride on a truck, but is turned in by the driver. Hendley and Blythe steal a plane to fly to Switzerland, but crash when the engine fails; Blythe is shot and Hendley is recaptured. Hilts steals a motorcycle and heads for the Swiss border, chased by soldiers, who shoot down the motorcycle and recapture him. At a railway station, Ashley-Pitt sacrifices himself when he kills a Gestapo officer before he can identify Bartlett. However, Bartlett and MacDonald are still arrested after another Gestapo officer tricks MacDonald into speaking English while boarding a bus.

Most of the captives—including Bartlett, MacDonald, and Cavendish—are [[Stalag Luft III murders|executed]], bringing the total deaths to 50. Ramsey informs the returning survivors of the murders, and says that Bartlett's plan to "mess up the works" with the escape was a success; Hendley questions whether it was worth the price. Von Luger, embarrassed by the murders, is relieved of command by the Gestapo and driven away to an uncertain fate, but as he leaves he tells a returning Hilts that it looks like the American will be the one who gets to see Berlin first. The film ends with Hilts escorted by a guard for another stint in the cooler. As the guard locks the door and begins to walk away, he hears Hilts throwing and catching his baseball against the cell wall. The guard partially turns and momentarily pauses, as if in acknowledgement of the defiance and fighting spirit of the prisoners, then departs from the cell block.