Mass escapes occur when 5 or more prisoners escape from a prison or prisoner-of-war camp

Prisoner-of-war camp

A prisoner-of-war camp is a site for the containment of combatants captured by their enemy in time of war, and is similar to an internment camp which is used for civilian populations. A prisoner of war is generally a soldier, sailor, or airman who is imprisoned by an enemy power during or...

 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 escapers.

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

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

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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 Oflag VII-C Oflag VII-C was a World War II German prisoner-of-war camp for officers located in Laufen Castle in south-eastern Bavaria from 1940 to 1942. Most of the prisoners were British officers captured during the Battle of France in 1940. To relieve overcrowding, some of the officers were transferred to...	British Army British Army The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...	Pat Reid	6	6	0
30 May 1941	Canteen Tunnel Attempts to escape Oflag IV-C Prisoners made numerous attempts to escape Oflag IV-C, one of the most famous German Army prisoner-of-war camps for officers in World War II. Between 30 and 36 men succeeded in their attempts...	Oflag IV-C Oflag IV-C Oflag IV-C, often referred to as Colditz Castle because of its location, was one of the most famous German Army prisoner-of-war camps for officers in World War II; Oflag is a shortening of Offizierslager, meaning "officers camp"...	British Army	Pat Reid	12	12	0
June 1941	Dulag luft tunnel	Dulag luft Dulag luft thumb|right|Sgt. Edward Hill of [[Manchester, England]], freed from five years of captivity at Dulag Luft, by the American Seventh Armored Division, First Army, circa 29 March 1945...	British RAF	Harry Day	18	18	0
13 September 1941	Biberach Tunnel	Oflag V-B Oflag V-B Oflag V-B Biberach, was a World War II German prisoner-of-war camp for officers located in Biberach in south-eastern Baden-Württemberg from 1940 to 1942. Most of the prisoners were British officers captured in the Battle of France in 1940 or in Greece in June 1941...	British Army British Army The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...	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 Oflag VI-B Oflag VI-B Dössel was a World War II German POW camp for officers located SW of the small town Dössel in north-western Germany.- Timeline :In 1940 the camp was built on what had been originally intended to be an airfield...	British	Tom Stallard	41	28	3
5 March 1943	Schubin Tunnel	Oflag XXI-B Oflag XXI-B Oflag XXI-B and Stalag XXI-B were World War II German prisoner-of-war camps for officers and enlisted men, located at Szubin a few miles south of Bydgoszcz, in Pomorze, Poland, which at that time was occupied by Nazi Germany.-Timeline:...	British RAF	Harry Day	35	35	0
3 June 1943	Eichstatt Tunnel	Oflag VII-B Oflag VII-B Oflag VII-B was a World War II German POW camp for officers, located 1 km from Eichstätt, Bavaria.- Timeline :The camp was built in September 1939 to house Polish prisoners from the German September 1939 offensive...	British Army British Army The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...	Jock Hamilton-Baillie Jock Hamilton-Baillie Jock Hamilton-Baillie MC , was a British Royal Engineers officer famed for numerous escapes from German prisoner of war camps during World War II...	65	65	0
12 June 1943	Delousing break Delousing break The Delousing break was a mass escape attempt by British, American and Allied Aircrew Officer Prisoners of War during the Second World War. It occurred on 12 June 1943 from the North Compound of Stalag Luft III POW camp in Germany- Main Party :...	Stalag Luft III Stalag Luft III Stalag Luft III was a Luftwaffe-run prisoner-of-war camp during World War II that housed captured air force servicemen. It was in the German Province of Lower Silesia near the town of Sagan , southeast of Berlin...	British RAF	Roger Bushell Roger Bushell Squadron Leader Roger Joyce Bushell RAF was a South African-born British Auxiliary Air Force pilot who organised and led the famous escape from the Nazi prisoner of war camp, Stalag Luft III. He was a victim of the Stalag Luft III murders. The escape was used as the basis for the film The Great...	32	26	0
3 September 1943	Franz Josef Attempt Attempts to escape Oflag IV-C Prisoners made numerous attempts to escape Oflag IV-C, one of the most famous German Army prisoner-of-war camps for officers in World War II. Between 30 and 36 men succeeded in their attempts...	Oflag IV-C Oflag IV-C Oflag IV-C, often referred to as Colditz Castle because of its location, was one of the most famous German Army prisoner-of-war camps for officers in World War II; Oflag is a shortening of Offizierslager, meaning "officers camp"...	British	Mike Sinclair	38	0	0
24 March 1944	The Great Escape	Stalag Luft III Stalag Luft III Stalag Luft III was a Luftwaffe-run prisoner-of-war camp during World War II that housed captured air force servicemen. It was in the German Province of Lower Silesia near the town of Sagan , southeast of Berlin...	British RAF	Roger Bushell Roger Bushell Squadron Leader Roger Joyce Bushell RAF was a South African-born British Auxiliary Air Force pilot who organised and led the famous escape from the Nazi prisoner of war camp, Stalag Luft III. He was a victim of the Stalag Luft III murders. The escape was used as the basis for the film The Great...	200	76	3