# One of the planner of the Great Escape has died

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-of-the-planner-of-the-great-escape-has-died/495681>\
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\
**Created:** [May 7, 2009, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-of-the-planner-of-the-great-escape-has-died/495681 "2009-05-07T20:27:52Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![detop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bcef8e/32.png) [@detop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/detop)\
**Post date:** [May 7, 2009, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-of-the-planner-of-the-great-escape-has-died/495681/1 "2009-05-07T20:27:52Z")

</div>

On April 29[sup]th[/sup], [Alex Lees](http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/5241905/Great-Escape-war-hero-dies-at-97.html), one of the planners of the Great Escape has died. Although he didn’t escape himself, he played an important part in the event, in his own words :

> [@](#):
>
> "It was just the way it was portrayed in The Great Escape movie.
> 
> "I had been given the job of looking after the garden and I would take the dirt out to the vegetable patch, rake away the top soil, dump the earth and then cover it back up.
> 
> “The German guards never suspected a thing.”

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\
**Post date:** [May 7, 2009, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-of-the-planner-of-the-great-escape-has-died/495681/2 "2009-05-07T22:19:09Z")

</div>

Thanks for posting this.

Obits of incredible people are always welcome.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\
**Post date:** [May 7, 2009, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-of-the-planner-of-the-great-escape-has-died/495681/3 "2009-05-07T22:22:54Z")

</div>

Another link in that article : [The guy who inspired Steve McQueen’s character died at age 102, in 2006.](http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1514150/PoW-pilot-who-inspired-the-Great-Escape-dies-at-the-age-of-102.html)