In the Spring of 1943 Squadron Leader Robert Bushell conceived a plan for a major escape with his fellow captives from the Stalag Luft III prisoner of war camp in the German province of Lower Silesia, now known as Zagan in Poland.  The camp was originally an ‘officers only’ camp and held captured enemy airmen of the RAF and other allied airforces.  The location of the camp was specifically selected as it was believed that it would be impossible to escape from by the means of tunnelling, Bushell thought otherwise.

After almost a year of planning and the digging of several tunnels, on the night of the 24th March 1944 the escape took place.  In all 76 men crawled through the tunnel and breached the outer fence of the camp, this amazing story inspired several writers and film makers.  In 1963, the movie, ‘The Great Escape’ was released starring a host of famous actors including Steve McQueen, Charles Bronson and Richard Attenborough.  2013 marks the 50th anniversary of the movie launch and the 70th anniversary of when the master escape plan was formed and the digging of the tunnels began.

To commemorate this event in military history, Aviation Archive present the ‘Great Escape Collection’, the range features the aircraft in which the escapees flew before being captured.

Jens Muller was born in Shanghai, China in November 1917.  The son of a Norwegian engineer and a British actress, the young Muller had a pilot’s licence by the time he was 18 and was studying in Zurich when war was declared.  After the occupation of Norway he made his way to Great Britain and enlisted in the RAF, becoming an officer by 1942.  On 19th June 1942 he was shot down by a Focke-Wulf FW190 and after spending 66 hours afloat in a dinghy was captured by the Germans.

Transferred to Stalag Luft III, Muller contributed to the ‘Great Escape’ by making an air pump for ventilation of the tunnel and he was amongst the 74 who escaped the camp.  In the accompaniment of Per Bergsland they made their way to Stettin in Germany (now Poland) from where they caught a ship to neutral Sweden, becoming two of just three who successfully escaped from occupied Europe.

After the war Muller worked for Det Norske Luftfartsselskap, one of the companies that later merged into Scandinavian Airlines Systems.

The Great Escape Collection

AA31934 is available in three variants as part of the Great Escape Collection

This limited edition model from Corgi is part of the highly collectable Aviation Archive range of die-cast model aircraft.  Scales include 1:48, 1:72 and 1:144 and features aeroplanes from World War I, World War II and the modern era.  Most models in the Aviation Archive range are limited editions.