The Stalag Luft III murders were war crimes perpetrated by members of the Gestapo following the "Great Escape" of Allied prisoners of war from the German Air Force prison camp known as Stalag Luft III on March 25, 1944. Of the 76 successful escapees, 73 were recaptured, most within several days of the breakout, 50 of whom were executed on the personal orders of Adolf Hitler.[1] These executions were conducted shortly after the prisoners' recapture.
Outrage at the killings was expressed immediately, both in the prison camp, among comrades of the escaped prisoners and in the United Kingdom, where Foreign Secretary Anthony Eden rose in the House of Commons to announce in June 1944 that those guilty of what the British government suspected was a war crime would be "brought to exemplary justice."[2]
After Nazi Germany's capitulation in May 1945, the Police branch of the Royal Air Force, with whom the 50 airmen had been serving, launched an investigation into the killings, having branded the shootings a war crime despite official German reports that the airmen had been shot while attempting to escape from captivity following recapture. An extensive investigation headed by Wing Commander Wilfred Bowes (RAF) and Squadron Leader Frank McKenna of the Special Investigation Branch into the events following the recapture of the 73 airmen was launched, which was unique for being the only major war crime to be investigated by a single branch of any nation's military.[2]: 261
- ^ Jones, Priscilla Dale (1 June 1998). "Nazi Atrocities Against Allied Airmen: Stalag Luft III and the End of British War Crimes Trials". The Historical Journal. 41 (2). Cambridge University Press: 543–565. doi:10.1017/S0018246X98007869. S2CID 154684877. Retrieved 19 March 2023.
- ^ a b Andrews, Allen (1976). Exemplary Justice. Corgi Books. ISBN 0-552-10800-6.