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Description
The biggest escape attempt made by German prisoners of war during World War 2 took place at Island Farm Prisoner of War Camp, Bridgend, when 67 high ranking Nazis tunnelled to freedom from Hut 9 on 11th March 1945.
This 'bucket' was used to dig out the earth from the tunnel leading from Hut 9. Also pictured is a ball of earth from the tunnel. The German prisoners held at Island Farm shaped the clay from the escape tunnel into balls to enable it to be disposed of more easily. On the end of an 'L' shaped bend in Hut 9, they built a false extension to the main wall and blended it in to camouflage it. The soil was shaped into round clay balls and passed through a false air vent into the cavity behind making sure that the soil was kept below window level. When the prisoners were captured they never divulged how they had got rid of the excavated soil and the secret remained a mystery until the mid-1980s until vandals kicked the false wall down spilling the clay balls all over the floor.
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