JUST BECAUSE...

Do you think God will ever run out of ideas?

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THE GREAT ESCAPE

                                                      

Steve McQueen (left) with Wally Floody, a former Canadian POW who was part 
of the real Great Escape and acted as a technical advisor in production of the film.
Courtesy of Wikipedia

                                        

It is time to answer some of the questions. Untouched for almost seven decades, the tunnel used in the Great Escape has finally been unearthed.The 111-yard passage nicknamed 'Harry' by Allied prisoners was sealed by the Germans after the audacious break-out from the POW camp Stalag  Luft III in western Poland.

Despite huge interest in the subject, encouraged by the film starring Steve  McQueen, the tunnel has remained undisturbed over the decades because it was behind the Iron Curtain and the Soviet authorities had no interest in it's significance. 

But at last British archaeologists have excavated it, and discovered it’s remarkable secrets.

Many of the bed boards which had been joined together to stop it collapsing were still in position and the ventilation shaft, ingeniously crafted from used powdered milk containers known as Klim Tins, remained in working order.

Scattered throughout the tunnel, which is 30ft below ground, were bits of old metal buckets, hammers and crowbars which were used to hollow out the route. A total of 600 prisoners worked on three tunnels at the same time. They were nicknamed Tom, Dick and Harry and were just 2 ft square for most of their length.

It was on the night of March 24 and 25, 1944, that 76 Allied airmen escaped through Harry. Barely a third of the 200 prisoners - many in fake German uniforms and civilian outfits and carrying false identity papers - who were meant to slip away - actually managed to leave before the alarm was raised when escapee number  77 was spotted.

A tunnel reconstruction shows the trolley system that was used.

Only three made it back to Britain .. Another 50 were executed by

firing squad on the orders of Adolf Hitler, who was furious after learning of  the breach of security.

In all, 90 boards from bunk beds, 62 tables, 34 chairs and 76 benches, as well as thousands of items including knives, spoons, forks, towels and blankets, were squirrelled away by the Allied prisoners to aid the escape plan under the noses of their captors.

Most were British, and  the others were from Canada, Poland, New Zealand, Australia and South Africa. 

All the tunnellers were Canadian personnel with backgrounds in mining.

 

The site of the tunnel, recently  excavated by British archaeologists.

The latest dig, over three weeks in August, located the entrance to Harry, which was originally concealed under a stove in Hut 104. The team also found another tunnel, called George, whose exact position had never been charted. It was never used as the 2,000 prisoners were forced to march to other camps as the Red  Army approached in January 1945.

Watching the excavation was Gordie King, 91, an RAF radio operator, who was 140th in line to use Harry and therefore missed out.

'This brings back such bitter-sweet memories,' he said as he wiped

away tears. 'I'm amazed by what they've found.' 

• FOR FURTHER READING... AND OR WATCHING...


• The Great Escape.. film
• 
  
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Great_Escape_(film)
• 
  
• The Great Escape: in search of the location of Steve McQueen's famous motorcycle stuntThe Telegraph·9 hours ago
• 
  
• The Great Escape film was riddled with fiction. Here's what really ...https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-03-24/the-great-escape-film...a.../10911138
• 
  
• The Great Escape (1963) - IMDbhttps://www.imdb.com/title/tt0057115/
• 
  
• True story of the Great Escape - Sydney Morning Heraldhttps://www.smh.com.au/national/true-story-of-the-great-escape-20120316-1vac0.html
• 
  
• 'Digger' Dowling, real hero of the Great Escape, dies at age of 92 | The ...https://www.independent.co.uk › News › UK › This Britain
• 
  
• 2:43The Great Escape - Trailer
• 
  
• 3:31The Great Escape (1963) Official Trailer - Steve McQueen Movie
• 
  
• 6:44Motorcycle scene- The Great Escape, 1963, Steve McQueen

real-life Great Escape team dies aged ...theguardian.com

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             OUR LIFE IN OLD PICTURES 

This sure brings back memories although it only seems like yesterday. 

                                            The good old days.

    

  

   

  

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GOD'S ICE ART

Baikal Ice Emerald

Frozen Bubbles

                                  

 Lighthouse on Lake Michigan

 Folded Snow

Flower Buds 

 Lakes

Ice Blossoms 

Flower after Ice Storm

Frozen Grass  

After Freezing Rain in China  

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COLOURISED GLIMPSES OF THE PAST

President Lincoln with Major General McClernand and Allan Pinkerton at Antietam in 1862

A Washington, D. C. filling station in 1924

Nazi Minister of Propaganda Joseph Goebbels scowls at a Jewish photographer, 1933

Audrey Hepburn 

Mark Twain in 1900

Charlie Chaplin at 27 years old in 1916

Claude Monet in 1923

A car crash in Washington D.C. around 1921

Albert Einstein, 1921

Brigadier General and actor Jimmy Stewart. Stewart flew 20 combat missions over Nazi-occupied Europe, and even flew one mission during Vietnam.

Pablo Picasso

Elizabeth Taylor in 1956 

Alfred Hitchcock

Clint Eastwood, 1962

Hindenburg Blimp crash

British Soldiers Returning from the front in 1939

Country store in July 1939 Gordonton, North Carolina

An RAF pilot getting a haircut while reading a book between missions

Girls delivering ice

Helen Keller meeting comedian Charlie Chaplin in 1918

Madison Square Park New York City around 1900

An Oklahoman farmer during the great dust bowl in 1939

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UNUSUAL AND INTERESTING 

A flock of sheep pass through a gate

The heavens open. Copenhagen,Denmark

Totoro, the Owl, with his mushroom

Feeding the 'birds' in Ecuador

A water spout in Genoa , Italy

So much emotion in just one photo!

Life is good

A cycling team from Rwanda sees snow for the first time

The photographer fell off a chair when he was taking the shot and ended up with this masterpiece of a

wedding photo

Swans swim through the street after floods, UK

A walrus becomes embarrassed when it's given a cake made of fish for its birthday, Norway

I really want to know what they're looking at...

A typical rainy day in Chicago, USA

Police dogs in line for lunch

In the African wilderness

Marilyn hasn't aged well...

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COMEDY WILDLIFE PHOTOGRAPHY AWARDS 2016 FINALISTS

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BUSTER'S DAILY DIARY

This was sent to the grandchildren when they lived overseas

as he was originally their dog that they had to leave behind.

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MAYBE WE WERE WRONG

18 missing

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IS NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC  CUTTING COSTS?

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15 Incredible Before & After Street Art Transformations That Are Simply Stunning 1. "Knowledge Speaks - Wisdom Listens," Athens, Greece Wild Drawing 2. "Juliette Et Les Esprits," Montpellier, France Patrick Commecy 3. 3D Mural In Poznan, Poland Waldemar Wylegalski 4. "Renaissance," Le Puy en Velay, France Patrick Commecy 5. Giant Starling Mural In Berlin, Germany Nika Kramer 6. "Au Fil De Loire," Brives Charensac, France Patrick Commecy 7. Photorealistic Mural, Glasgow, Scotland Smug 8. An Entire Town Was Painted Over In Palmitas, Mexico Germen Crew 9. Full Moon Hostel, Bristol, UK Paul Green 10. "Topart," Budapest, Hungary Neopaint 11. Tiled Steps On 16th Avenue, San Francisco, California

 tiledsteps

12. Diving Dog Mural, Mechelen, Belgium

Bart Smeets

13. "Porte Des Lavandières," Aurec Sur Loire, France

Patrick Commecy

14. Racoon Mural Made Of Trash And Found Objects, Lisbon, Portugal

Bordalo

15. "Let's Keep The Plants Alive," Bialystok, Poland

http://nataliarak.blogspot.lt/

  

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 INCREDIBLE PHOTOS

 

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