CH4 - Digging the Great Escape (2011)

A team of engineers, archaeologists and serving RAF officers have an extraordinarily ambitious plan: to excavate for the first time ever the remains of 'Harry', the Great Escape tunnel.
This fascinating programme follows a team who have assembled on the site of Stalag Luft III, the supposedly escape proof PoW camp, with an extraordinarily ambitious plan: to excavate for the first time ever the remains of "Harry", the tunnel from which 76 allied airmen escaped on the night of 24 March 1944. This was the Great Escape, immortalised by Hollywood, and internationally famous as an extraordinary story of courage and ingenuity.
It took a year to dig the tunnel and for nearly 70 years Harry has remained undisturbed - and with it the final secrets of the remarkable story of the Great Escape.
But how did the POWs do it? How did they actually dig a 100 metre tunnel, seven metres below ground with only rudimentary tools and right under the noses of their German guards? How did they get rid of several tonnes of sand? How did they ventilate and light the tunnel? How did they forge more than 100 documents? What did they do with 90 double bunk beds, 635 mattresses, 3,424 towels, etc that they stole from the camp? And who were these remarkable people?