By Robert Barr
The Virginian-Pilot
LONDON — Jack Harrison, who survived the Great Escape plot by Allied prisoners in a German prison in World War II, has died at age 97, his family said.
Harrison died Friday at Erskine veterans’ home in Bishopton, Scotland.
As one of the camp’s gardeners, Harrison helped dispose of the dirt excavated from three escape tunnels. He was 98th on the list of some 200 inmates designated to make the escape on March 24, 1944, but only 76 got away before guards detected the breakout and raised the alarm.
The breakout was celebrated in the 1963 film “The Great Escape,” starring Steve McQueen and James Garner.
Only three men reached safety. Adolf Hitler ordered the execution of 50 recaptured escapers, and 23 others were returned to custody.
British news reports said Harrison was believed to be the last survivor of the plot . Two of the prisoners’ tunnels had been found by guards and closed before the escape attempt.
“I guess it was a blessing in disguise I never made it through, as most were shot,” Harrison said in an interview last year with the Scottish Sun newspaper. “But the main purpose wasn’t just to escape. It was to outfox the Germans. It was a huge moral victory. It humiliated Hitler and gave the Nazis a bloody nose.”
When the escape was detected, Harrison had to quickly burn his disguise and alias as a Hungarian electrician and get back into his prison uniform.
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