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Escape from Colditz was one of the best books I ever read. Changed my whole idea about prison escapes. The tunnels were spectacular, but usually didn't work or only got out a few guys. On the other hand stealing or making a German uniform and walking out the front door worked over and over again. Only down side was if you got caught in a tunnel they threw you in the cooler. If you got caught in a German uniform you got shot.

The other thing the book brought up was the idea of small vs large groups (as in the Great Escape). With small groups you had a lot better chance of reaching freedom. With a small group you could send guys with some German language experience. If they couldn't pass for German they could often pass for Belgian or French laborers brought into Germany and going home on leave. This was enhanced by the fact that small groups had better preparation in terms of travel papers and civilian clothing. They even made luggage, because traveling without it was a dead give away. Most importantly with a small group if you got away from the camp nobody was looking for you.

In addition with small groups they could fudge the counts so that the guards might not even know the guys were missing for weeks. Fold up dummies and fake escapes were favorite methods. The fake escape is one where you hide a generic looking guy under the floor boards so that the Germans think he escaped. Then when someone actually does escape you bring out your hidden guy to take his place.

My favorite was they guy stealing the old cans. He didn't have a use for them but the Germans were desperate to be sure the prisoners didn't have them. So he figured the Germans must have a good reason to want them, so he was going to hold onto the cans until he figured out what it was.