Wally Floody: CBC Digital Archives (1980)

An interview with Wally Floody -- one of the original great escapers. In 1962, Floody, a Canadian, was hired as a technical advisor on the set of The Great Escape. Floody's historical character is played by Charles Bronson in the movie. About the life of the actor, Floody says, " You'd have to pay me a lot of money to become an actor. My gosh, it's a boring job. There's so much just sitting around."


Seen here on the film set in discussion with Steve McQueen-- On March 24, 1944, 76 Allied prisoners of war snuck under the wire of German PoW camp Stalag Luft III in a daring escapade that became known as the "Great Escape." This mass escape was made possible through an extensive tunnel project engineered by Canadian pilot Wally Floody. It was the single biggest escape of the war, and it caused chaos behind German lines. In this 1980 interview, Wally Floody discusses the duty of escaping and recounts the story of the Great Escape.CBC Digital Archives interview here.