I guess that the festive and relaxing Noel has finally left us, even if the lyrics of a Danish Christmas ditty states that Christmas lasts until Easter.. so we're caught up in the ferris wheel once again.

I wonder if we ever got to discussing the adventures of a certain Major Errol Phipps, and I do apologise most profusely for only cutting and pasting, instead of making up an original story of my own:


Germany, 1917. Major Errol Phipps (Palin) is a legend among prisoners of war. He has attempted over five hundred escapes, two hundred of them before he left England. One day, he is transferred to the most infamous prison camp: Stalag Luft 112B. He tries nine escapes en route and one just after arriving, but is stopped by fellow British officers. They are comfortable where they are, bossing the Germans around. One of the officers is even called "Attenborough", alluding to Richard Attenborough's rôle in the film The Great Escape, which the episode parodies very successfully. Escape attempts have to be organized by a special committee which only meets very irregularly. Phipps tries to escape nonetheless: He starts to construct a glider out of toilet rolls, maps the wires and perimeters and starts digging tunnels in the flower beds. One day, he is woken up by the furious guard Vogel (Roy Kinnear): All the others have escaped. To give Phipps no chance to do the same, he is from now on closely watched. One night, the guards ask him for help: They want to escape; they’re fed up with this. Phipps refuses, saying this would be collaboration. The next morning he finds all the guards, except Vogel, have escaped. Vogel tries to persuade him to help him shoot them, Phipps again refuses. When Vogel shoots, he accidentally kills the Kommandant and has no choice but to escape. Phipps is left alone and has at last time to complete all his escape plans: He finishes his glider, builds a tunnel system so elaborate, that it later became part of the Munich underground and a giant catapult. He’s about to start a hot air balloon, when peace is declared. Major Phipps was the only man never to escape from Stalag Luft 112B. He dies a broken man; two months after the burial, his body is found near the cemetery fence.


In case you're wondering what this is all about; Here's what happend


Jens C. Lindblad


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