'Great Escape' veteran Jack dies aged 97

A VETERAN thought to be the last survivor of the prisoner-of-war breakout immortalised in the film The Great Escape has died aged 97, it emerged today.

Jack Harrison, one of scores of Allied servicemen who tried to flee Stalag Luft III during the Second World War.

The former RAF pilot was waiting to go down the tunnel when the underground escape attempt was noticed, and he frantically burned his forged documentation before changing back into a PoW uniform.

In all, 76 prisoners broke out of the camp in March 1944, but only three reached safety and 50 of those recaptured were shot.