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Willing to fight for their country, they instead spent much of the Second World War in captivity behind barbed wire fences. Yet the 100,000 Britons who were Prisoners of War in Germany, Austria and Poland during the struggle against Hitler, still managed to tie up huge numbers of enemy troops thanks to their relentless determination to escape.
And now, 70 years after the war began, the German prison records of all the Britons captured during the conflict are available on the internet for those seeking information about their relatives or ancestors. The database - originally compiled by the Germans under terms of the Geneva convention requiring them to notify enemies about captured troops - helps bring to life tales told on screen, including The Great Escape and The Wooden Horse.
Among those listed are actor Desmond Llewelyn, famous for his performances as grumpy gadget inventor 'Q' in the James Bond films, but who in real life was captured in 1940 and held in notorious prison camp Colditz Castle for five years.
Other well known POW records to be released include that of Viscount George Henry Hubert Lascelles, who was seventh in line to the throne at the time of capture, and imprisoned in Colditz from 1944 until the end of the war. The records of Jock Hamilton-Baillie, a serial escaper who escaped from five German prison camps before being banished to Colditz, are also included.
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