While most people are familiar with the daring escape of 76 Allied POWs from the notorious Stalag Luft III—immortalized in the 1963 film The Great Escape—there was a far more impressive prison break during World War II that has remained largely forgotten. It wasn’t as glamorous, and it didn’t receive the Hollywood treatment, but the story of 800 Indian soldiers escaping from a German POW camp in Epinal, France, is one of the most successful and daring escapes of the war.
The escape took place in March 1944, when a bomb dropped by American aircraft struck the Epinal POW camp, located near the Moselle River in northeastern France, close to the German border and Switzerland. The explosion damaged the camp’s boundary wall, creating a perfect opportunity for the prisoners to make a break for it. In a flash, approximately 800 Indian soldiers, held by the Germans, seized the chance to flee, grabbing whatever food, clothing, and supplies they could.
Despite the chaos and the sounds of gunfire as the Germans attempted to regain control, these POWs pushed on, determined to escape their captors. Over the next five days, with the invaluable help of local French villagers who secretly sheltered them, about 500 of the escapees made it across the Swiss border and into safety.
The story of the Epinal escape, as told in Dr. Ghee Bowman’s book The Great Epinal Escape, has been largely overlooked by history. Unlike the famous Stalag Luft escape, which involved meticulous planning, the Indian soldiers’ escape was marked by quick thinking and seizing a rare opportunity. The involvement of the French Resistance and local villagers played a key role in ensuring their success, but the larger-than-life nature of their escape went largely unrecognized in the aftermath of the war.
Dr. Bowman, who has dedicated years to uncovering the stories of Indian soldiers in WWII, notes that this escape was not only an Indian story but also a deeply French one. “I met elderly people in France who remembered seeing the escapees,” he said in an interview with The Times, London. “It’s as much a French story as it is an Indian story. And yet, it remains largely unknown.”
After their escape, the Indian soldiers lived in Switzerland for some time, waiting for the liberation of Europe. Some of them even joined the French Resistance before eventually returning to India. However, despite their bravery and determination, their story was overshadowed by other war narratives, particularly those involving British soldiers.
The lack of recognition for the contributions of Commonwealth soldiers, particularly those from India, is a long-standing issue. Many of these soldiers, despite risking their lives for the Allied cause, received little acknowledgment for their heroism after the war. Dr. Bowman, whose father was the author W.E. Bowman (best known for The Ascent of Rum Doodle), has been working tirelessly to gather and preserve the stories of over 12,000 Indian POWs, hoping to offer their descendants a glimpse of the extraordinary contributions their forefathers made during the war.
Dr. Bowman’s efforts highlight a much-needed re-examination of the role Indian soldiers played during World War II, and the untold stories of courage and sacrifice that have largely remained on the periphery of history.
It’s high time that these stories are brought into the light, perhaps even in a museum dedicated to the unsung heroes of India’s wartime legacy. Would New Delhi be ready to embrace this vital chapter of history?The remarkable tale of the Epinal escape proves that sometimes the most significant acts of bravery are the ones that go unnoticed—until someone dares to remember.
