Escape Official

In July 1992, long shadows formed as the sun set over Medellin, the Colombian city nestled in the Aburra Valley. Perched against one of the steep hills overlooking the city sat the La Catedral Prison, although the word prison was hardly a good description. More like a luxurious estate, the facility boasted a private football pitch, Jacuzzi, and expansive cells more accurately described as hotel suites. All of this was built especially for Colombia’s public enemy number one: Pablo Escobar, the drug smuggler who at the height of his power was responsible for 80% of the cocaine that flooded into the United States. The kingpin continued to run his empire while he served his time, protected from both the government and rival cartels. But as nightfall crept closer, Colombian military had begun surrounding La Catedral. Escobar’s time there was up. He had to get out.

In February 1864, a group of Union soldiers escaped from Libby Prison in Richmond, Virginia. Filthy and starving, the prisoners had set about finding a way out of Libby – which had become an overcrowded hell hole. For other inmates, the long months spent trying to pass the time as the American civil war raged between the North and South was too much for them to bear. But there were two captives that felt a deep sense of duty to breakout and make a run for the picket lines. After arriving in Libby, they refused to give in to despair, and instead, they set about finding a way out.

On Sunday, September 25th, 1983, the day started as normal in H-block 7, with the prison officers having no indication of what the prisoners had in store. Brendan McFarlane, on the other hand, began the day with a sense of anticipation of what the prisoners had planned, mixed with a slight feeling of apprehension, knowing that it was on.

In September 1983, the Irish Republican Army planned and executed a mass escape from Her Majesty’s Maze Prison in Northern Ireland. 38 prisoners made it beyond the walls of the Maze, which the UK government had boasted was the most secure prison in all of Europe. The IRA prisoners were hell-bent on embarrassing the UK government and attracting attention to their cause – to form a united Ireland. But to fully understand these IRA prisoners’ determination which led to the biggest escape in British penal history, the first step is to look back at the events that shaped modern attitudes.

Darcy Dugan felt no remorse for trying to get out. When you cage an animal against its will, deprive it of its natural element and kin, it will naturally try to escape – particularly if it can see a way out. The way he saw it, the warder’s job was to keep him in custody. His job was to get out. And he had already found another possible way.

A few days after his court hearing, Billy was transported in a red panel truck to the Bakirkoy mental hospital prison facility to begin his 17 days of observation. He and a group of other prisoners were unloaded and escorted into a reception area, where hospital attendants in dirty white smocks took Billy’s watch and the 100 lira note that he had to be stored securely. He was then escorted into the grounds toward Section 13, the home of the criminally insane, and his new home, at least for the moment.

Billy lay on the old, stained mattress that sat atop the steel frame bolted to the floor. He’d been imprisoned in a Turkish jail cell since October 1970, charged with drug possession. Although he had lawyers, his faith in their abilities and in the Turkish legal system had dwindled and was now practically non-existent. No one could tell him how long he’d remain a prisoner, no one knew for certain. But one thing he did know, was that he couldn’t stay in prison for much longer. The conditions were filthy and he had to remain constantly vigilant against the guards and other prisoners. He’d seen what they were capable of. Billy racked his brain, desperate for an idea. There had to be a way out of here.

It was March, 1849. Henry Brown, a slave working in a tobacco factory in Richmond, Virginia, was 33 years old. He had it better than most other slaves it was true, but he was still a slave all the same. Besides, there was no telling how long that relative comfort would last. He’d watched too many of his companions whipped and humiliated by their masters and the overseers, then grow into old, broken men, with any potential they had had wasted. Henry resolved not to suffer that same fate, and was determined to escape, or die trying. He could bear the burden no longer – it was now or never.

On July 11th, 2015, guards at the Federal Social Readaptation Centre No. 1, made their usual rounds. The Federal Social Readaptation Centre No 1, known as the Altiplano prison for short, is a maximum security prison in Almoloya de Juárez in the State of Mexico. Completed in 1990 and with security features that included 1 metre thick reinforced concrete walls, the Mexican authorities boasted that it was impregnable. Joaquin ‘El Chapo’ Guzman, the head of the Sinaloa Cartel in Mexico, had been incarcerated in the Altiplano prison since 2014. He was awaiting extradition to the US to face charges of drug trafficking and murder. At 8:52 pm, Guzman was seen on the security cameras near the shower area in his cell. This was the last time he was caught on the security cameras. After 25 minutes, prison guards went to Guzman’s cell to look for him. Guzman was gone.

On September 1st, 1939 World War II erupted in Europe after Germany invaded Poland and the United Kingdom and France retaliated by declaring war. Over the course of six years, Europe watched as German forces expanded their territory both east and west, before the Allied forces turned the tide and slowly forced Germany to retreat. As the war progressed, tens of thousands of men from both sides were captured by the enemy and sent to Prisoners of War camps throughout Europe. Allied soldiers taken prisoner found themselves incarcerated in these camps across Germany and broader German-controlled territory, especially Poland. It was in a camp named Stalag Luft III, located near Sagan in Poland, where an incredibly dangerous and daring escape plan was hatched by a group of Allied prisoners of war. Although the main escape attempt would draw on the efforts of hundreds of Allied soldiers from all corners of the globe, the origin of the Great Escape can be traced to the courage, tenacity and intellect of three men – Wing Commander Harry ‘Wings’ Day, Squadron Leader Roger Bushell, and Lieutenant Commander Jimmy Buckley. It would become one of the greatest escape stories ever told.

On September 1st, 1939 World War II erupted in Europe after Germany invaded Poland and the United Kingdom and France retaliated by declaring war. Over the course of six years, Europe watched as German forces expanded their territory both east and west, before the Allied forces turned the tide and slowly forced Germany to retreat.   As the war progressed, tens of thousands of men from both sides were captured by the enemy and sent to Prisoner of War camps throughout Europe. Allied soldiers taken prisoner found themselves incarcerated in these camps across Germany and broader German-controlled territory, especially Poland.   It was in a camp named Stalag Luft III, located near Sagan in Poland, where an incredibly dangerous and daring escape plan was hatched by a group of Allied prisoners of war. Although the main escape attempt would draw on the efforts of hundreds of Allied soldiers from all corners of the globe, the origin of the Great Escape can be traced to the courage, tenacity and intellect of three men – Wing Commander Harry ‘Wings’ Day, Squadron Leader Roger Bushell, and Lieutenant Commander Jimmy Buckley. It would become one of the greatest escape stories ever told.