The Aussie Map Maker of Colditz

I was intrigued to discover that to main maker of escape maps in Colditz was an Aussie prisoner, Jack Milett. Copies of the original Colditz escape maps would be a great addition to my "escape kit" so I set out for the Australian War Memorial where the original Maps are part of the collection. The staff at the AWM were really helpful and in no time I was sitting with the original, extremely detailed maps of the surrounding area of the castle.

The maps were produced with the customary prisoner ingenuity using tracing paper and jelly from the red cross parcels. Dianne Rutherford at the AWM has a great blog post explaining the process. This is a great project for kids and at the end you can eat the printing press.

I was able to make copies of these original Maps and will take them to the castle for my "escape". It was a great thrill to be holding these original artefacts made by the prisoners for use in genuine escapes, where success may well have depended on the quality of the map. No downloadable maps for the GPS for these boys.

Many thanks to the family of Jack Millett for their generosity in donating the maps to the AWM for others to share.