A Ceredigion family has discovered an archive of documents and photographs which sheds new light on one of the most famous adventure stories of the war – the Great Escape.

Glan Evans spent more than two years at the Stalag Luft 3 prison camp where the escape – which was portrayed in the classic 1963 film starring Steve McQueen – took place in March 1944.

He had been taken prisoner in December 1942 after the Swordfish aircraft he was piloting came under fire and hit the sea in the darkness off the Normandy coast.

The beach at Trouville-sur-Mer in Normandy where Glan came ashore
The beach at Trouville-sur-Mer in Normandy where Glan came ashore (Greg Lewis)

To pass the time behind the barbed wire Glan collected photographs and articles from his fellow prisoners, depicting camp life and paying tribute to the 50 escapers who were executed by the Gestapo following the escape.

Then, after the war, he and his wife, Margaret (known as Peggy), settled in Felin-fach in the Aeron Valley. Glan studied for a degree in agriculture at Bangor University and later went on to become a biology teacher in Lampeter.

All the while he kept the mementos of his war in a suitcase in the attic. After he died in 2007, it took his sons Huw and Richard, and daughter Siw, a while before they started to look through it.

“Dad kept all these photographs, notes and documents from the war and we never really had the time to see what was there,” said Richard, of Llaethliw Vineyard, near Aberaeron. “We had an idea his archive was special – but we had no idea just how special.”

1.0 Glan’s children Siw and Richard Evans at the museum in Poland which commemorates the Great Escape.
Glan’s children Siw and Richard Evans at the museum in Poland which commemorates the Great Escape. (Greg Lewis)

Then Richard gave a public talk arranged by Emyr Llywelyn in Ffostrasol about the items in the suitcase.

The next day, Emyr phoned Lampeter-based TV producer Dinah Jones.“

And he said: ‘Dinah, I’ve got a scoop for you!’ And what a scoop it was! I knew straight away it would make a great documentary and S4C was immediately keen and supportive,” said Dinah.

Ewbank's is auctioning The Great Escape (1963) movie poster.
A film poster for the iconic Steve McQueen movie (Ewbank's)

The result is ‘Cyfrinachau'r Great Escape’ (Secrets of the Great Escape), a two-part series in which Richard and his sister Siw, who lives in New Zealand, travel to Scotland, France, Germany and Poland to follow their father’s remarkable story.

Richard added: “Doing the programme we learnt that Glan had an incredible war and that he kept items which had a significance well beyond the family.

“When Marek, the Stalag Luft 3 museum curator, called Glan’s scrapbook a ‘holy grail’ we realised just how special it was.”

2.0 Swordfish pilot Glan Evans, of the Fleet Air Arm, photographed in 1942, shortly before his aircraft crashed close to the Normandy coast
Swordfish pilot Glan Evans, of the Fleet Air Arm, photographed in 1942, shortly before his aircraft crashed close to the Normandy coast (Richard Evans)

Dinah said: “Lots of us know the film but learning the real story of one of the prisoners – what he’d done before, how he’d risked his life, and how he’d ended up in the camp – was a once-in-a-lifetime experience. It made us feel close to Glan and the other prisoners.”

The story was deemed so fascinating that the team behind the documentary and education specialists have also turned it into a website and teaching resources to be used in schools across Wales. The stories can be found at www.glanevans.co.uk

‘Cyfrinachau'r Great Escape’ starts on S4C on 2 November 2 at 8pm.