The Swiss Red Cross Commission escape occurred in 1941 at Schloss Spangenberg, involving Dominic Bruce, Eustace Newborn and Pete Tunstall, all prisoners of war (POWs), held at the castle. It has been described as the most audacious escape of World War II. Bruce's Military Cross (MC) citation described it as a "very clever escape."
In late July and early August 1941, Bruce, Newborn and Tunstall, took an interest in the architecture of the building, suspecting there may be escaping materials. The three broke into a flat in the Schloss thought to belong to a forestry principal and inside the flat the trio obtained escape material such as disguises, maps and a compass. After sourcing the escape resources, they carefully crafted an escape plan that took advantage of the incompetent gate security of the castle, intending to walk to Kassel, break into Fliegerhorst Kassel, steal an aircraft and then fly to Basle.
Patiently waiting many weeks for the conditions to be just right for the escape, on 3 September 1941 the trio brazenly walked across the moat bridge, posing as a German officer (Tunstall) and two doctors (Bruce and Newborn) of a Swiss Red Cross inspection team. Upon reaching the bottom of the hill outside of the castle's grounds, they quickly removed their Swiss Commission disguises and then made their way to Kassel, dressed as Luftwaffe airmen, aiming to steal an aircraft.
Subsequently, after a turn of unfortunate events, they were forced to change their plans. As such, the three decided to walk onwards towards the Belgian border. On their tenth day on the road, they were recaptured by an off duty guard from Spangenberg, who recognised Tunstall. Following their capture, Bruce, Newborn and Tunstall were interrogated by the Gestapo (Geheime Staatspolizei - secret state police) and sentenced to 53 days in solitude. The escape by the trio, which revealed the short-comings of the castle's ability to handle prisoners of war, is thought to be a reason why Schloss Spangenberg was evacuated in late 1941.
Prologue to the Swiss Red Cross Commission
It has been argued that Bruce and Tunstall are the original innovators of the wooden horse escape technique. Along with Eustace Newborn and Peter Tunstall, Bruce came up with the escape plan now known as "the Swiss Red Cross Commission." Tunstall, also highlights that in 1941, prior to he and Bruce planning an escape with the famed "Swiss Red Cross Commission", he and Bruce had been digging an escape route with a wooden horse tunnel from inside the gymnasium. The wooden horse was placed roughly four feet from the wall that separated the gym from the moat. The digging was a very slow process; it required the removal of spoil, bricks and stone work, and was aided by other prisoners distracting the guards. They were later joined by Douglas "Sammy" Hoare and a syndicate who were promised a second go if they escaped undiscovered. Other members of this syndicate were also named as: Harry Bewlay, John Milner and Eustace Newborn.
When Bruce and Tunstall noted the slow process they began examining the rest of the castle and left the digging to the other team involving Sammy Hoare. The tunnel almost reached completion but unfortunately the digging team got caught when a guard become suspicious at the large stones that were accumulating outside of the gym. The guard then called a search, and then found the escape tunnel. When the guards found the shaft they called an Appell and Hauptmann Schmidt confidently stated to the prisoners, "It is impossible to escape by tunnel or any other way."
This wooden horse gym escape tunnel was two years prior to the famed Sagan wooden horse escape. Tunstall stated that he would like to think some of the watchers and workers who helped on their original wooden horse escape may have mentioned it from time to time; and would like to think that their idea contributed to the success of the effort at Sagan.