Officers sent to Colditz were considered a high risk of escaping
Sixty years after the prisoner of war jail Colditz was liberated by US troops, former inmates are returning to Germany to mark the anniversary.
Captain Tommy Catlow and Lieutenant Kenneth Lee will join celebrations at the 16th Century castle - known for the daring escapes made by POWs there.
Almost 1,500 Allied officers were jailed at the high security prison between 1940 and 1945.
Famous escape bids included a 90ft-deep and 100ft-long tunnel dug by POWs.
Return to Colditz
Most of the 35 surviving British and Commonwealth ex-prisoners of Colditz are now too frail to make the trip to Colditz.
But Kenneth Lockwood, 93, a prisoner from November 1940 until the site was liberated by United States troops on 16 April, 1945, said although he was unable to be there for the anniversary, he had been back between 15 and 20 times.
"On the first return visit another veteran and I spotted a part of the castle we'd never seen before. If we'd found it whilst inside, there would have been a good chance of escaping - but the Germans had bricked it up."
In my first letter home from Colditz, I announced that we were having a dinner party, with details of the menu
Flight Lieutenant Walter Morison
Many of the officers who found themselves imprisoned in the castle were considered a high escape risk, while others dubbed "Prominente" were largely relatives of Allied VIPs - including the nephew of Winston Churchill, journalist Giles Romilly.
It was considered an officer's duty to escape, which took many forms, including disguise, hiding under a manhole cover until dark and famously a glider - although this was not completed when the US took control of the castle.
Despite this, conditions at the castle, say many ex-POWs, were comparatively good.
"I often think it was really the best POW camp in Germany," said 85-year-old Flight Lieutenant Walter Morison.
"Because we were captured and held by the regular German forces we were under the military command, men who abided by decent standards and upheld the Geneva Convention.
"It was the SS and the Gestapo, under political command, who were responsible for most of the abuses. If they ever tried to poke their noses in with us, our guards would laugh them away."
'Defeat certain'
He said that though space was often at a premium and the stone walls made the camp bitterly cold, it did have some benefits.
"If you get together a group of intelligent, well-educated young men, they are an interesting group of people who will always find things to do," he said.
"In my first letter home from Colditz, I announced that we were having a dinner party, with details of the menu.
"There was theatre, books, music and we managed to hide a radio, meaning we could listen to the BBC - crucial to our morale as we realised the Germans were certain to be defeated."
©BBC News, UK