In spring 1942, Royal Air Force pilot Bill Ash’s plane was shot down by Germans, who captured and eventually brought him to Stalag Luft III, a notorious camp for prisoners of war. The Germans boasted that the camp—which was isolated, heavily guarded, and surrounded by wire fences—was escape proof. But Ash was ready to prove them wrong. He, along with other POWs, would dig tunnels, hide in shower drains, or jump on trucks—all in the name of freedom. Because resisting the Germans was their mission, and escaping was their duty.