Best of 2022: The real story of Colditz
The Story
The Times
3.9 • 1.6K Ratings
🗓️ 29 December 2022
⏱️ 37 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
In the week between Christmas and New Year, we’re listening back to some of our favourite episodes of 2022.
It's a legend many of us have grown up with: a plucky group of British officers, finding themselves trapped in a heavily guarded POW camp during the Second World War, try every trick they can think of to break out. But, in a new book by Ben Macintyre, we hear for the first time the real story of Colditz. A story that's not just more complicated, but far more interesting than the one we were told.
This podcast was brought to you thanks to the support of readers of The Times and The Sunday Times. Subscribe today: thetimes.co.uk/storiesofourtimes.
Guest: Ben Macintyre, Associate Editor, The Times.
Host: David Aaronovitch.
Clips: BBC/Universal Studios, The Imperial War Museum.
This podcast was brought to you thanks to subscribers of The Times and The Sunday Times. To enjoy unlimited digital access to all our journalism subscribe here.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Sending your kids to university can be a roller coaster. |
| 0:03.4 | You're partly excited for them, possibly partly excited for you, |
| 0:07.2 | probably a bit nervous about letting them feed themselves, |
| 0:10.0 | and deep down, wondering if it's too soon to turn their room into a home cinema. |
| 0:14.4 | Unite students provides the ideal accommodation for your young adult to experience life outside the nest, |
| 0:20.4 | a place where they belong, with the independence they want, |
| 0:23.6 | and the support they occasionally need. |
| 0:26.0 | Find their room to thrive, search Unite Students Parent Guide. |
| 0:56.4 | Find their room to thrive, search Unite Students Parent Guide. |
| 1:00.4 | Find their room to thrive, search Unite Students Parent Guide. |
| 1:26.8 | I've known the story since I was a boy. |
| 1:39.2 | You were sent here to coldits to ensure you do not escape again, |
| 1:42.8 | and you will not escape again. |
| 1:44.8 | The sooner you'll grasp that, the better for you. |
| 1:47.6 | Coldits, the POW camp in an impregnable castle in the middle of Nazi Germany, |
| 1:58.0 | where Jerry imprisoned our chat during the war, |
| 2:00.8 | before which they kept on devising ingenious methods of escape. |
| 2:05.6 | It's an inspiring tale of fortitude, camaraderie and cunning, |
| 2:10.4 | a saga of pure luck. |
| 2:14.0 | Oh, was there more to it? |
| 2:18.0 | We have inherited a rather two-dimensional view of the war |
| 2:21.6 | that it's about winners and losers and goodies and baddies, |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from The Times, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of The Times and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.