- .Ordered to wear high-vis vests over their fatigues due to health and safety
- .Taking part in a march to mark 70 years since the Great Escape of Allied airmen and to honour 50 of them who were caught and executed
- .Bright yellow jackets are being worn by 50 British Royal Air Force officers
- .Marching from site of Nazi camp to war cemetery in western Poland
- .250 soldiers spent 11 months building 300ft tunnel out of Stalag Luft III
- .Three escaped, but 73 were recaptured, with 50 of them later executed
Every year the RAF proudly honours the fearless officers who were brutally executed during The Great Escape.
But modern times have now caught up with tradition and yesterday the officers were ordered to wear high-visibility vests over their fatigues due to health and safety reasons as they took part in a march to mark 70 years since the daring escape.
The bright yellow jackets are being worn by 50 British Royal Air Force officers as they march from the site of the Nazi prisoner camp to a war cemetery in western Poland.
Modern times have now caught up with tradition and RAF officers were ordered to wear high-vis vests over their fatigues due to health and safety reasons as they took part in a march to mark 70 years since the Great Escape of Allied airmen and to honour 50 of them who were caught and executed
The bright yellow jackets are being worn by 50 British Royal Air Force officers as they march from the site of the Nazi prisoner camp to a war cemetery in western Poland
One onlooker told The Sun: 'It's bonkers - they are trying to honour daring and secrecy by ticking all the health and safety boxes. Our war heros would be turning in their graves.'
In four days, the British officers are to walk more than 100 miles to the British war cemetery in Poznan, where the ashes of those executed were buried after the war.
Marek Lazarz, director of the Stalag Luft III Museum near Zagan, said the British group started in pouring rain from a monument marking the place where 76 prisoners of war emerged.
During observances this week, they have met two British former Stalag inmates, retired RAF airmen Andrew Weisman and Charles Clarke, who were held at the camp after the time of the Great Escape.
One onlooker said: 'It's bonkers - they are trying to honour daring and secrecy by ticking all the health and safety boxes. Our war heros would be turning in their graves'
One of a group of some 50 British Royal Air Force officers, carrying a picture of an executed British airman
The plot became the inspiration behind the classic war film The Great Escape starring Hollywood legend Steve McQueen.
A group of about 250 prisoners, started to digging tunnels, in which they were going to escape the 59-acre site, which had five miles of perimeter fencing.
More than 600 prisoners were involved in the construction of three tunnels - codenamed Tom, Dick and Harry - at the camp in the German Province of Lower Silesia, 100 miles southeast of Berlin.
Tom and Dick had to be abandoned with Harry becoming the focus of their escape route.
The plan: 250 officers spent 11 months building Harry, a 300ft tunnel out of the camp in Zagan, Poland
The site 100 miles south of Berlin was built to hold 10,000 prisoners of war during World War Two
This is a shot of the entrance of the Harry tunnel which captured the hearts of the world when it emerged
A commemorative stone has been laid over the track listing the names of the men who concocted the idea
It was approximately 300ft long and 28ft deep.
Only 200 of the higher ranking captives, those who could speak German and had put a lot of work into digging the tunnels, would have time to escape in the plan.
But there was a series of problems on the night of the escape.
The main issue was that the Harry tunnel came up short and in close proximity to a guard tower.
As the 77th man exited the tunnel, they were spotted by a guard who alerted the rest of the camp and 73 of the escaped prisoners were captured. Fifty of those were shot.
An RAF spokesperson said: 'There are 50 current serving RAF personnel currently walking towards Poznan, which is the final resting place for Sqn Ldr Roger Bushell, who was the mastermind for the Great Escape; when these personnel are walking on busy main roads, which are not closed to traffic, they are wearing hi-vis jackets to ensure they reach their destination safely.'
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