Captive British airmen make it their mission to escape from a brand new Nazi prison ? Stalag Luft III ? by building three escape tunnels and preparing 200 men for escape. In 1942 the Nazi Reich was at the height of their power in Europe, but by August 1943 the tunnels at the camp, code-named Tom, Dick, and Harry, were getting longer every day with teams digging around the clock. In October, the Tom tunnel is discovered and destroyed by guards ? the game could have been up.