HAVE you ever wondered what it was like to be a prisoner of war, plotting escapes and constantly trying to fool the guards?

Well, here’s your chance to find out – for a trip taking place later this year aims to satisfy the curiosity of people who have thought about how they would have coped with being held prisoner in a notorious Second World War fortress.

Midlands-based historical research group Battlefield Memorial Tours is offering travellers the chance to spend the night at the infamous Colditz Castle in eastern Germany - and briefly experience the lives of captured servicemen.

Early on in the war, the Germans had converted the 12th century fortress near Leipzig into what they thought was an escape-proof bastion perched high on a rock overlooking a river.

But they had not allowed for the ingenuity of the so-called ‘incorrigible’ prisoners. And although Colditz was considered a high security prison, it boasted one of the highest records of successful escape attempts.

The most famous of these was by Captain Patrick Reid who successfully broke out in 1942 and subsequently wrote two detailed books about his adventures and the exploits of British and Canadian prisoners incarcerated in the castle.

The trip will take place September 28 – October 3 and will also visit Nordhausen concentration camp and the Mohne, Eder and Sorpe dams, scene of the famed Dambusters raid in May, 1943.

The attack by the RAF was aimed at crippling Germany’s industrial capacity. Lancaster bombers flying just 60 feet off the ground breached the dams, causing catastrophic flooding of the Ruhr valley.

For more information visit battle fieldmemorialtours.co.uk or contact Brian Long on 01629 650780.

John Phillpott, Press and publicity for Battlefield Memorial Tours