Home Images and media photos POW escape pack

POW escape pack

A prisoner of war escape pack made from parts of a battle dress uniform. The pack was made by Captain A.J. Tillick prior to his departure from Oflag VIIB POW camp on 14 April 1945.

Oflag VIIB was located near Eichstaett in southern Germany. As the military situation deteriorated German authorities ordered the officers from this camp to march eastwards, away from the advancing Americans. Prisoners were only allowed to take what they could carry. The pack was still on Captain Tillick's back when he was repatriated to England on 9 May 1945.

This image Appears In 2 Articles:

  • Allied prisoners of war on Crete
    Prisoners of War
  • Armstrong 9-pounder gun
    Objects of war

Keywords

WW2
prisoners of war
war objects
Credit

National Army Museum Te Mata Toa
Accession Number: 1982.251
Permission of the National Army Museum Te Mata Toa must be obtained before any reuse of this image.

How to cite this page

'POW escape pack', URL: /media/photo/escape-pack, (Ministry for Culture and Heritage), updated 19-Aug-2014

RELATED TO POW ESCAPE PACK

Events

  • 24 May 1943

    Turning point in Battle of the Atlantic
  • 15 October 1942

    NZ coastwatchers executed by the Japanese
  • 17 August 1942

    Attack on the Nino Bixio
  • 7 June 1940

    Fighter ace Edgar ‘Cobber’ Kain killed
  • 24 April 1941

    Sinking of the Hellas
  • 2 October 1941

    NZ pilot saves Scottish village
  • 19 December 1941

    HMS Neptune lost in Mediterranean minefield
  • 13 December 1939

    Battle of the River Plate
  • 19 August 1944

    Kiwi pilot's sacrifice saves French village
  • 27 November 1940

    Liner sunk by German raiders off East Cape
  • 20 May 1941

    German paratroops assault Crete
  • 11 November 1942

    Troopship Awatea goes down fighting
  • 14 May 1941

    NZ minesweeper sunk off Bream Head
  • 15 March 1944

    NZ forces capture Castle Hill at Cassino
  • 26 April 1943

    NZ ship torpedoed in Tasman
  • 23 February 1940

    100,000 welcome home HMS Achilles crew
  • 28 February 1945

    Kiwi soldier faces firing squad
  • 9 May 1945

    NZ celebrates Victory in Europe
  • 12 June 1942

    First US troops arrive in Auckland
  • 8 December 1941

    New Zealand declares war on Japan
  • 19 June 1940

    Niagara sunk by German mines off Northland
  • 15 August 1945

    The war is over! VJ Day
  • 16 August 1944

    CORSO formed
  • 20 August 1940

    Turakina sunk by German raider in Tasman
  • 3 September 1939

    New Zealand declares war on Germany
  • 5 September 1939

    PM declares NZ's support for Britain

  • 27 October 1943

    NZ troops make first opposed landing since Gallipoli
  • 2 November 1942

    NZ Division helps Allies break through at El Alamein
  • 22 November 1939

    Freyberg takes command of NZ Expeditionary Force
  • 7 March 1941

    NZ troops arrive in Greece

  • 19 March 1946

    Main body of Jayforce lands in Japan
  • 3 April 1943

    'Battle of Manners Street'
  • 29 March 1942

    Nazi sabotage hoax
  • 11 May 1945

    Upham presented with VC
  • 16 January 1941

    Women's Auxiliary Air Force founded
  • 21 January 1944

    NZ and Australia sign the Canberra Pact
  • 25 February 1943

    49 killed in Featherston POW incident
  • 17 December 1944

    Major Major, mascot of 19 Battalion, dies of sickness
See 30 more related events...

Biographies

  • Howard Kippenberger
  • Michael Herrick
  • Wilfrid Clouston
  • Alan Deere
  • Kitty Kain
  • Bernard Freyberg
  • Geoffrey Cox
  • Michael Joseph Savage
  • Peter Fraser
See 1 more related biography...

Articles

  • The Royal New Zealand Navy
  • HMNZS Leander
  • The Second World War at home
  • Royal NZ Navy's Bird-class ships
  • Battle of the River Plate
  • Objects of war
  • Military mascots
  • Māori and the Second World War
  • Second World War - overview
  • War in the Pacific
  • The Merchant Navy
  • The North African Campaign
  • Prisoners of War
  • VE and VJ days
  • D-Day
  • The Italian Campaign
  • US Forces in New Zealand
  • The Battle for Crete
See 10 more related articles...

Community contributions

2 comments have been posted about POW escape pack

What do you know?

admin

Posted: 31 Mar 2009

Kia ora Rae Thank you very much for posting this information, it is wonderful to find out more about Capt Tillick and his bag. Jamie Mackay Web Editor www.nzhistory.net.nz

Rae Staight (ne...

Posted: 31 Mar 2009

Kia ora, Alan Tillick's daughter Rae here. I well remember Dad's back pack and sweater, knitted on wooden needles.Dad, a gunner with the Sixth Field Regiment Artillary advance party, was captured on or about May 2nd 1941 in Kalamata, being one of 10,000 left behind on the beach during the evacuation of troops from Greece. After capture, was initially processed in Thessaloniki before being imprisioned in the following POW camps: VB Biberach VlB Warburg VllB Eichstatt VllA Moosburg, being liberated from there by General Pattern's Army April 29th 1945, a day which Dad was to celebrate each year for the remainder of his life.