Blueprints Above a Chapel
In the final years of World War II, a group of British prisoners of war inside Colditz Castle—Germany’s supposedly escape-proof Oflag IV-C camp—began secretly building a glider. Known as the “Colditz Cock,” the plan was to launch it from the roof of the castle chapel, out of sight of the guards, and glide it across the River Mulde, sixty meters below.
The idea came from Lieutenant Tony Rolt, who noticed the roofline was not visible from German watchpoints. The Allied High Command, eager to maintain morale after the “Great Escape,” quietly approved the project.
Building in Secret with Stolen Wood
The glider was designed by Bill Goldfinch and Jack Best, with the aid of a textbook on aircraft design discovered in the prison library. They worked in a concealed attic space above the chapel, hidden behind a false wall. An electric alarm system and multiple lookouts protected the workshop from detection. More than 30 ribs were built using stolen bed slats, floorboards, and wood scavenged from around the prison.
Control wires came from salvaged electrical wiring. The glider’s skin was made from sleeping bags sealed with millet porridge. A launch runway of 20 meters was planned, constructed from tables, with a bathtub full of concrete acting as a falling counterweight to launch the craft.
Ready for Flight, Then Liberation Came First
The Colditz Cock was designed as a two-seater, high-wing monoplane with a 10-meter wingspan and a total weight of 110 kilograms. The final plan was to launch it during an air raid blackout in the spring of 1945, not just to escape, but also to warn nearby Allied forces in case of SS reprisals.
Before the glider could be used, the castle was liberated by the U.S. Army on 16 April 1945. A war correspondent photographed the glider the day before the Americans arrived. Although it never flew during the war, the effort was real and fully documented.
Replicas That Finally Took to the Air
In 1993, a one-third scale model based on original plans was launched from the roof. In 1999, Channel 4 commissioned a full-size replica that was successfully test flown in 2000. Another replica, radio-controlled, was built in 2012 and launched from the original intended location, successfully gliding across the river.
That replica is now displayed in Colditz Castle. The story was later featured in documentaries by Channel 4, Nova, and PBS. Plans for the glider are preserved by the Imperial War Museum, and a detailed book, Flight from Colditz by Tony Hoskins, was published in 2016.
