Sand from Stalag Luft III Parade Ground, The Great Escape

On the night of 24 March 1944, 76 Allied prisoners, the majority of them RAF aircrew, escaped from the German prisoner of war camp, Stalag Luft III.

They escaped through one of the three tunnels they had dug under the camp. The mass exit became known as The Great Escape. Only three of the escapees managed to evade capture with 50 of the recaptured prisoners later being executed on the orders of Adolf Hitler as a deterrent to other escape attempts. This Petri dish contains sand from the camp's parade ground.