'Great Escape' survivor Paul Royle dies, aged 101

Australian Flight Lieutenant Paul Royale died in Perth, southwestern Australia at the age of 101.

Royle's son Gordon told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) on Friday that his father passed away on Sunday following surgery on a hip fracture, suffered in a fall in a nursing home.

"Dad continued to live his life to the full. It was a fall that killed him in the end," he said.

Royle was one of 76 Allied prisoners of war who attempted to break out of Stalag Luft III southeast of Berlin in March 1944. The bid for freedom became known as "The Great Escape."

Thwarted attempt

As part of the plan, some 600 prisoners helped dig three tunnels - codenamed Tom, Dick and Harry - although only Harry was used.

The former pilot in the Royal Air Force said his role in the escape operation was to dispose of soil excavated from the 110-meter (360-foot) tunnel around the camp's grounds - pouring it into his long johns then releasing it when guards were not watching.

The mass breakout was foiled, however, as the tunnel exit fell short of the forest and the prisoners were spotted.

Only three escapees made it to freedom - two Norwegians and a man from the Netherlands. The rest were captured by the Gestapo and 50 of them executed on Hitler's orders.

Royle spent two days hiding in a snow-covered forest before he was recaptured and returned to the original camp. It was there that he met fellow Australian Paul Brickhill, whose book "The Great Escape" told the story of the mass breakout.

One remaining survivor

Speaking last year on the 70th anniversary of the tunnel escape, Royle revealed that he was no fan of Hollywood's silver screen adaptation, starring Steve McQueen and Richard Attenborough.

"The movie I disliked intensely because there were no motorbikes ... and the Americans weren't there," he told ABC, referring to McQueen's dramatic bid to outrun the Germans on a motorbike.

The war veteran leaves behind his second wife Pamela Yvonne Royle, five children, eight grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

The only living survivor of the escape is 94-year-old Briton and former squadron leader Dick Churchill.

ksb/msh (AFP, AP, dpa)