“He was the greatest escape artist of the war. The legs never stopped itching” – recalled the Great Escape hero

In all, the remarkable PoW who possessed the will of a homing pigeon to slip, or attempt to slip, his Nazi guards 13 times.

And one of those daring acts that disappeared was from Stalag Luft III, a veritable fortress where security was as tight as skin stretched over a bass drum.

Yes, Shropshire’s Bertram ‘Jimmy’ James was part of The Great Escape, immortalized by the 1963 blockbuster of the same name.

Jumping over fences on a motorbike – as Steve McQueen did in the film’s most famous scene – was not the RAF bomber pilot’s style, however. He preferred more cunning, hidden methods. Tunnels were his forte. Let Jimmy get his hands on a knife, fork or spoon and he’ll start digging – deep and long.

It’s a little unfair that none of the big stars of the movie got the part called Jimmy James, because he was in full swing. He orchestrated the scattering of earth from one of the three tunnels.

Disguised as a Yugoslav worker, Jimmy broke into the Stalag’s perimeter and trudged through deep snow to a train station five miles away. There the Gestapo caught up with the greatest wartime escapologist.

During the 80th anniversary of D-Day, our nation paid tribute to the men and women who broke the Fuhrer’s evil war machine.

There was no greater hero than our own Bertram “Jimmy” James whose exploits fit like something out of the Boys’ Own. It’s the stuff of John Wayne novels and screenplays.

Jimmy, who received the Military Cross and rose to the rank of Squadron Leader, was a Rambo in blue serge.

For the German soldiers tasked with keeping it under lock and key, it was a Groundhog Day nightmare. It would capture it, it would burst. It would capture him, burst…

Those guards soon learned that you didn’t leave a door or window open with Jimmy around.

The citation of the Military Cross reveals the insatiable thirst for freedom.

It says: “He was sent to Stalag Luft I in Barth from which camp he tried to escape during an air raid on October 21, 1941. His attempt, which was made after a tunnel had been built, failed and as a punishment he received 14 days of isolation.

“In November 1941, he was discovered while engaged in the construction of a second tunnel and sentenced to another 14 days in solitary confinement. While at Stalag Luft I, he worked on the construction of at least five other tunnels.

“His next attempt was made at Stalag Luft III in July 1942, when he and another prisoner managed to escape from a sick parade…”

The list goes on and on.