heflin says he was highest ranking officer among the men
and that he was in charge of their barracks
but then he says he found out about the escape only the day before
it was to go
the men would not have dug a tunnel w/o their commanding officer's
knowledge of it and consent to proceed w/ the attempt
They were POW in the camp, I don't expect the rank hierarchy in army would remain intact when you are POW. In fact, if I were the German, I would break up their squad as much as possible to prevent any organizing activities within the team
shareTake your point there but the couple books I've read over the years
about p-o-w camps seems the men still followed military protocols
but who knows really?
Hope neither one of us ever has to find out personally.
Enley said he was the senior officer in his own bunkhouse, not that he was the highest ranking officer among all the men. This is what he said:
"I was the senior officer in my bunkhouse. I was responsible for the rest of the men."
A large POW camp would have had several bunkhouses, and the highest ranking officer responsible for all of the men (not just the ones in his bunkhouse) may have been in one of the others.
jobseeker95479 replied Jan 6, 2013
"They were POW in the camp, I don't expect the rank hierarchy in army would remain intact when you are POW."
This is late in the post, but I must clarify this issue.
Rank most certainly was maintained in German POW camps and still is today, if American soldiers are captured! Customs and courtesies established within the military hierarchy are necessary for the moral and wellfare of service members at all times. In a POW situation especially, we still need order, discipline and leadership in order to persevere. Without it, soldiers could fall prey to the orders of the enemy, nobody would be trusted, and everyone would likely be killed. That rank structure is maintained until a member is formally discharged.
The REAL plot hole in this movie is that the Captain tried to STOP soldiers from attempting to escape! We are REQUIRED to make every effort feasible to escape from a POW situation, so the enemy cannot attempt to divulge information from us.
In the current Code of Conduct for US POWs, it is a "matter of conscious determination, a POW must plan to escape, try to escape and assist others to escape".
"We in it shall be remembered;
We few, we happy few, we Band of Brothers."
~W.S.