I’m tired of stupid TV shows and decided to ask Alexa to find something artful, something ageless, something that could carry me for a while…ergo Hogan’s Heroes.
I have projects to work on and it bugs me that I haven’t finished any. Well, I’ll find a topic I can knock out in an hour and post that, but the book work, the image sorting for video-slideshows, curating the collection…all that has fallen to the wayside. I have no reason to be bored, yet I’m feeling that exactly. I need out.
So, I get into these modes where I do the bare minimum, then look for stupid stuff to keep me busy for as long as possible. That usually results in stupid TV shows.
Hogan’s Heroes
Hogan’s Heroes was not directly based on a specific true story, specific set of factual events, or a real-life covert operation. It was a fictional television comedy created by Bernard Fein and Albert S. Ruddy that aired from 1965 to 1971.
While the show used WWII as its backdrop, the plot relied on pure farce: Allied prisoners running an elaborate, fully equipped espionage and sabotage ring directly underneath the nose of bumbling German camp officers.
Several real-world historical dynamics influenced the concept, along with a few coincidences tied to actual history:
- 1. Infiltration and Escape Networks Were Real
During World War II, Allied prisoners of war (POWs) in actual German camps (like the famous Stalag Luft III) did build extensive tunnel networks, forge documents, compile intelligence, and coordinate with local resistance groups. However, real-life POW networks focused primarily on escaping or gathering intelligence for MI9/OSS – not on regularly sneaking back into the camp to use it as a permanent military base of operations.
- 2. Inspiration from Films and Theatre
The premise was heavily inspired by popular theatrical and cinematic treatments of POW camps, most notably Billy Wilder’s 1953 film Stalag 17 (adapted from a Broadway play by real POWs Donald Bevan and Edmund Trzcinski). In fact, Columbia Pictures later sued the show’s producers for copyright infringement, though the suit was settled out of court.
- 3. The Real “Robert Hogan”
Coincidentally, there was a real U.S. Army Air Forces pilot named Robert J. Hogan. He was shot down over Europe in 1945 and held at a camp designated Stalag 13C in Hammelburg, Germany. However, show creators Fein and Ruddy maintained that the name match was purely accidental and that they had developed the concept without prior knowledge of the real pilot.
- 4. Direct Connection of the Cast to WWII History
While the storyline was fictional, the cast of Hogan’s Heroes had profound, firsthand ties to the war:
- Robert Clary (Louis LeBeau) was a French Jew who survived the Ottoman and Buchenwald concentration camps.
- John Banner (Sgt. Schultz) and Leon Askin (General Burkhalter) were Jewish actors who fled Austria after the Nazi annexation.
- Werner Klemperer (Col. Klink) was a German-Jewish actor whose family fled Germany in 1933. Klemperer, a U.S. Army veteran who served during WWII, agreed to play Klink only on the strict condition that the character be portrayed as an unredeemable fool who never succeeded.
Real Life Escape Artists of WWII
In Allied Prisoner of War (POW) camps like Stalag Luft III (located near Sagan, Poland), escape operations were not chaotic, desperate scrambles. They were highly structured, military-grade intelligence operations run by internal escape committees – most notably the “X Organization,” headed by Royal Air Force Squadron Leader Roger Bushell (codenamed “Big X”).
Rather than small isolated groups acting independently, the X Organization mobilized hundreds of officers into specialized, disciplined departments.
The Internal Departments of the “X Organization” – Hogan’s Heroes
The scale of logistics inside Stalag Luft III mirrored an industrial enterprise, with distinct divisions handling specialized tasks:
- Engineering & Tunnelling: Tasked with design, digging, and structural integrity. For the famous “Great Escape” in March 1944, three massive tunnels – codenamed Tom, Dick, and Harry – were dug simultaneously 30 feet below ground level to bypass German seismic microphone detectors. Over 4,000 wooden bed slats were scavenged to shore up the sandy walls.
- The Forgery Department (“Dean and Dawson”): A team of artists and calligraphers reproduced official German travel permits, identity cards (Ausweise), and railway tickets. Using boot polish, gelatin, ground pencil lead, and homemade stamps carved from rubber heels, they produced documents convincing enough to pass Gestapo inspection.
- Tailoring & Security: Tailors converted civilian clothes, blanket wool, and dyed uniforms into plausible German attire or foreign worker suits. Meanwhile, a “security” network of lookouts, known as Stooges, tracked every German guard (Ferrets) entering the compound using visual signals and code phrases.
- Disposal: Getting rid of tons of bright yellow subsoil was a major technical hurdle. “Penguins”, POWs with concealed fabric bags inside their trouser, walked around the exercise grounds and pulled hidden strings in their pockets to drop sand onto the dirt, which was then kicked into the soil by other prisoners.
Underground Engineering Marvels – Hogan’s Heroes
To sustain long-distance digging underground without suffocation, prisoners built ingenious support systems:
- Air Ventilation Pipes: Air pumps were constructed using Klim milk tins pieced together end-to-end, powered by manually operated bellows made from wood and canvas backpacks.
- Subterranean Railway: Wooden rails were laid along the tunnel floor. Small wooden trolleys fitted with tin wheels pulled haulers carrying dirt bags back to the shaft entrance and carried diggers to the working face.
- Electric Lighting: Prisoners tapped into the camp’s main electrical grid to run wire down into the shafts, lighting the tunnels with bare bulbs.
MI9 and Clandestine External Support – Hogan’s Heroes
The escape networks inside the camps were heavily backed by MI9, the branch of British Directorate of Military Intelligence dedicated to POW escape and evasion.
MI9 smuggled vital escape gear directly into the camps inside legitimate Red Cross care packages or parcels from fake charitable funds:
- Silk Maps: Maps of Germany and frontier borders were printed on silk or tissue paper (which wouldn’t rustle if searched or ruin if wet) and concealed inside chess pieces, playing cards, or clothing linings.
- Compasses: Micro-compasses were hidden inside hollowed-out shaving brushes, uniform buttons, and pencil erasers.
- Hacksaws & Tools: Flexible hacksaw blades were sewn into the spines of hardbound books.
The Aftermath of the “Great Escape” – Hogan’s Heroes
On the night of March 24 – 25, 1944, 76 Allied airmen successfully broke out through tunnel “Harry.” Although the tunnel came up slightly short of the forest tree line, leading to discovery by a guard, 73 of the 76 escapees were eventually recaptured due to massive nationwide manhunts (Grossfahndung).
Furious at the breach, Adolf Hitler ordered 50 of the recaptured officers executed by the Gestapo in direct violation of the Geneva Convention—a tragic turn that highlighted the mortal danger real POWs faced, far removed from Hollywood or television comedy.
I will find as many of these old-stupid shows for some laughs. I’ve already experience some grins and one or two giggles. John Banner – Sgt Schultz – was a master of facial expression like no other – except the Three Stooges. McHale’s Navy, Gomer Pyle-U.S.M.C., F-Troop… What else?
Get Smart – The Monkees – Gilligan’s Island – I Dream of Jeannie – Bewitched – The Musters – The Adams Family. Hmmm – quite the collection. I wonder how many I’ll have access to.
Popi sends…
Other Random Thoughts: Livermore
Can you see it?