No Anthony, the greatest POW escape was not The Great Escape orchestrated by the Brits at Stalag Luft III in Germany during World War II which was made into a wildly inaccurate yet entertaining movie. Only 76 were involved in that breakout. The greatest POW escape was the Cowra Breakout on Aug. 5, 1944 by Japanese prisoners being held in the remote Australian town of Cowra. That involved 1,104 POWs. All were recaptured except for the 231 killed.