LONDON, Feb 20: Britain has lost one of its last remaining war heroes to have survived the real life “Great Escape” made famous by Hollywood, a World War II veteran’s group said on Wednesday.

Desmond Plunkett, who was one of the 76 men immortalised in the Steve McQueen film “The Great Escape,” died on February 14, Valentine’s Day, the Royal Air Forces’ Association said.

Plunkett, who was born in India and educated in London, became a bomber pilot during the Second World War, just days before his wedding. But he was shot down over Holland on his eighth day of operational service.

He was captured and taken to Germany’s notorious Stalag Luft III camp where fellow prisoners included legendary one-legged pilot Douglas Bader.

Plunkett was the master map-maker in the escape committee, producing 2,500 maps and quantities of forged identity documents to fool enemy troops and help escapees cross borders to freedom.

In the 1963 film, Donald Pleasence based his master-forger character on several of the escapees, including Plunkett.

Plunkett was the 13th man to enter the 10-metre deep tunnel and emerged in the woods the other side of the barbed wire fencing before the Germans discovered it.—AFP