Fighter ace : Douglas Bader 's story is to be told in a Hollywood film dubbed ‘ The First Great Escape ’ The story of how Douglas Bader recovered from having both legs amputated to become one of Britain ’ s greatest fighter aces is remarkable enough . But now another astonishing but little-known chapter of his war career is to be told in a Hollywood film being dubbed ‘ The First Great Escape ’ . Bader – who lost his legs in a flying accident in 1931 – was shot down over France in August 1941 and ended up in a German prison camp in Warburg . It was there that the officer , who always made light of his disability and refused to even use a stick , was involved in a mass break-out that pre-dated the break in 1944 immortalised in The Great Escape starring Steve McQueen and Richard Attenborough . Bader ’ s life story has already been the subject of the successful film Reach for the Sky in 1956 starring Kenneth More . This latest look at his exploits is based on a book on the Warburg escape by historian Mark Felton called Zero Night . It was a plot hatched by Scottish lieutenant Jock Hamilton-Baillie , 23 , and involved build folding ladders to escape over the wire . Major Tom Stallard , of the Durham Light Infantry , teamed up with Bader on the planning . The fighter ace went on to describe it as ‘ the most brilliant escape conception of this war ’ . The ladders were made from wood from a wrecked hut and crafted in the camp ’ s music room , where the sawing and hammering was drowned out by the sound of instruments . They were disguised as bookshelves . On the night of the break – August 30 , 1942 – the prisoners managed to fuse the camp ’ s search lights and 41 men carrying four 12ft scaling ladders rushed the fence . One ladder collapsed , so only 28 made it over the wire , of which three made a ‘ home run ’ back to freedom . The Great Escape : Bader 's story predates the break in 1944 immortalised in the film starring Steve McQueen and Richard Attenborough ( pictured ) Bader was among those recaptured but was such a nuisance to the Germans that he ended up in the ‘ escape-proof ’ Colditz Castle and remained in captivity until the end of the war . More than 40 Allied prisoners put their lives on the line in a plot to escape from Oflag VI-B camp near Warburg , Germany , in 1942 . Major Tom Stallard , a larger than life 37-year-old from Somerset captured while serving in the Durham Light Infantry , teamed up with Bader on the planning . While the Great Escape relied on its famous tunnels , the Warburg mass break out saw the men boldly leap over the huge perimeter fences using wooden ladders . Bader described what happened as 'the most brilliant escape conception of this war ' . Months of meticulous planning and secret training went into the three minute charge of the camp 's double perimeter fences . Bader ’ s life story has been the subject of 1956 film Reach for the Sky starring Kenneth More ( pictured ) A series of makeshift ladders propped against the prison camp 's perimeter fence were made from wood plundered from a wrecked hut . They were crafted in the camp 's music room , where the sawing and hammering was drowned out by the sound of instruments . The escape was codenamed Operation Olympian because it involved troops from across the Commonwealth - Britain , Australia , New Zealand and South Africa . The rights to Dr Felton ’ s book ( pictured ) have been bought by production firm Essential 11 USA . As the night of the breakout loomed , the ladders were disguised as bookshelves to fool the guards . After the prisoners fused the perimeter search lights , 41 of them carrying four 12-foot scaling ladders made from bed slats rushed to the barbed-wire fence and clambered over . One ladder collapsed , so only 28 made it over the barbed wire , of which three made a 'home run ' back to freedom . Bader later ended up in Colditz and had his tin legs taken away to ensure he remained in captivity until the end of the war . Major Stallard and another leading light of the escape Major Johnnie Cousens , also of the Durham Light Infantry , survived the war and lived into their 70s . Both were too modest to breathe hardly a word about what had happened on August 30 1942 . But now their story could trump the Great Escape after Hollywood bosses snapped up the rights to turn military historian Mark Felton 's book about the escape Zero Night into a blockbuster . The rights to Dr Felton ’ s book have been bought by the makers of 2013 ’ s Saving Mr Banks with Tom Hanks . Production firm Essential 11 USA , the makers of the 2013 Tom Hanks and Emma Thompson hit Saving Mr Banks , is now working on a script . Dr Felton said a number of ' A-list ' Hollywood stars were queuing up for roles and Essential 11 had invited him to help cast the leads , although he could not reveal who was interested . He said : ' I 'm very , very pleased . It 's very , very exciting . Essential 11 did a fantastic job with Saving Mr Banks and to have that same team working on this is very pleasing . '
Douglas Bader recovered from injuries both legs amputated to become one of aviation ’ s greatest flying aces . Was shot down over ##board in 1941 and ended up in German prison camps . And he was involved in a mass break - out that pre - dated the break in 1944 immortalised in The Great Escape . Now , Hollywood eventually snapped up the rights to turn military historian jack Felton 's book about the escape into a blockbuster .