Description
Physical description
saw (42 x 12 x 6cm) improvised from a variety of sources -including a broken gramophone spring and wooden bed boards.
Label
Saw used in the construction of the Second World War 'Colditz Cock' escape glider. For full description of this ingenious escape project see EPH 637.
Flight Lieutenant Jack Best (RAF), who helped build the glider, later described the origins and history of this saw as follows: 'The blade was made from a broken gramophone spring. A saw should be tempered blue and this was tempered yellow. The result was that it was really too hard and so was a slow job to file the teeth originally and re-sharpen. The first blade was eventually broken after being used without the frame for cutting the tongue between the floorboard before prizing them off the floor. The handle was made of beech bed board.
The frame was a part of a bar removed from an internal window. Every window in the castle was barred. As holes could not be drilled in iron the position of existing holes fixed the length of the blade. The bolts were removed from cupboard hinges.
This saw did a vast amount of work and was designed with a side frame for cutting long strips of timber as needed in the glider. The handle is a bit clumsy and should have been wider for comfort, but this was governed by the width of the bed boards.'
History note
Description by donor:
Saw used in the construction of the Second World War 'Colditz Cock' escape glider. For full description of this ingenious escape project see EPH 637.
Flight Lieutenant Jack Best, who helped build the glider, later described the origins and history of this saw as follows: 'The blade was made from a broken gramophone spring. A saw should be tempered blue and this was tempered yellow. The result was that it was really too hard and so was a slow job to file the teeth originally and re-sharpen. The first blade was eventually broken after being used without the frame for cutting the tongue between the floorboard before prizing them off the floor. The handle was made of beech bed board.
The frame was a part of a bar removed from an internal window. Every window in the castle was barred. As holes could not be drilled in iron the position of existing holes fixed the length of the blade. The bolts were removed from cupboard hinges.
This saw did a vast amount of work and was designed with a side frame for cutting long strips of timber as needed in the glider. The handle is a bit clumsy and should have been wider for comfort, but this was governed by the width of the bed boards.'