The Great Escape II - Collection Day

Sunday 6th March, Laguna Maidstone

The Great Escape II in a nutshell...

Remember the film "The Great Escape" with the famous scene of Steve McQueen jumping a motorcycle over a barb wire fence? It was as the film reminds us based on real events and real characters that were involved in the actual escape.

One of the main characters in the film was Squadron Leader Roger Bartlett, who was played by Lord Richard Attenborough. His character was based on a real life Squadron Leader by the name of Roger Bushell. Find out more about Roger Bushell Click Here.

Roger was a South African national who loved life; he was an international skier and barrister who rose to become a Squadron Leader of 92 Squadron who were based at RAF Biggin Hill, Kent.

He was shot down whilst supporting the evacuation of Dunkirk and managed to land safely on a beach in France before being captured. Roger eventually found himself in Stalag Luft III the camp which is the setting for the movie.

The team of seven riders and two support vehicles will retrace the last flight of Squadron Leader Roger Bushell from RAF Biggin Hill and then follow his journey through France, Belgium and Germany and then finally Poland to the Stalag Luft III, where the Great Escape took place. We have supplied the team with seven Triumph motorcycles for the Escape, one is very special. It is an up to date replica of the machine used in the film and we will be auctioned after this event. They will visit the Gestapo HQ's in Berlin, sleep in the former prison camp and visit Hitler's "Eagles Nest" where the order for the execution of 50 captured escapees, was signed. They will travel over 3000 miles during the ride, which will take two weeks. The target is to raise £10,000 for the two deserving charities.

The collection day

It's Sunday 6th March and the day has arrived for Laguna Motorcycles to present the seven bikes that will make  the journey accross the channel and follow in the footsteps of some of the most remarkable heroes of World War II. Present are the Escape team, photographers and interested members of the public. There are six bikes lined up outside our Maidstone store with one special bike inside under a camouflaged cover. After some essential re-arranging of the store to accomodate the photographers we are ready to handover the keys to the most anticipated of the seven Triumph motorcycles...The Steve McQueen replica bike.

It's difficult to suppress the emotions when gazing upon such an iconic piece of film and motorcycle legend...

The team will leave these shores on the 4th June, be sure to keep an eye on our site for details of the official departure event.

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