German POW Kayak Escape Fails

In December 1944, 25 German prisoners of war at the Papago Park camp in Phoenix secretly built a collapsible kayak as part of an escape plan to reach Mexico. They broke out of the camp and headed for the nearby Gila River, expecting to paddle south to freedom. When they arrived, they found the riverbed completely dry in the Arizona desert. With no water route, their escape unraveled, and U.S. authorities rounded them up.

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