Escape from Colditz – Blind cyclist riding 800 miles on tandem from notorious prisoner of war camp to West Bromwich

A blind cyclist is riding 800 miles by tandem from Colditz, the castle in Germany’s Saxony region that during the Second World War hosted a prisoner of war camp, to West Bromwich in the West Midland.

Dave Heeley, who comes from West Bromwich, supports the town’s football club and is using the ride to raise money for its charitable trust, the Albion Foundation, reports the BBC.

He aims to complete the ride in seven days and is being accompanied by six other cyclists, while two of his daughters are also making the trip as part of his support crew.

The party set off from Colditz, which is located between Leipzig and Dresden, this morning, with 92 miles of riding scheduled for today.

They aim to arrive in the Netherlands on Thursday, and to reach Meriden in Worcestershire – site of the National Cyclists’ Memorial – on Sunday, from where they will ride to West Bromwich Albion’s home stadium, the Hawthorns.

The JustGiving page for the ride, named escape from Colditz, says:

Blind Dave along with his crack team of escape artists will break out of Colditz Castle, famous as a POW camp during World War 11 on 18th April 2022. The castle, although considered a high security prison had one of the greatest records of successful escape attempts!   So escaping the castle isn't really the challenge …. 

The hard part will be the following 7 days of gruelling cycling through the mountainous German countryside, tracing the river Rhine, then through the flat slog of the Netherlands to the ferry at the Hoek Van Holland.

Once back in the UK, the team travel from Harwich to Peterborough then onto Meriden and Pertemps Head Office, where other cyclists will join them and visit the National Cyclist Memorial to remember those fallen in World War 1, then onwards to the home of our beloved Baggies, finishing on 24th April.

April 2020 marks 75 years since the formidable Colditz castle was liberated, so in recognition, Team Blind Dave are aiming to raise £75,000 to support the Albion Foundation.

Mr Heeley, who is nicknamed ‘Blind Dave’, has undertaken previous challenges for charity including swimming around Alcatraz in San Francisco Bay, and running in the Sahara Desert. He is the first blind person to have completed seven marathons in seven days on seven continents.

His daughter Georgie said: “He's really cool. He's a really great dad, but he does all these really cool challenges and [helps] a lot of people and it's really inspiring to grow up with dad there doing all these really good things for everybody else.”

Mr Heeley added: "Obviously I wish the whole family was here, but to have the two youngest with me because they wanted to be a part of a challenge and just to listen to what they've just said, it's absolutely fantastic."

Rebuilt following a fire in 1504, Colditz was used during the Second World War to house Allied officers who had a history of attempting to escape from other prisoner-of-war camps.

Inmates included Sir Douglas Bader, the double lower limb amputee and RAF flying ace, Desmond Llewellyn, who went on to play the role of Q in the James Bond film series, and Sir David Stirling, founder of the SAS.

While the Germans considered Colditz to be escape proof, 22 successful escapes took place from 1941 to 1945, inspiring films such as Escape from Colditz as well as the 1970s BBC TV series named after the castle.