Returning to Five this week is the documentary
series exploring infamous historical events. The

opening episode examines a remarkable escape
from Alcatraz prison. In June 1962, three inmates
successfully broke out of the jail and took to the
waters of San Francisco Bay in a makeshift raft,
never to be seen again. The film uses interviews
with former inmates, guards and FBI agents to
piece together the story of the escape, while three
modern-day coastguards board a replica of the raft
to see if it could have carried the men to freedom.
Perched on a rocky outcrop in San Francisco Bay,
Alcatraz was the world’s most impregnable
prison. But in 1962, three prisoners decided they
would try to achieve the impossible by staging an
audacious breakout. They were Frank Morris and
brothers John and Clarence Anglin. Details of the
escape were given to the FBI by a fourth member
of the gang, Allen West, who was left behind at
the last moment.
The escape was the culmination of months of
planning by the four men. It was later immortalised
in the film, ‘Escape from Alcatraz’, in which Clint
Eastwood portrayed Morris as the leader of the
group – yet historians and former guards and
inmates dispute this version of events. West
maintained that he devised the plan, and his story
is backed by Alcatraz historian Jolene Babyak,
who claims that he had access to the restricted
areas that the prisoners used in the escape. “I
truly believe that it was his idea and he brought
everybody in on the deal,” she says.
It is clear, however, that all four men worked
tirelessly on the escape. They began by chiselling
through the back wall of their cells into the narrow
corridor beyond, before painting fake grilles to
cover the holes. The men then made crude
papier-mâché heads to put in their beds once the
attempt was underway. To facilitate this work,
they even set up a secret ‘workshop’ in the ceiling
space above the cellblock, close to the ventilation
duct that would give them access to the roof.
Other inmates were aware of the men’s plan and
even helped supply some 50 raincoats that were
turned into a makeshift raft and life vests. “There
were no restrictions on the amount of raincoats
they could have,” recalls former guard Pat
Mahoney. “In our wildest dreams, we didn’t dream
they were going to build water wings out of them!”
When the night of the escape finally arrived,
Allen West found himself left behind because he
could not get through the hole in his cell. He had
originally made the gap too large to be concealed,
so his colleagues had partially sealed it with fresh
concrete. Now West was unable to break through
the concrete to join them. Morris and the Anglin
brothers continued their climb to the roof, before
scaling down the walls and disappearing into the
waters beyond – never to be seen again.
Five days after the escape, the FBI received a
postcard with the message, “Ha ha we made it”,
apparently signed by the three men – but
fingerprints were never matched to the prisoners.
In the absence of any criminal activity attributed
to the men – such as robberies or stolen cars – it
was assumed that they drowned in the bay.
To find out if the men could possibly have made
it to freedom, Escape from Alcatraz: The True
Story recruits carpenter Jamie Schmidt to build a
replica of their raft using similar materials. “I still
wouldn’t trust my life with this,” Jamie says of his
handiwork. Three US coastguards then attempt to
use the raft to paddle to the escapees’ destination
of Angel Island, nearly three kilometres away. Like
the prisoners before them, they must contend
with fierce tides, strong winds and freezing
temperatures that can cause hypothermia in less
than an hour. Can these men come close to
achieving an escape from Alcatraz?