Carry On Escaping! Extraordinary story of how comic actor Peter Butterworth helped organise the famous Great Escape from Stalag Luft III and sent coded messages to British intelligence via his letters home is revealed for the first time

He was a household name playing bumbling buffoons in the Carry On films.

But behind Peter Butterworth lay an extraordinary wartime backstory that can now be fully revealed for the first time.

As a prisoner of war, Lieutenant Butterworth was not only deeply involved in organizing the famous Great Escape from Stalag Luft III, but also played a crucial role in passing coded messages to British intelligence in seemingly innocent letters home.

He was said to have been the last man in the tunnel, but ultimately stayed behind when 76 pilots famously escaped from the Nazi POW camp on March 24, 1944.

Researchers who have discovered new details of his World War II exploits at the National Archives believe he may have remained in the camp to continue his crucial coding work.

But behind Peter Butterworth lay an extraordinary wartime backstory that can now be fully revealed for the first time

Researchers who have discovered new details of Butterworth's Second World War exploits at the National Archives believe he may have remained in the camp to continue his crucial coding work. He is depicted in the film Carry On Up The Khyber

Butterworth's name was on an archived list of 'Code Letter Writers' at the camp in Poland.

Prisoners were allowed to write letters to loved ones, provided their correspondence passed the scrutiny of German censors.

But they used this advantage to secretly pass on vital military intelligence they had discovered, such as the location of enemy ammunition dumps.

Butterworth's job was to include a secret sign that the letter contained intelligence intended for MI9, a branch of the War Office set up to help prisoners of war escape.

The code was so complicated that its secret was lost for more than seventy years until a team of experts from the University of Plymouth managed to figure it out.

The intriguing details of Butterworth's wartime activities were discovered during research for an exhibition and book to mark the upcoming 80th anniversary of the Great Escape, made famous by the 1963 film starring Steve McQueen and Richard Attenborough.

Dr. Will Butler, from the National Archives, said Butterworth's blacksmithing and espionage activities were one of the biggest surprises. He said: 'He was a talented artist and is listed in the camp archives as a highly skilled forger of documents.

As a prisoner of war, Lieutenant Butterworth was not only deeply involved in organizing the famous Great Escape from Stalag Luft III, but also played a crucial role in passing coded messages to British intelligence in seemingly innocent letters home. Pictured are Richard Attenborough and Steve McQueen in the film The Great Escape

Talbot 'Tolly' Rothwell persuaded the Germans to let them build a camp theater to entertain the prisoners, then wrote many Carry On film scripts and Butterworth appeared in 16 of them. Pictured: Peter Butterworth, Jim Dale and Phil Silvers in the film Carry On: Follow That Camel

'We had pictures of people performing at the camp theatre, but we didn't know Peter Butterworth was in them until we showed them to his son Tyler.

'Peter was also responsible for creating sets in the theater, where the ground of the tunneling was hidden under the seats.' It was Butterworth and another British officer, Talbot 'Tolly' Rothwell, who persuaded the Germans to let them build a camp theater to entertain the prisoners.

Rothwell went on to write many Carry On film scripts and Butterworth appeared in 16 of them.

During the war the actor served in the Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm but was shot down in 1940.

Initially held in a POW camp near Frankfurt, he and 17 others escaped in June 1941 by digging a tunnel with soup spoons. He was free for three days before being recaptured and sent to Stalag Luft III.

There he became one of the jumpers in the Wooden Horse tunnel escape, in which a gymnastics horse was used to conceal a tunnel entrance.

Butterworth, who was married to the impressionist Janet Brown, died in 1979 at the age of 63. He is pictured with Barbara Windsor in Carry On Henry

Butterworth was later famously rejected for a role he played in the 1949 film about this escape. Although he was deeply involved in the Great Escape, he did not leave the camp. All but three of the 76 refugees were recaptured and 50 were executed on Hitler's orders.

Dr. Butler said: “Peter was supposed to be the last man out of the tunnel, but he didn't go in the end. It is clear that he played a crucial role in British intelligence.

'Afterwards, escape attempts were halted due to the executions, so his incredibly complex coded messages were the only means of getting vital information back to London.'

Butterworth, married to the impressionist Janet Brown, died in 1979 at the age of 63. Their son, Tyler, also an actor, said people “had no idea this bumbling man had this incredible war story.”