Each team member oversaw a different part of the plan, but they all had to find a way to get out of their cells on the night chosen for the escape. The Angling brothers were responsible for making the fake heads to leave behind in the empty bunks.
The heads were created roughly but efficiently from soap wax, toilet paper, and actual human hair picked off the floor of the Alcatraz barber shop. This was imagination at its best. Morris had the job of fixing up an instrument similar to an accordion so that it would inflate life vests and a raft.
Collecting the Materials
Alcatraz at that time was not just a prison but also a factory, which was great luck for the group. The inmates worked as part of their sentence, giving them access to the materials at hand. And there were a lot of them because Alcatraz worked for the US military making furniture, clothing, and shoes.
The four-man team had another advantage, making the plan even more likely to execute. They were non-violent offenders, something which was extremely rare in Alcatraz. This gave them the advantage of slightly less scrutiny from the guards, allowing them more freedom to operate.
The Props
The team started putting their strategy into action bit by bit, making sure every step of the way was planned to perfection. It was complicated, and some would even say ingenious. They would not only escape the virtual fortress of Alcatraz but also make look-alike dummies to leave in their place.
Getting out of the prison was not enough; the gang had to find a way to escape the island and avoid the guards. Prison guards back then did not have the same compassion as today; their orders were to shoot on sight, and any escape attempt was a deadly gamble.
Digging Tools
The crew also worked together to create tools to dig out of their cells and unscrew the bolts from the vents. It’s hard to believe, but they managed to make picks and wrenches from items they snagged around the prison, like wood from the workshop and cafeteria spoons.
Each day, the team would work from 5:30 PM to roughly nine at night, chipping away at their cells and trying to make holes big enough to fit through. They removed the vents in their cells to speed along the process and used the picks to make the holes bigger.
Bad Foundations
The gang was quite fortunate that the prison was already old and in bad shape, with weak, crumbly walls. If this were a new building, the escape plan would be almost impossible to execute. The saltwater that ran through the pipes for showering and washing dishes was slowly destroying the pipes and leaking into the prison walls.
Over the years, the salt wore down the cement and eventually caused it to crumble. The prison authorities also kept the water slightly warm to keep prisoners from getting used to the cold temperatures out in the icy waters of San Francisco Bay.