The gang was all set, and all that was left was to wait for Allen West to finish carving out his escape hole. Then, they would be ready to move when the right moment arrived. In June 1962, the signal to begin the escape finally arrived, but things did not go as planned.
Allen West finally finished digging an escape hole large enough for him to go through on June 11, 1962. He let the other gang members know, but no one could have predicted what would happen next. This was not the end of the story, nor was it the beginning.
Climbing the Jungle Gym
The utility corridor was unguarded and full of bars like a jungle gym. If the prisoners opened the holes in their cells wide enough to get through, they could easily use the bars to climb the three stories to the roof. After that, they would just have to hope for the best.
At the top of the building, they needed to use one of the large shafts for roof access. They were shocked to discover that many shafts were sealed off with cement. After a panicked search, they found an unsealed shaft and used their homemade wrench to pry it open.
Breaking Through
The Anglin brothers and Morris managed to break through the walls of their cells by May of 1962. The holes they made were barely large enough for them to fit through, but they managed to squeeze their way out. The gang made their life vests and the raft by stitching and gluing raincoats together.
They used more than 50 raincoats for the job. These were a vital part of the plan, without which they would most certainly drown in the cold bay waters. They thought of everything as there was no way this project could fall because of a simple thing like deep water.
The Plan is Set in Motion
The gang anxiously waited for lights out that day to set their plan in motion. They wondered if any of them would make it to the outside alive. The risks were clear in their minds, but the draw of a life of freedom away from Alcatraz was just too strong.
They were willing to risk everything, including their lives, to get away from “The Rock.” Their hearts raced, and adrenaline coursed through their bodies at the very thought of escape. As soon as the lights went out, the crew set up the fake dummies and set out to squeeze out of their cells.
Things go Wrong
Morris and the Anglin brothers slipped out of their cells without difficulty, but Allen West couldn’t escape his. He had let the others know that the hole he made was ready, but it seems he miscalculated the size or the work necessary to enlarge the hole.
Frank Lee Morris worked from the utility corridor, while West worked from the inside. They tried everything, but the hole just wasn’t big enough, and West was stuck. Around 9:30 PM, over a glass of water from West’s cell, they both decided that West would have to be left behind.