How To Escape From Alcatraz In 10 Easy Steps

8. Get Access To The Service Shaft

For their plan to work, the men first needed to gain access to the service shaft that ran behind their cells. They did this by expanding the air vents at the back of their cells using anything that they could get their hands on such as spoons stolen from the prisons canteen.

The inmates were given daily music time to play instruments and it is believed that it was during this time that the men dug so that the sound of the music would cover up their digging. Famous Alcatraz inmate Al Capone was well known for playing his banjo during music times and people have even reported hearing the ghostly sound of his banjo echoing throughout the cell block long after his death.

At the time that the men were digging there was also maintenance being carried out on the cell block which added more noise to conceal their digging from the guards as they patrolled the cell block. The expansion of the air vents took months to complete and the men hid their tunnels from the guards by making fake vents from cardboard materials and paint they had managed to steal. Morris and West occupied cells next to each other as did the Anglin brothers and so for added protection they worked in pairs with one man standing watch for patrolling guards while the other chipped away at his air vent.