Major Pat Reid was a British Army officer and historical author of non-fiction. As a British prisoner of war during the Second World War, he was held captive at Colditz Castle when it was designated Oflag IV-C. Reid was one of the few to escape from Colditz, crossing the border into neutral Switzerland in late 1942. He committed the tale to writing in his bestselling book Colditz: The Full Story. After the war Reid was a diplomat and administrator before eventually returning to his pre-war career in civil engineering. He died in Bristol in 1990.