One of the most violent escape attempts on Alcatraz occurred in May of 1946. Many historians mark this date as the most significant event in the island's twenty-nine-year history as a Federal penitentiary, and it was appropriately christened the "Battle of Alcatraz." In the wake of the conflict, fourteen guards and one inmate were left injured, while two correctional officers and three inmates lay dead from bullet wounds.
A bank robber from Kentucky named Bernard Paul Coy, who was serving out a twenty-six-year sentence on The Rock for committing a holdup using a sawed-off shotgun, devised a forceful escape strategy with five accomplices. Coy had carefully studied the habits of various guards over a period of several months. Then on May 2, 1946, aided by accomplice Joseph Cretzer, Coy smeared axle grease over his chest, head, and extremities, and started climbing the West End Gun Gallery from the juncture at Times Square and Michigan Avenue. Climbing hand over hand, he scaled the barred cage until he reached the top.
Clenched in his teeth was a small cloth bag containing a crudely fashioned bar-spreader device that had been fashioned from toilet fixtures in one of the prison workshops. Coy set the device firmly between two bars (which were approximately 5 inches apart), and using a small wrench, he was able to exert enough force to effectively spread the bars and create an opening nearly ten inches in width. It is believed that Coy had also been limiting his intake of food in order to reduce his body mass. With Crezter eagerly watching his progress from below, Coy painfully squeezed his body through the opening, and made his entrance into the West Gun Gallery.
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