I had a feeling it went back a long ways. The way they played it in the Colditz Story made it sound like it was borrowed from previous acts.
(
cowcat Bituminous squeegee,
Sat 16 Apr 2011, 4:37,
archived)
I like how Peter Butterworth was considered unathletic enough to not appear in The Wooden Horse,despite him actually being one of the PoWs who was jumping over the thing while the three guys were tunneling underneath.
(
Colonel Boris "...a desperate Buzzfeed imitation...",
Sat 16 Apr 2011, 8:07,
archived)