Eastern State Penitentiary, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

I did a search, but couldn't find this already posted, so here it is. I was told by one of the guides at ESP that, after the US entered WW2, the warden was approached by a group of inmates who begged to be allowed to serve their country. Permission was given, and one man is recorded as having died - B6686.

Did anything like that happen in any British or Empire prisons?