My rating: 4 of 5 stars
A quick read but some great illustrations and intriguing background stories of eight different escape attempts from POW camps across Europe. Here is an overview of the escapes covered in the book:
The first chapter is about the successful escape of 2 of the 5 prisoners who boldly marched out of Colditz through the main gate disguised as German soldiers and Polish orderlies.
Chapter 2 tells of the escape from Salonika just north of Greece by Lieutenant 'Sandy' Thomas of the 23rd New Zealand Battalion. He spent almost a year in the safety of a Greek monastery among the community of 8,000 monks. The Germans couldn't tell him apart. He finally crossed the Aegean Sea by a stolen boat along with two Englishmen whom the monks had also sheltered. Once they reached Turkish soil, they were thrown into a filthy prison cell where they were successfully rescued and Thomas later rejoined his division.
Chapter 3 tells the story of the "The Tunnellers" from Stalag Luft III. The story of the three tunnels, named "Tom", "Dick" and "Harry" is incredible. The planning and execution of the excavation of these tunnels took ingenuity and creative resources along with patience and nerves of steel. The Commandant of the camp was so set on foiling escape attempts that sound detectors were buried to alert the guards of digging up to 6 feet underground. The escape committee didn't let that stand in their way and dug down 30 feet below the surface before digging the horizontal portion of the tunnel. Makeshift air pumps were assembled in half-way houses built along the way and the yellow sand that was unearthed was filled into trouser bags and given to 'penguins' who dispersed the sand around the compound and covered the yellow sand with the existing sand on the surface. This story was the most detailed and the favorite of mine in the book.
Chapter 4 tells the story of American bomber crew members who bailed out over Yugoslavia and survived a year posing as members of the Chetnik guerrilla group that had recently allied with the Germans as a means of self-protection from the Communists. When the Germans finally abandoned the Chetniks, the American fliers were able to make their way to the Partisans and back to their group in Italy.
Chapter 5 tells the story of the most determined P.O.W. escapist, Warrant Officer Richard Pape. He was labeled a "recalcitrant troublemaker" in Dulag Luft and was transferred to Stulag Luft VIIIb, Germany's largest top-security prison camp. A great tale of switching identities with extreme lengths to cover up the switch even extending to the Red Cross. His story is full of twists and setbacks but he finally beat the odds and made his way back to Liverpool. One of my favorite diagrams in the book shows how the P.O.W.s were able to make a simple compass just from items readily available or "procurable" in a prison camp. There was even an alternate style made for use in rain or snow.
Chapter 6 is much like the story of "The Trojan Horse" only this "horse" was constructed out of crates from the Red Cross and was transformed into a vaulting horse back at Stalag Luft III. With the demise of the tunnels "Tom, Dick and Harry" an attempt was made to tunnel beyond the perimeter gates by starting out in the open prison yard. The tunneling activity was disguised by the daily ruse of exercise on the vaulting horse in the middle of the prison yard. Three escapees made it out successfully and though separated shortly after exiting the tunnel, the three men met up again and were reunited in a Swedish hotel.
Chapter 7 is the courageous story of Madame Brusselmans and her work with the Belgian underground as a link in the Comete Escape Line to save Allied servicemen trapped in occupied territory. The Brusselmans family was recognized after the war with honours from the Belgian, British and American governments. Their home became known as 'Rendezvous 127' which played an integral part in the successful escape of more than 49 Allied airmen hiding in Brussels.
Chapter 8 takes us back to Stalag Luft III and the escape of American flier William Nicholls. A very interesting snippet about this serviceman who fought with the RAF before America entered the war. He was a Spitfire pilot with the Eagle Squadron and is reported to have "flown at zero feet down a village street to drop bricks on German officers relaxing at cafe as well as landing under a protective wire strung across a strategic runway."
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