Thread: POW bibliography - books/memoirs

Evaders:

"PILOT ON THE RUN: The Epic Escape from Occupied France of Flight Sergeant L.S.M. (Chalky) White, RNZAF" - Errol Brathwaite

Footprints on the Sands of Time by Oliver Clutton-Brock. The first half is narrative on camps, histories etc. The second lists every Bomber Command POW, with loss date, aircraft and camp. An absolute must for anyone interested in BC.

The Last Escape: The Untold Story of Allied Prisoners of War in Germany 1944-1945 Tony Rennell and John Nichol

We Flew, We Fell, We Lived: The Remarkable Reminiscences of Second World War Evaders and Prisoners of War Philip LaGrandeur (with an intro by Jimmy James), and Jimmy also wrote Moonless Night: Wartime Diary of a Great Escaper

Lie in the Dark and Listen: The Remarkable Exploits of a WWII Bomber Pilot and Great Escaper Ken Rees and Karen Arrandale

Under the Wire William Ash and Brendan Foley

"Footprints On The Sands Of Time" is a good book

I've read it several times before and it has a lot of good information, like Kyt's just said.

Mustn't forget POW: Allied Prisoners in Europe, 1939-45 by Martin Gilbert. A good overview of POWs from all the services

Guests of the State: The Story of Allied & Axis Servicemen Interned in Ireland During World War II T. Ryle Dwyer. This is an interesting read, as the aircrews weren't actually POWs but their internment often came close to that. The most interesting aspects are the pressure put bu the US and British authorities on the Irish state to treat their internees with the highest regard or suffer the consequences - and yet they wanted Ireland to treat the Luftwaffe internees as POWs.

A Bird Over Berlin Tony Bird DFC. Experiences of a 61 Squadron Lancaster pilot and POW

A Member of the RAF of Indeterminate Race Cy Grant. I recently bought this book, written by the broadcaster and actor. He was a member of 103 Squadron who was shotdown in 1943. A member of the RAF of indeterminate race is the translation of a sardonic caption that appeared under Cy’s photograph in a German newspaper shortly after his capture by the SS - evidently sneering at the deployment of coloured aircrew by the RAF.

Just a Survivor Phil Potts. Experiences of a 103 Squadron navigator who later became a POW at Stalag Luft 7, after being shotdown in 1944

Memoirs of a Goldfish Jim Burtt-Smith. A 115 Sqn Wellington pilot who was later a POW at Stalag Luft 8b at Lamsdor, after being shotdown in 1942, and rescued from the North Sea

Pathfinder Force Balkans Geoff Curtis. 614 Squadron navigator, shotdown over Hungry in 1944, and held as a POW there.

The Long Haul William Bloxham. Flight Engineer on 138 (Special Duties) Squadron Halifax, shotdown in December 1942, on a mission to frop arms to the Dutch resistence.

Looking at my shelf, I've seen another one:

The Evaders by Emerson Lavender and Norman Sheffe - stories of Canadian aircrew and their helpers.

Voices from the Fortress. Paul Rea. Story of Repeat Escapers who were incarcerated in a Concentration Camp.

Escape from Crete. Charles Jager. Charles Personal account of his escapes

Gunner Inglorious . Jim Henderson. Jims own story of capture at Knightsbridge and how neglected wounds resulted in the loss of a leg.

No Honour No Glory.Spence Edge and Jim Henderson. The story of P.O.W. lost on the "Jason"and Nino Bixio.

In The Bag. Peter Ogilvie and Newman Robinson. They tell of their survival of the "Jason" incident.

The Broken Column C.E.T.Warren and James Benson The Authors tell the story of an ordinary Seaman who was a Prisoner of the Italians, escaped and went on to Command a Brigade of Partisans.

Fight Another Day J.M.Langley Part of the story of MI9s Roll in Escape and Evasion by a man who escaped and then played a large role in MI9.

Australian Partisan. Lynette Oates with Ian Sproule.

When The Moon Rises. Tony Davis. The story of an Army Officer who Escaped from a Train in Italy.

Yesterdays Drums. A.A.Vercoe. The story of a Capture in N.Africa,P.O.W. in Italy and Stalag 1VB Germany.

My Delayed Return. Denis E.Slack. The Author flew in Mk.2 Halifax until shot down and eventually was an inmate of Stalag 1VB.


These are all I can see from where I am sitting.

I was hoping you'd weigh in, Brian!

Even though I was looking at my shelves last night, I missed these:

The Naked Island - Russell Braddon
Silk and Barbed Wire - edited by Brian Walley