Silk and Barbed Wire

Pub: Sage Pages...... Multiple Authors..... ISBN 0-9585

Paperback 349 Pages

Rating *****

  This book is a 'compendium' written by 22 different authors who all describe their lives as 'Guests of the Third and Last Reich'

The majority of the authors are members of the Royal Air Forces ex Prisoners of War Association, and some have been previously published.

Each of the stories is unique, and most are written by Bomber Command airmen who had been obliged to abandon a crippled aircraft which was likely to fall out of the sky at any moment, and trust their lives to a sheet of silk. Parachuting to earth and an uncertain future was their only option.
    Their stories are poignant, sometimes harrowing with lack of creature comforts and even a shortage of food. They did however manage to provide some comforts for themselves, often in the most ingenious and inventive ways. The strong instinct for survival led to a sense of camaraderie that was unique and has stood the test of time.
With modern warfare, it is unlikely that there will ever be another Bomber Command, it is even less likely that such numbers of airmen will ever be faced with similar situations.

The motto of the RAF ex POW Association is 'We Flew, We Fell, We Survived'

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