A remarkable collection of accounts of intrepid American aircrew shot down over enemy lines during World War II and how they got away.
To be an airman in the Eighth Air Force flying over the war-torn skies of Europe required skill, tenacity, and luck. Those who were shot down and evaded capture needed all of that and more if they were to make it back to friendly lines. These are their stories. Each compiled from the original intelligence debrief written by the pilots or aircrew themselves.
Bill Yenne details how a spider web of escape routes sprang up created by local Résistance. Downed airmen were clothed, given false papers, and hidden so they could be smuggled back to England. These efforts were then supplemented by Allied intelligence agents. But the risks remained the same. Capture could mean death.
Their accounts are sometimes funny, often heartbreaking. P-47 pilot Joel McPherson feigned appendicitis and was able to escape from the local German military hospital – after he had his appendix removed. He spent weeks operating with the Maquis before making it across the Pyrenees. Glenn Loveland was the ball turret gunner aboard the B-17 Skywolf. Shot down over Germany he was imprisoned. He escaped a total of 7 times before making it across the border and connecting with guerrilla forces. The accounts of McPherson, Loveland and their compatriots make this a story of defiance, foolhardiness and bravery against the odds.

Bill Yenne's profile page

Bill Yenne is the author of more than three dozen non-fiction books, his most recent America's Few: Marine Aces in the South Pacific (Osprey, 2022), as well as ten novels. His work has been selected for the Chief of Staff of the Air Force Reading List. He is the recipient of the Air Force Association's Gill Robb Will Award for the 'most outstanding contribution in the field of arts and letters [as an author] whose works have shaped how thousands of Americans understand and appreciate air power.' He lives in California, USA.