Shot Down and on the Run: The RCAF and Commonwealth Aircrews who Got Home from Behind Enemy Lines, 1940-1945

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Dundurn, 2003 - History - 288 pages

The stories of many POW escapees are well known, but what about those who miraculously evaded capture in the first place and returned to fight another day?

This compelling book tells some of the epic stories of the thousands of shot-down airmen, including Canadians from across the country, who got out from behind enemy lines in Europe, the Far East, and Africa during the Second World War. Based on special first-hand interviews and new research into official debriefing documents held at Britain's National Archives, many of these accounts have never been published before. This books explores the pivotal role of military intelligence in the training, support, and organization of escape and evasion; it also features rare photographs of the evaders and their helpers.

 

Contents

Two The MI 9 Organization
8
Four Escape Aids
25
Six France and Belgium
41
Seven Holland
94
Eight Scandinavia
119
Part Three The Middle East and Mediterranean
149
Eleven Greece
178
Thirteen Poland
206
Fourteen Introduction
221
Seventeen SouthEast Asia
255
Epilogue
275
Copyright

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Page xiv - D.Sc. Doctor of Science DSC Distinguished Service Cross DSM Distinguished Service Medal DSO Distinguished Service Order...
Page xiv - MBE .. Member of (the Order of) the British Empire MC . . Military Cross M.Ch.
Page 11 - SIS, had been discovered through assisting a prisoner of war seemed to dictate the whole attitude of SIS towards the section. They were determined to prevent evaders and escapers from involving them in any way.
Page xii - Acknowledgements MANY PEOPLE HAVE helped me in writing this book, and I want to thank them most sincerely for giving me their time, expertise and friendship.

About the author (2003)

Air Commodore Graham Pitchfork, MBE, served in the RAF for 36 years and was subsequently a director of Military Intelligence at the Ministry of Defence. His previous books include Men Behind the Medals and The Buccaneers.

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