Respected historian Oliver Clutton-Brock has researched in depth this secret world of evasion, uncovering some treachery and many hitherto unpublished details, operations and photos. It is a tremendous reference work, written in his own colourful style with numerous anecdotes, which fills a gap of knowledge formerly unavailable to historians - professional or amateur.

RAF Evaders

Clutton-Brock, Oliver

Bounty Books

Donald Barnard came to England from St Lucia to join the RAF as a bomber pilot. On his second tour of operations, he was shot down over northern France in September 1942. He was rewarded with the Distinguished Flying Cross whilst missing in action. Donald evaded capture; assisted to Spain by an escape network, and later compiled a detailed diary of his entire evasion exploits. Posted to test fly Spitfires, flying in excess of 1,000 individual aircraft. Barnard then moved to the Far East supply dropping in 1945. In Burma disapproving of the delay in recovering the emaciated allied POWs, he decided to take an aircraft without authority. 25 prisoners were recovered from Bankok to Rangoon. After a full Court Martial, he was dismissed from the RAF. He flew civilian aircraft after the war in Australia and in Britain, joining No. 2 Civil Anti Aircraft Cooperation Unit in Norfolk, 1953. Flying ended for him in 1955, and he died in 1997 at the age of 79. Rarely has the opportunity been available to reproduce from a diary such a personal account of evasion. A bomber and Spitfire pilot, Court Martialled for the rescue of Japanese held emaciated allied prisoners of war, creates a unique career story supported by French resistance sources original photographs.

Unwanted Hero: The Flying Career of Squadron Leader Donald Barnard DFC, 1937-1955

Biographies & Memoirs

Pateman, Colin

Historical

Fonthill Media

British bombing of Nazi reserves held for the Allied invasion, while trying to protect French lives. Due to radio problems, night fighters shoot many of the planes.

Massacre over the Marne: The Raf Bombing Raids on Revigny, July 1944

Motorbooks Intl

This extensive book is divided into two parts. The first, which has eighteen chapters, deals with German POW camps as they were opened, in chronological order and to which the Bomber Command POWs were sent. Each chapter includes anecdotes and stories of the men in the camps - capture, escape, illness, and murder - and illustrates the awfulness of captivity even in German hands. Roughly one in every twenty captured airmen never returned home.The first part also covers subjects such as how the POWs were repatriated during the war; how they returned at war's end; the RAF traitors; the war crimes; and the vital importance of the Red Cross. The style is part reference, part gripping narrative, and the book will correct many historical inaccuracies, and includes previously unpublished photographs.The second part comprises an annotated list of ALL 10,995 RAF Bomber Command airmen who were taken prisoner, together with an extended introduction. The two parts together are the fruit of exhaustive research and provide an important contribution to our knowledge of the war and a unique reference work not only for the serious RAF historian but for the ex-POWs themselves and their families and anyone with an interest in the RAF in general and captivity in particular.

Footprints on the Sands of Time: RAF Bomber Command Prisoners-of-War in Germany 1939 - 1945

History

Military

Grub Street Publishing

During the five years from May 1940 to May 1945 several thousand Allied airmen, forced to abandon their aircraft behind enemy lines, evaded capture and reached freedom, by land, sea and air. The territory held by the Germans was immense – from Norway and Denmark in the north, through Holland, Belgium, Luxembourg to the south of France – and initially there was no organization to help the men on the run. The first one to assist the evaders and escapers (“E & E” as the Americans called them) was the PAT line, along the Mediterranean coast to Perpignan and down the Spanish border; named after a naval officer Pat O’ Leary, from 1942 it became the PAO line. Next was the Comet line, from Brussels to the Pyrenees. Thousands of brave people were to be involved for whom, if caught, the penalty was death. Theirs is a stirring and awe-inspiring story. Respected historian Oliver Clutton-Brock has researched in depth this secret world of evasion, uncovering some treachery and many hitherto unpublished details, operations and photos. It is a tremendous reference work, written in his own colorful style with numerous anecdotes, which fills a gap of knowledge formerly unavailable to historians, professional or amateur. Packed with information, key figure biographies and listings – 2,094 evaders identified – this is a valuable testimony to the courage of all those involved.

RAF Evaders: The Complete Story of RAF Escapees and their Escape Lines, Western Europe, 1940-1945

Born in 1922 in north London and fascinated by a flight in 1938 in one of Sir Alan Cobham’s Flying Circus aircraft, John Misseldine enlisted in the RAF as soon as he turned 18. After training in California in 1941 (in the very first batch of air cadets to be sent there and where he met many Hollywood film stars), in March 1942 he was posted to fly fighters with 611 Squadron, whose CO was Battle of Britain veteran DH Watkins DFC, and wing commander flying Peter Townsend, later a royal suitor. On June 8th, John was shot down over northern France and for over two months was on the run from the Gestapo, being aided and abetted by the French resistance and British Intelligence, with more than a few alarms along the way. Journeying south through occupied France, he eventually escaped from Gibraltar in August, arriving in Scotland and thence to 65 (East India) Squadron. Commissioned as a pilot officer, he was posted to Algeria to ferry new Spitfires and Hurricanes to front-line squadrons supporting the Eighth Army. This role too was not without its hazards but he made it through to become CO of an airfield and to meet and marry a French girl, Mauricette. Sixty-four years later, they are still together and this is John’s heart-warming and page-turning story of ‘survival against the odds’, written by John Misseldine and the acclaimed author Oliver Clutton-Brock. Grub Street has published two of Oliver Clutton-Brock’s previous works, Footprints on the Sands of Time, and RAF Evaders.

Survival Against All Odds: Sunday, 8 June 1942: Shot Down Over France

Misseldine, John

This book is firstly a testament to those of many nationalities who found themselves imprisoned at Stalag Luft VII, Bankau (Luft 7 for short) in Upper Silesia, the Luftwaffe’s last prisoner of war camp. Having survived the trauma of action against, and capture by, the enemy, some as far back as 1940, they came from France, the Low Countries, Germany, Norway, Denmark, Poland, the Balkans, Italy, Hungary, the Mediterranean and other seas, and from North Africa. Many of their experiences and adventures have never been documented before. It is also the complete history of their prisoner of war (POW) camp, Luft 7, told in full detail for the first time, a camp that existed for barely thirty-two weeks from its opening in early June 1944 to its closure in mid January 1945.

The Long Road: Trials and Tribulations of Airmen Prisoners from Stalag Luft VII (Bankau) to Berlin , June 1944 - May 1945

Crompton, Raymond

Leaders & Notable People

Formed in February 1918, the RFC’s 148th Squadron was disbanded in 1919 but eventually reformed as 148 Squadron RAF in 1937. It began the Second World War in a training role before being disbanded again in May 1940. A loose flight of Wellington bombers on the island of Malta formed the next incarnation of 148 Squadron in December 1940. Forced to withdraw to Egypt in March 1941, its Wellingtons flew bombing operations against Axis forces in the Western Desert. In early 1942 the Squadron achieved the dubious, and possibly unique, distinction of having all its NCO aircrew flying operationally whilst on charges of insubordination, with five of them ultimately being court-martialed. In December 1942, with the Axis forces in North Africa in full retreat, the Squadron was disbanded yet again. However Prime Minister Winston Churchill was keen to increase resistance in the Balkans, and a small RAF Flight of long-range Liberator aircraft in North Africa had been dropping a modest amount of supplies to the Partisans in 1942. On Churchill’s direct orders six Handley Page Halifax bombers joined the Liberators. In March 1943 the Flight became 148 (Special Duties) Squadron. In January 1944 the squadron moved to Brindisi in the south of Italy and, until the cessation of hostilities in May 1945, flew hundreds of tons of supplies and dropped many Allied agents to support resistance movements in Eastern Europe and the Balkan countries. The Squadron suffered numerous casualties, but its worst moments saw it come close to being wiped-out as it attempted to drop supplies in July and August 1944 in Poland, including the ill-fated Warsaw Uprising. The stories of courage and sacrifice of bomber crews in the Mediterranean and on Special Duties in the Balkans have received less attention than those in Bomber Command’s more mainstream operations. Oliver Clutton-Brock’s comprehensive history of 148 Squadron in its various guises goes some way towards putting that right.

Trusty to the End: The History of 148 (Special Duties) Squadron 1918-1945

Mention the War Ltd.

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