Colditz Last Stop: Eleven Prisons, Four Countries Six Escapes

by Jack Pringle

Eleven prisons, four countries and six escapes.Jack Pringle was one of the outstanding escapers of World War II, and was one of the only two officers to be awarded the Military Cross for his escape attempts.Colditz Last Stop tells the story of these extraordinary attempts -- an amazing adventure story, the more so because it is true.

199 pages, Hardcover

First published August 1, 1998

Reviews

[JD]

Jack Pringle had a very interesting World War 2, with the focus of the book being of his time as a POW in Italy and Germany. Yet, his time before being captured was just as interesting, serving on the Gold Coast of Africa, leading an independent armored car squadron in the East African Campaign and fighting in the Western Desert with the Hussars before being captured in unfortunate circumstances.

From the beginning of his imprisonment, he was obsessed with escaping. He tells his adventurous attempts of escaping in a very straightforward way, and along the way we meet some of his accomplices, including David Stirling and Alastair Cram (The 21 Escapes of Lt Alastair Cram by David Guss) , which features a fair bit in the book. Pringle and Stirling were the only prisoners to be imprisoned at both Gavi under the Italians, and Colditz under the Germans, both of which were for holding problem prisoners. A short and quick read, and highly recommended POW reading.