Twenty Days in the Reich: Three Downed RAF Aircrew on the Run in Germany 1945

by Squire 'Tim' Scott

On 15 March 1945 three crew members of a Bomber Command Lancaster baled from their crippled aircraft over the eastern Rhur. The author of this book was the navigator and one of those men. All three found themselves in quiet countryside but were soon captured and imprisoned in a village jail. After a short time they were moved and now unfolds the tale of how two German guards led them over 120 miles to their eventual PoW destination. Since they were close to the advancing Allied forces the transportation system was in chaos and they traveled sometimes by one of the few remaining trains or by hitchhiking. The nights were bitterly cold and precious little heating was available. The two guards were sympathetic and the small party was amazed by the civility of the local people, since the RAF was rife with tales of horrific violence when downed RAF crew fell into civilian hands, one of the results of the blanket bombing offence that was then underway. At one stage their guards fell asleep and escape was considered, but eventually rejected and they were delivered into a transfer PoW camp. Before they were rescued by Allied forces, 22 days after baling out, the three had only spent 15 days as prisoners and only 36 hours behind barbed wire.

Genres: Nonfiction

224 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2006

Reviews

[Steve Barney]

About part of an RAF crew that bails out over Germany in the last weeks of WW2. The ordeal that they go through from the day they land and are immediately captured, until their liberation by a spearhead of the American 3rd Army during their march to a different camp. This account is interesting from the standpoint, that counter to most other books you read about the treatment of POW’s, these prisoners are actually taken care of remarkably well by their captors.

[Michael S Davis]

Exciting True Story

Couldn’t put the book down.
I love a “First Story” biography
which is authentic and easy to read
and this is one of those rare ones!

[Joel Ungar]

Good story but not well-written.

I've never read a story like this, but was ultimately disappointed. It could have been exciting but it reads like a dull retelling of a boring vacation.