In honor of the 75th anniversary of the "Great Escape", Jonathan Vance's book, originally privately published as A Gallant Company, has been updated and reissued by Greenhill Books. My first reaction on finishing this book was "Wow. Just. Wow."
The True Story of the Great Escape is a detailed, carefully researched, and finely crafted account of the men of Stalag Luft III and their daring escape attempt on the night of March 24-25, 1944. Vance gives the reader brief accounts of all of the principal POWs- their pre-war lives, how they came to be pilots, as well as the mission when they were captured- in between describing life at the camp. What I found the most fascinating were his descriptions of how the prisoners made things. When the plan for the great escape went underway an entire committee of prisoners made perfectly crafted clothes, forged papers, handheld compasses, maps, and anything else that might be needed- made them from materials they scrounged from the camp or bribed from guards.
As much as this is a book about perseverance and ingenuity in the face of overwhelming odds, it is also a tribute to the men themselves. Vance honors them all for their bravery and achievements from Roger "Big X" Bushell who masterminded the scheme down to escapees like Canadian pilot George Wiley (my grandfather's cousin). Even though there is no surprise about how this escape will end for most of the men, I found myself hoping for the best and near tears reading what would be final goodbyes in the camp, let alone the orders for fifty of the recaptured escapers to be shot. This is a very human story, from the pilots to the prison guards, Vance refuses to let us imagine any of them as stereotypes from a movie.
Poignant and powerful, The True Story of the Great Escape is a must read for any history lover.
