Peter Reuss
2nd Lieutenant
- Joined
- Apr 22, 2005
- Messages
- 3,775
Just finished this book by Jack Fishman. The review on Amazon UK:
Four months before D-Day the Gestapo captured several members of the French resistance who knew when and where the landings would take place. The Allied high command could not risk them revealing the secret under torture. Instead, British aircraft attacked Amiens prison where the men were held: bombing from very low level, the aircraft broke down the prison walls. The result: the largest jail break in history. Some 700 prisoners escaped, not just resistance members but thieves, forgers, pimps, prostitutes and murderers. All were hunted by the Gestapo, the SS and the German army -- as well as the Allied spy network that had to spirit the right people to safety.
It was a great read! Fishman did a great job of making it read more like a novel than a history book. I hadn't been aware of the raid on the Amiens prison. A fun look into the world of the Resistance and the escape lines.
I highly recommend it.
Four months before D-Day the Gestapo captured several members of the French resistance who knew when and where the landings would take place. The Allied high command could not risk them revealing the secret under torture. Instead, British aircraft attacked Amiens prison where the men were held: bombing from very low level, the aircraft broke down the prison walls. The result: the largest jail break in history. Some 700 prisoners escaped, not just resistance members but thieves, forgers, pimps, prostitutes and murderers. All were hunted by the Gestapo, the SS and the German army -- as well as the Allied spy network that had to spirit the right people to safety.
It was a great read! Fishman did a great job of making it read more like a novel than a history book. I hadn't been aware of the raid on the Amiens prison. A fun look into the world of the Resistance and the escape lines.
I highly recommend it.
