UNSHACKLED SPIRIT: Prisoners of War and The Secret Spitfire

A heartbreaking, inspirational and uplifting true story of hope and bravery. Only those who have been prisoners have any concept of the horrors of incarceration or the ineffable joy of release. In mid-1943, a British PoW in Germany began cryptic communication back to England with one goal in mind - to establish a secret trust fund that prisoners of war could use in order to purchase their very own Spitfire to soar above them in the skies over occupied Europe. It was to be named Unshackled Spirit, and this aircraft, along with this one man's selfless act, epitomised the courage and strength of thousands of men. The accounts compiled are from a collection of original YMCA personal wartime logs as issued to RAF prisoners of war in 1944. The book draws out the story of each aviator, how they became a prisoner and life in the various camps. Extensive and amazingly detailed pieces of artwork are taken from the logs and illustrated in the book. An important aspect is how agencies helped by supplying all manner of equipment to the thousands of men behind barbed wire. The role of MI9 is revealed and how it participated in those agencies exploring efforts taken to smuggle escape material into camps without breeching the Geneva Convention and finally the extraordinary measures taken to secure intelligence during the process of prisoner repatriation. Shoot the proofreader for some glaring errors in an otherwise interesting book with chapters on Wing Commander Douglas Bader and Warrant Officer Sydney Eric Hamblin and Bernard Howard Nutt among them, the RAF in Buchenwald and Stalag XII. 320pp, well illus.