The Ones Who Got Away

Mighty Eighth Airmen on the Run in Occupied Europe

Bill Yenne

$49.99

Hardback

Forthcoming
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English

Osprey
30 April 2024

History; European history; Second World War; Irregular or guerrilla forces & warfare; Air forces & warfare; Prisoners of war

A remarkable collection of accounts of intrepid American aircrew shot down over enemy lines during World War II and how they got away.

To be an airman in the Eighth Air Force flying over the war-torn skies of Europe required skill, tenacity, and

luck. Those who were shot down and evaded capture needed all of that and more if they were to make it back to friendly lines. These are their stories. Each is compiled from the original intelligence debrief written by the pilots or aircrew themselves.

Bill Yenne details how a spider web of escape routes sprang up, created by the local Résistance. Downed airmen were clothed, given false papers, and hidden so they could be smuggled back to England. These efforts were then supplemented by Allied intelligence agents. But the risks remained the same. Capture could mean death.

Their accounts are sometimes funny, often heartbreaking. P-47 pilot Joel McPherson feigned appendicitis and was able to escape from the local German military hospital – after he had his appendix removed. He spent weeks operating as a getaway driver for a Maquis bank robber gang before making it into neutral Spain. Bomber crewmen Fred Hartung and Norman Therrien found refuge at a French château, but later nearly froze to death crossing the icy Pyrenees with the Gestapo on their trail. The accounts of these men and others from the Mighty Eighth make this a story of defiance, foolhardiness, and bravery against the odds.

By: Bill Yenne
Imprint: Osprey
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 234mm, Width: 153mm, Spine: 25mm
Weight: 454g
ISBN: 9781472858719
ISBN 10: 1472858719
Pages: 320
Publication Date: 30 April 2024
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active

Bill Yenne is the author of ten novels and more than three dozen non-fiction books, his most recent being America’s Few: Marine Aces in the South Pacific (Osprey, 2022). His work has been selected for the Chief of Staff of the Air Force Reading List. He is the recipient of the Air Force Association’s Gill Robb Wilson Award for the “most outstanding contribution in the field of arts and letters [as an author] whose works have shaped how thousands of Americans understand and appreciate air power.” He lives in California, USA.

Reviews for The Ones Who Got Away: Mighty Eighth Airmen on the Run in Occupied Europe

In The Ones that Got Away, Bill Yenne deftly weaves the individual stories of American airmen into an epic adventure tale of downed aviators on the run and the French, Belgian, and Dutch civilians who risked everything to help them dodge the Gestapo and escape occupied Europe. * Steve K. Bailey, author of 'Target Hong Kong' *