A true story of the great escape : a young Australian POW in the most audacious breakout of WWII / Louise Williams
- Bib ID:
- 7328349
- Format:
- Book
- Author:
- Williams, Louise, 1961-, author
- Description:
-
- Crows Nest, NSW : Allen & Unwin, 2017
- ©2015
- 284 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations, portraits ; 20 cm
- ISBN:
- 9781760296148 (paperback)
- Summary:
-
The first book to tell the story of an Australian POW in the famous Great Escape from Stalag Luft III in World War II, this is a moving account of the far too short life of a talented young man and a family hit hard by the Depression and war.
Shot down in 1942, young Australian fighter pilot John Williams DFC became a POW in the notorious Stalag Luft III camp in Germany. John had joined the air force shortly before the outbreak of war and, in the larrikin tradition, led his squadron into air combat over the deserts of Libya and Egypt dressed in sandals and shorts...John and his best mate Rusty Kierath were among the 76 POWs who tunnelled their way out of the supposedly escape-proof camp under the noses of their German guards in what later became the Hollywood blockbuster, The Great Escape. Their families never learned what really happened once the pair made it out into the forest...John's niece Louise Williams has pieced together his life, from his upbringing in a tight-knit family hit hard by the Depression, to his exploits in the air, and the many missing details of the tragic escape. It is a powerful and intimate story of one of the most dramatic episodes of World War II...'A riveting tale, superbly told' - Peter FitzSimons, author and journalist..'A brilliant achievement. Louise Williams reminds us that the story of the Great Escape should not be owned by Hollywood, but rather by the families of those who made the greatest sacrifice.' - Guy Walters, author of The Real Great Escape.
- Notes:
-
- First published : 2015.
- Includes bibliographical references (pages 272-274) and index.
- Subject:
-
- Kierath, Reginald Victor, 1915-1944
- Williams, John Edwin Ashley, 1919-1944
- Australia. Royal Australian Air Force -- Officers
- Stalag Luft III -- Biography
- Australia. Royal Australian Air Force -- Officers -- Biography
- Australia. Royal Australian Air Force -- Officers -- Crimes against
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Personal narratives, Australian
- Escaped prisoners of war -- Germany -- Biography
- Prisoners of war -- Germany -- Biography
- Prisoners of war -- Australia -- Biography
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Prisoners and prisons, German
- War crimes -- Germany
- Prisoner-of-war escapes -- Germany
- Escaped prisoners of war -- Australia -- Biography
- Biography & True Stories
- Australian
- Copyright:
-
In Copyright
You may copy under some circumstances, for example you may copy a portion for research or study. Order a copy through Copies Direct to the extent allowed under fair dealing. Contact us for further information about copying.
Copyright status was determined using the following information:
- Material type:
- Literary Dramatic Musical
- Published status:
- Published
- Publication date:
- 2015
Copyright status may not be correct if data in the record is incomplete or inaccurate. Other access conditions may also apply. For more information please see: Copyright in library collections.
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