In 1941 air gunner Sergeant Jack Newton's Wellington is hit by flak on his first bombing raid over Germany. Miraculously, the skipper makes an emergency landing on a German-occupied Belgian airfield, narrowly avoiding Antwerp Cathedral. Having torched the plane, the crew give the unsuspecting Germans the slip and are hidden by the Resistance. Hoping to make it to the coast and back across the Channel, the airmen are surprised when the 23-year-old female leader of the Comete Escape Line, Andree de Jongh—codenamed Dedee—has other plans for them. Full of terrifying and humorous moments, this is the story of the epic journey of the first British airman to escape occupied Europe during the Second World War.
This book was a fantastic read. It was written wonderfully and full of heart. I’ve read a lot of WW2 fiction and I recognized parts of this true story that other fiction writers have used in their books. I highly recommend this book, the courage and bravery of those who fought for our freedoms and worked with the resistance should never be forgotten or taken for granted.