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'Wings' Day
The story of Wing Commander H.M.A. Day, prisoner extraordinary, the man who
planned the first successful escapers' tunnel...
developed elaborate code networks with Britain...
gathered an organization which could make, 'win', or forge anything...
pinned down thousands of German troops to security duties...
was the only POW to be awarded the DSO for services during captivity...
(from the back cover)
planned the first successful escapers' tunnel...
developed elaborate code networks with Britain...
gathered an organization which could make, 'win', or forge anything...
pinned down thousands of German troops to security duties...
was the only POW to be awarded the DSO for services during captivity...
(from the back cover)
288 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1970
29 people want to read
About the author
Sydney Smith, DFC
1 book6 followersSydney Smith joined the Royal Air Force (RAF) during the Second World War, serving as a pilot in a Blenheim Squadron until he was shot down over Rotterdam harbor in 1941. He spent the remainder of the war as a POW, in which capacity he made the acquaintance of 'Wings' Day.
After the war, Smith moved to France, where he married and worked for Paris-Match.
After the war, Smith moved to France, where he married and worked for Paris-Match.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
June 22, 2021
The book starts with giving a brief, yet good background to whom Harry Day was before the start of the Second World War. A 40 year old ex-Royal Marine veteran of Word War 1, leader of the RAF Aerobatics Display Team, father and husband and a Wing Commander whom was set to serve as a staff officer when war arrived.
Yet he requested a transfer to command an operational squadron at the outbreak of war and was posted to the air component of the BEF in France, where on 13 October 1939, he was shot down over Germany and captured on his and his squadrons' first wartime mission. What follows in his time as a prisoner-of-war is the story of a man who was "robbed" of fighting in a war he trained for his whole life and his attempts to rejoin that fight at any cost. At first he was content to sit out the war during the days of the Phoney War when it seemed that war would be over fast, but when Germany invaded France, everything changed. He organized the first mass RAF escape from Dulag Luft where he and 17 other senior officers tunneled out before being recaptured. He was transferred to Stalag Luft III where he headed the escape committee as being the Senior British Officer in the camp and was instrumental in the Great Escape, where he was one of the lucky few to escape execution in it's aftermath. Instead he was sent to Sachsenhausen concentration camp where he again escaped before being recaptured.
After all this he was one of the Prominenten to be moved to Tyrol in Austria to be used a bargaining chip at the end of the war, but this never came to be and he waited out the war there. This last part of the book drags on a bit and bring an otherwise great and exciting book to an anti-climatic end. Recommended though to add to a Great Escape collection that is filled with very interesting characters.
Yet he requested a transfer to command an operational squadron at the outbreak of war and was posted to the air component of the BEF in France, where on 13 October 1939, he was shot down over Germany and captured on his and his squadrons' first wartime mission. What follows in his time as a prisoner-of-war is the story of a man who was "robbed" of fighting in a war he trained for his whole life and his attempts to rejoin that fight at any cost. At first he was content to sit out the war during the days of the Phoney War when it seemed that war would be over fast, but when Germany invaded France, everything changed. He organized the first mass RAF escape from Dulag Luft where he and 17 other senior officers tunneled out before being recaptured. He was transferred to Stalag Luft III where he headed the escape committee as being the Senior British Officer in the camp and was instrumental in the Great Escape, where he was one of the lucky few to escape execution in it's aftermath. Instead he was sent to Sachsenhausen concentration camp where he again escaped before being recaptured.
After all this he was one of the Prominenten to be moved to Tyrol in Austria to be used a bargaining chip at the end of the war, but this never came to be and he waited out the war there. This last part of the book drags on a bit and bring an otherwise great and exciting book to an anti-climatic end. Recommended though to add to a Great Escape collection that is filled with very interesting characters.
October 5, 2014
Originally published in 1968, this biography of Wing Commander Day (RAF) focuses entirely on the war experiences of his subject, captured in the early days of the war, and spent the next five and a half years as Senior British Officer (SBO) in various POW camps, but not above joining escapes himself.
After taking part in the Great Escape, Day was recaptured and transferred to Sachsenhausen concentration camp, from which he also escaped.
The book is written as a story, rather than as a work of scholarship, and the back cover notes that the author, Sydney Smith (Squadron Leader Eric Sydney-Smith RAF), was imprisoned alongside Day for four years. So the author's first-hand knowledge both of Day and of the experience of the POW comes through strongly.
However Smith very much tells Day's story, not his own. Dates are not important for Smith - you can read pages without knowing more than the year or the season when these events took place.
At times the view is the somewhat abstract view of a high-ranking SBO, but the narration of the experience of Sachsenhausen is deeply personal.
Recommended.
After taking part in the Great Escape, Day was recaptured and transferred to Sachsenhausen concentration camp, from which he also escaped.
The book is written as a story, rather than as a work of scholarship, and the back cover notes that the author, Sydney Smith (Squadron Leader Eric Sydney-Smith RAF), was imprisoned alongside Day for four years. So the author's first-hand knowledge both of Day and of the experience of the POW comes through strongly.
However Smith very much tells Day's story, not his own. Dates are not important for Smith - you can read pages without knowing more than the year or the season when these events took place.
At times the view is the somewhat abstract view of a high-ranking SBO, but the narration of the experience of Sachsenhausen is deeply personal.
Recommended.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews