D-Day and Beyond: A True Story of Escape and POW Survival

by Julie M. Phend, Stanley E Edwards

D-Day and Beyond is the true story of WWII veteran Stanley E. Edwards, Jr. A C-47 pilot with the 82nd Airborne Division, Stanley was just twenty-two on D-Day when his job was to drop paratroopers in Normandy, France. Instead, his plane was shot down and he was forced to jump.Separated from his crew, he joined other paratroopers trying to fight their way back the American lines. In the process they were captured by Nazis but managed to escape. Stanley Edwards was captured and escaped twice more before he was finally caught and sent to Stalag Luft III, a prison camp in Germany. There he learned to survive as a POW, made lifelong friends, and learned some of the most important lessons of his life.

Genres: History

181 pages, Paperback

First published December 1, 2004

Reviews

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don’t usually read war stories, but I thoroughly enjoyed this fascinating and lucid memoir describing how Stanley Edwards was shot down on D-Day and forced to play cat-and-mouse with German soldiers in the French countryside.

What I liked best was the attention paid to Edward’s emotional development. “I was scared, but I didn’t want to show it…We played cards and concentrated on the winnings as if that were the most important thing going on in the world.” Of nineteen paratroopers in the plane, only three had ever jumped in combat. The crew chief’s job was to literally kick them out, if necessary. “We were all kids…I doubted whether I would ever be able to kill someone, and I certainly didn’t intend to use the cyanide!”

We learn so many small details about his world. His airplane with 1400 buttons was rudimentary by today’s standards—“Back then, pilots were serious about learning to use a sexton, or even the moon and stars, to help guide them if necessary.” We learn that emergency rations for paratroopers included chewing gum, coffee, sugar, creamer packets, candy, and tobacco (the only real food was two bullion cubes).

I don’t want to tell more of Edwards’ adventures for fear of spoiling the story, but suffice to say it’s one of hair’s-breadth escapes and life-and-death split-second choices, as he steadily matures into a soldier’s role. At the end there’s an amazing anecdote about a popcorn machine. This book brings home how much of war has changed, and how much has stayed the same. I was completely riveted.

[Benjamin · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a very interesting first-hand account of the D-Day landings. I’d never read a memoir from a WWII soldier before, and there were a lot of interesting details. The funniest part was when Patton set up a popcorn machine for an entire army, but the line was so long that the writer didn’t bother. I recommend this to anyone interested in WWII.