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

The latest World War II history from Yenne (America’s Few) follows the lives of some Eighth Air Force fighter pilots and bomber crews who went down in Nazi-occupied Europe. Only a small fraction of the shot-down aircrew managed to evade capture by Wehrmacht patrols. Much of the content comes from U.S. Army Air Force debriefing reports, which indicates that French or Belgian farmers often sheltered the evaders and alerted other trusted locals to help. Full credit is given to resistance organizations such as the Comet Line. Resourceful members took risks to hide Allied airmen, forge identification, and escort their charges south toward the Spanish border. Many resistance operatives were caught by the Abwehr or the Gestapo. The evaders, after an overnight hike into Spain, were collected by Allied diplomats and taken to Gibraltar for transport flights to the UK. Some were back in their squadrons within weeks. The author cuts back and forth between different Eighth evasion groups, which diffuses some of the narrative suspense.