Colditz: Prisoners of the Castle

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Macintyre’s Colditz offers an anatomy of prison life that depicts a microcosm of the British class system, subterranean currents of racism, anti-Semitism and homosexuality, and a surprising code of respect exhibited by their German captors. The Soviet leader was venerated as a liberator in the West but held in contempt by many Russians for destroying the Soviet empire. Wing Commander Douglas Bader, a double amputee fighter pilot who was held in high esteem by most prisoners. Italian wife killed by pizza: Diner, 46, started spasming after eating restaurant dish with 'tainted chilli. It was the only time that the spooks managed to exfiltrate a penetration agent from the USSR, outwitting their Russian adversaries.

Colditz: Prisoners of the Castle eBook : Macintyre, Ben

Log in Keep reading with a freetrial Subscribe and get your first month of online and app access for free. Peter Storie-Pugh, a medical student before the war, worked in the sick bay and noted how many men were suffering the prolonged effects of sexual repression. I can't quite say that this is a feel-good or fun book but relative to anything else I've read about WWII it is both of those at times. The ways in which they frequently worked in unison - in lieu of diversities and any misgivings - provides many lighthearted and inspiring moments for the listener/reader. For others, like Michael Sinclair, captured at Dunkirk, the need to escape was “not simply urgent and all consuming, but pathological” and whose obsession ended in a mad dash for the walls and a hail of bullets.

The second big mistake was to assume that because the castle looked terrifying, it would be secure, Macintyre says - in fact, it was one of the worst places to have a prison camp. The castle was built in the 11th century by the electors of Saxony, effectively as a demonstration of power. Lee Carson, a beautiful and fearless journalist who traveled with American troops, who was known as the “Rhine Maiden.

Colditz - Penguin Books UK

In this gripping narrative, Ben Macintyre tackles one of the most famous prison stories in history and makes it utterly his own. A French cavalry officer escaped by vaulting himself over a four-metre barbed wire fence using only the cupped hands of a fellow officer to spring off. By the end of 1944, very few prisoners were still trying to escape, it had become far too dangerous. He spoke extensively to Gordievsky, who is now 79 and living in the home counties – a remarkable figure, “proud, shrewd and irascible”.Ross doesn’t question Bader’s decision, simply because he feels he can’t disobey an officer, and stays in captivity, accepting Bader’s humiliating treatment for another two-and-a-half years.

Ben Macintyre - Official Site Ben Macintyre - Official Site

He was a highly-educated Brahmin who spoke gentleman’s English as well as five other languages, yet in the eyes of his supposed comrades he was an object of derision and contempt. I had a tap on the shoulder from one of my tutors, who said, ‘There’s part of the Foreign Office that is slightly different from the other parts. One of the most extraordinary things about Colditz, he says, is the way prisoners manufactured escape equipment from within the castle. It’s through these archives that Macintyre learnt of Ross’s anguish and other prisoners’ private fears, including a chaplain’s anxiety over the men acting on homosexual urges.

Instead of dampening rebellion, the chemistry of international competition and collaboration had made the place even harder to police.

Colditz by Ben Macintyre | Waterstones Colditz by Ben Macintyre | Waterstones

That may be because Gordievsky is now more of a target than when he defected, according to Macintyre.

I’m so glad that the famous woman journalist took the only photo of it and that the photo was included in the book.