Colditz: The Full Story

Supposedly escape-proof, Germany's Colditz Castle turned out to be notoriously porous. Halfway through WW II, Allied prisoners already had launched 44 escape attempts, with 16 ""home runs'' from the castle. Reid here expands his war classic, The Colditz Story, with interviews and diaries (including a particularly revealng one kept by the German security officer there). The preparations of escape committees are described along with accounts of the more dare-devil escapes. The high spirits and resourcefulness of the men throughout their incarceration are astounding. Reid relates in hilarious detail how the prisoners never missed an opportunity to bait their captors (at one point a British officer convincingly impersonated Franz Joseph, Emperor of Austria). The final scene is most affecting: the reception accorded Pfc. Alan M. Murphy of New York, the first Allied soldier to enter Colditz on the day of liberation. Photos. (May)