Dimensions
155 x 235 x 25mm
Bigger than The Great Escape. The story of the first successful mass tunnel escape from a PoW camp in WWI Germany. Holzminden prisoner-of-war camp was a World War I prisoner-of-war camp for British Empire officers located in Lower Saxony, Germany. It opened in September 1917, and closed with the final repatriation of prisoners in December 1918. It is remembered as the location of the largest PoW escape of the war, in July 1918: 29 officers escaped through a tunnel, of whom ten evaded subsequent recapture and managed to make their way back to Britain. To write this extraordinary book, Jacqueline Cook solicited input from descendants of PoWs from Holzminden and the material they have put together is simply breathtaking, responses came from around the world. The book was written from original journals, photographs, sketches, and programs from events put on in Holzminden. It was known as the worst camp in Germany, all officers who had made escape attempts from other camps were sent here, but it was a camp for officers, thus they did have good Red Cross access, orderlies at their disposal and rather useful organisational skills. Cook illuminates the birth-to-death lives of the POWs, and the range of stories and experiences shared is astounding. Cook also put out a call to descendants of Holzminden officers' camp, and was astonished by the response. The descendants have generously opened their hearts and treasure chests, offering personal anecdotes, war time diaries, unpublished photos and u incredibly u artwork and poetry out of the camp.
