Boldness Be My Friend

by Richard Pape

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Aggressive, impetuous, and dauntless, Richard Pape was never going to sit out the war in a Nazi prison. Captured after going on the run when his bomber crashed in occupied Holland, his thoughts turned, at once, to escape. In the most appalling of conditions, he did not give way. Not only did he send more than 100 coded messages to the War Office, but he also swapped identities with a fellow prisoner to make a breakout. His incredible escape was only the beginning of his struggle for freedom. show more Hunted by the Nazis across Europe, for Pape surrender was never an option. show less

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2 reviews
This a cracking good story and the author claims it is true. You can search the internet for detractors and you will find one or two who are critical of Pape and say the he is a good writer of tall tales. Pape's Stirling bomber was shot down in 1941 near the German/Dutch border. He evaded for a time but was eventually captured and spent the the next few years planning escapes from POW camps. He actually achieved it twice. In his first camp, he spent time working on escape tunnel with Douglas Bader, another POW who was big pain in the German's side. He wrote a sequel entitled Sequel to Boldness which is also a very good read.
Remarkable story of the ingenious escapes and privations of a Scottish RAF bomber navigator shot down after bombing Berlin. Pape was confined to Nazi prison camps for years and tells his story without apology. For me the highpoint of my 21st century edition is the inclusion of a breezy letter written to another RAF survivor decades after the War.
½

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12 Works 197 Members

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Common Knowledge

Original publication date
1953
Important events
World War II
First words
'You're wanted in the crew room right away,' yelled Stinker Sinclair from the bottom of our barrack staircase. (Prologue)
We had crashed a shade west of the Dutch-German border a few kilometers from Hengelo (Chapter One)
Last words
(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)At long last it was all over.
(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)It was there that I experienced such humane , constructive decency that, in three months, it offset all the inhuman destructive indecency I saw and experienced during my three years in Germany Occupied Europe. (Epilogue)
Original language
English

Classifications

Genres
History, Nonfiction, Biography & Memoir
DDC/MDS
940.547243092History & geographyHistory of EuropeHistory of Europe1918-Military history of World War IIPrisoners of war; medical and social servicesPrisoner-of-War CampsGerman & Central European POW camps
LCC
D811 .P34History of Europe, Asia, Africa and OceaniaHistory (General)World War II (1939-1945)
BISAC

Statistics

Members
131
Popularity
248,584
Reviews
2
Rating
½ (3.64)
Languages
English, Hungarian, Norwegian (Bokmål)
Media
Paper, Ebook
ISBNs
16
ASINs
13