This is the remarkable true story of a young army glider pilot's
experience of the last days in the defense of Arnhem Bridge, his
eventual capture and then escape to be adopted by the Resistance, the
hair-raising journey through occupied Europe and his eventual return to
the UK.
After capture Freeman was first taken to Apeldoorn where he was
hospitalized, claiming shell-shock. Although quite sane, he feigned
trauma with escape in mind, until being punished for aiding the escape
of four Allied inmates. Then he was put on a train bound for Germany,
from this he escaped and eventually made contact with the Dutch
underground. He is given civilian cloths and a bicycle and rides
overnight to Barnveld where he stays with a schoolmaster and church
organist. Then another cycle ride to a farm where he sleeps in the
hayloft and finally still on his bike, he rides through the German front
lines. He eventually is returned to RAF Broadwell by Dakota to resume
his part in the war, from capture to freedom within a month. The text is
interspersed with flashbacks to the author's childhood and early
training, capturing the true spirit of a typical modest and yet
outstandingly brave young man of the wartime era.