'For you the war is over'.
'Last of the Kriegies' tells the extraordinary stories of five of the
last remaining Second World War RAF Bomber Command Prisoners-of-War:
pilot Reg Barker, bomb aimer Charles Clarke, air gunner David Fraser,
air gunner Albert Gunn and navigator Henry Wagner. Each veteran shares
the journey they went through joining up with the Royal Air Force, their
training and crewing up, and operational duties with RAF Bomber Command.
We accompany them on raids over enemy territory as they fight to survive
against the relentless flak, searchlights, and deadly enemy
nightfighters. Eventually each airmen's next of kin receives a knock on
the door and the dreaded 'regret to inform' you telegram.
Reg, Charles, David, Albert and Henry describe the circumstances in
which they are shot from the sky, descending by parachute in to hostile
territory, and their subsequent failed attempt to avoid capture.
Interrogation follows and we hear how the downed airmen negotiate the
aggressive and devious tactics employed by their captors as they try and
extract secret information. Our 'Kriegsgefangener' soon find themselves
behind the barbed wire of a German prison camp facing the trials and
tribulations of daily life as a 'kriegie'; the battle with hunger and
frustration, the baiting and harassing of prison guards, friendships
made, and attempts to break out and escape their captivity. In the final
months of the war some of our POWs endure the grueling and harsh
conditions of the forced 'Long March'. Despite frustrating delays, as
the Nazi regime enters its final death throes, our airmen eventually
taste the sweetness of liberation and journey home to loved ones and
family.
Fighting High Publishing and Bomber Command historian Steve Darlow
presents the extraordinary testimony of five veterans who endured and
survived being shot down, captivity, degradation, and suffering.
Illustrated with previously unpublished photographs and with a foreword
from former Gulf War POW Squadron Leader Bob Ankerson RAF (Ret'd) 'Last
of the Kriegies' reveals the extraordinary strength and resilience of
the human spirit struggling with incarceration and the loss of freedom.
