I read this book after becoming obsessed by Secret Army. This is the story of the men from Bomber Command who were shot down in enemy territory during World War II – and of the men and women who helped them make their way back to Britain.

It's a great read, following the experiences of a handful of young RAF lads who found themselves having to bail out of their plane and landing in Nazi-occupied Belgium, France or (worst of all) Germany. Barely out of their teens, they would then try to find a sympathetic local who was brave enough to help them hide from the Germans and get back to Europe. If caught by the Germans, the RAF lads would end up in a prisoner of war camp. If caught by the Germans, the locals would find themselves tortured and shot or tortured and sent to concentration camps.

When I read this, it was reassuring to know that the people I was reading about had been interviewed by the authors recently (the book was published in 2007). Because that meant that when they were caught by Germans, I knew they survived, so somehow that made it easier reading (especially when it came to the chapter dealing with the women's horrific experiences in concentration camps). Too many of their friends and relatives didn't. 

'The thing that struck me most in this book was how young the women were. The Comet escape line – on which Secret Army's Lifeline is based – was run by a woman in her mid-20s, Andrée de Jongh (code name: Dedée), who – used to accompany the evaders in a perilous trek across the Pyrenees so that they could reach neutral Spain. Some of the escape-line workers, like 17-year-old Nadine Dumon, were only in their teens. Teenage girls who wanted so much to overthrow the Nazis that they risked torture and their lives to help British airmen (and did indeed end up in concentration camps). These were real heroines, real kick-ass girls way before the feminist revolution and affirmative action.

But it wasn't all heroic. There was the man who wanted to be in on one of the escape lines, believing there was money to be made from it. He was rejected by those who ran the line — so he shopped them to the Germans. And there was the boyfriend who, when jilted by his girlfriend, went straight to the Nazis to tell them she was part of an escape line hiding British airmen. 

Being the cynic I am, I can't help thinking that in today's money-crazy society, if the world were ever at war in that way again, we would see rather more of the unheroic acts than the heroic. I hope we never find out if I'm right or wrong on that one!
  

I went to Borders today and, while I didn't find any of the recommended books (not even the Miep Gies one, which surprised me), I found and bought a book called Home Run: Escape from Nazi Europe by John Nichol and Tony Rennell. It's about stranded soldiers and shot-down airmen who travelled back to Britain from the occupied countries via escape lines – in other words, Secret Army in real life. I've started it and it looks as if it's going to be a good read.

I keep hoping to find the Jane Beaton adult school story, First Year at Downey House, but it looks as if it's not going to be released here. I'll have to buy it when I'm in England.

In contrast to the last three weekends, this weekend has been very lazy, with late breakfasts, lots of games of swingball in the back yard with Gabe, and pleasant afternoons out in the sun imbibing either red (yesterday) or rosé (today) wine. And, of course, Secret Army in the evening. My favourite character died last night. :-(  Tonight we start on Season 3.