BOOK REVIEW
ESCAPE FROM STALAG LUFT III
THE TRUE STORY OF MY SUCCESSFUL GREAT ESCAPE: THE MEMOIR OF BRAM VANDERSTOK
ISBN: 978 1 78438 434 0
GREENHILL BOOKS
www.greenhillbooks.com
AN INSPIRING SUCCESSFUL ESCAPE TO THE FREE WORLD WITH A “HOME RUN” DURING “THE GREAT ESCAPE”
An appreciation by Elizabeth Taylor of Richmond Green Chambers and Phillip Taylor MBE, Head of Chambers, Reviews Editor, “The Barrister”, and Mediator
This story is true and a success for Operation Escape 200, known now as “The Great Escape”! It is great to read a first-hand account of how Bram Vanderstok, known as “Bob”, made his home run over a long period of time. He describes how he was “one of those lucky ones who survived the war”.
He goes on to state “I can remember my emotional experiences, and those of my friends, as if they had happened yesterday. For many of us the horror, the injustice, and the cruelty can never be forgotten or forgiven; but I have tried to write without too much bitterness”. This is Bob, 'the born raconteur’ at his best.
His previous escapes, his operations as a Spitfire pilot, his experiences as a prisoner of war, and his incredible escape crossing the Pyrenees, are deftly described. It was on the night of 24th March 1944, that Bob Vanderstok, who was number 18 out of the 76 men who crawled beyond the barbed wire fence of Stalag Luft III in what is now called Zagan, Poland.
There was a film in 1963 called “The Great Escape” which explained how Roger Bushell’s “Operation Escape 200” was masterminded. That film was largely based on this autobiography before it was translated but - with van der Stok's agreement – the filmmakers chose to turn his story into an Australian character name Sedgewick, played by US actor James Coburn.
Bob’s memoir sets down his wartime adventures before being incarcerated in Stalag Luft III and then - with extraordinary detail - describes various escape attempts which culminated with the famous March breakout. After escaping Bob roamed Europe for weeks, passing through Leipzig, Utrecht, Brussels, Paris, Dijon and Madrid, before making it back to England.
Upon arrival in the UK, he reported to the Air Ministry and two months after escaping, on 30 May 1944, returning to the British 91 Squadron. In the following months he flew almost every day back in active service to France escorting bombers and knocking down V1 rockets.
Described by many as “a born raconteur”, his incredible adventures escaping crossing the Pyrenees all are described “in a breathtaking manner”. Another described Bob, the medical man, as “such a modest man”, and describing “such a dramatic story” that you will be “pulled into this absorbing account”, and we certainly were!
In his own words he describes his escape - how, "quickly, I climbed up to the surface and immediately found the rope . . . I felt no signal, so it was not safe yet. Then I felt three distinct tugs and slowly popped my head up. The nearest 'Goonbox' was at least 200 feet away; but, indeed, I was twenty feet from the edge of the woods."
It was in August 1944 that Bob finally returned to his home. He learned that his two brothers had been killed in concentration camps after being arrested for resistance work. His father had been tortured and blinded by the Gestapo during interrogation and subsequently died but he had never betrayed his son.
Do read the last few pages of the book which explains why Bob would not speak up for the Camp Commandant- the reader will understand why. Thank you, Greenhill Books, for publishing this translation.
The date of publication of this hardback edition is 4th February 2019. Bob died in February 1993.
