They Have Their Exits

Wounded and captured at Calais in May 1940, Second Lieutenant Airey Neave wasted little time before attempting to escape. Always a thorn in his captors’ sides, he earned his place in the “escape-proof” Colditz Castle. Undeterred, he had the distinction of being the first British officer to make a “home run,” via Switzerland, Vichy France, and Spain.

Soon back in France working with the French Resistance as a member of M.I.9, rescuing Allied airmen, he found himself playing a leading role saving stranded survivors of 1st Airborne Division at Arnhem.

Neave’s extraordinary memoir continues even after Germany’s surrender. Having arrested the directors of the mighty Krupp empire, he served with the Nuremburg War Crimes Tribunal where he came into personal contact with leading Nazis, gaining a unique insight into their characters and deeds.