This is Frank Griffiths' biography, the great-grandfather of the author who was the pilot of the Halifax bomber that was carrying the equipment to be dropped for the Resistance. By its very nature, the mission was being flown at extremely low altitude, to avoid the enemy radar. 

Unfortunately, the Halifax had engine trouble at the drop site. This was later confirmed to be due to the small arms fire of an Italian soldier. 

By sheer chance, the soldier had shot a bullet into the fuel pipe serving both engines on the port wing. This disabled the aircraft, forcing Frank to crash land at a nearby village. and then plane exploded as it was leaking aviation fuel.

None of Frank Griiffith’s crew survived the crash, but he had been catapulted, still in his seat, out of the plane's cockpit, which had separated from the rest of the plane. The hooks under the seat had caught on some telephone wires nearby, breaking his fall and suspending him upside down. 

Semi-conscious, he released the seat belt button and fell to the ground, sustaining a broken arm, wrist and several cuts to his face and head.

Injured and lapsing in and out of consciousness, Frank Griffith was rescued by two teenage boys who pushed him on their bicycle to their home. The boy’s mother tended his wounds and hid him inside their chimney. 

This was the start of Frank Griffith’s journey back to England, through the highly secret, but effective, escape route run by the courageous and resourceful men and women of the Resistance. Initially, he was held in a safe house while arrangements were made. 

Adam Hart’s great grandfather’s next journey was to escape to Switzerland. He travelled through the brave hands of several patriots, and eventually managed to squeeze through a gap dug under the frontier fence known as the 'doghole', into Switzerland where he was treated in hospital for several weeks. 

Initially, Frank Griffiths was due to be met by a flying boat on Lake Geneva, but received coded messages from London via the BBC, this would not be possible.

Plan B was for him to return to Northern France and to be met by a Lysander light aircraft in the dead of night, but that also had to be aborted.

Onwards to Plan C. He was rerouted to a safe house in Toulouse, where he was prepared for an arduous trip, by foot, across the Pyrenees into Spain. A long way from the initial plan.

Adam also tells the stories about the people who helped secret Frank Griffiths through occupied Europe to safety in this biography.

Adam retraced his ancestor's path from the crash site until he arrived in Gibraltar where he managed to trace and meet up with many of the descendants of those brave people. The meetings were emotional, friendships were formed and tears were shed. 

Some of these moments are real tear-jerkers, so I must warn you to keep some tissues handy.

The biography includes the story of Frank's life from childhood, growing up in the Wirral in North West England and North Wales. He considered himself a proud Welshman. Growing up, he had many adventures which honed his character for the next stage of his life, to join the RAF. 

He had an amazing career as a pilot during WW2, stalled by this huge adventure as he escaped from occupied Europe, culminating in flying almost all over the world, then becoming a pilot instructor after the conflict. 

The author has included a chapter at the end of the book, he calls the 'Dramatis Personae'. He chronicles the lives of each of these incredibly brave and resourceful people he met in the RAF (Royal Airforce), the people who helped him while he was travelling the escape route, and during the second part of his war.

This debut book is mostly well written with exceptions of a few grammatical errors and typos. It is very easy to read and an a page turner. Adam Hart is a promising new writer and, as he explains, he did not actually intend to write a book, just an article of about a thousand words. 

But he had accumulated so much information he was advised to write a book instead and I am pleased he did,

It is endearing to see that the silhouette of a Halifax Bomber is used to seperate sections within chapters 

Reviewed by Ken.

The Author 

Adam Hart is a writer and historian from Pembrokeshire in South West Wales. While training to be a journalist at Cardiff University, Adam won a travel bursary to retrace his great-grandfather's escape in World War 2, inspiring this book. He has also written for The Times and Telegraph, appeared on the Antiques Roadshow and ITV Evening News and has spoken on Radio 4 and Times Radio.

DON'T MISS OUT

Receive our BookTalk newsletter with all the latest book reviews

YOU MAY ALSO BE INTERESTED IN THESE BOOKS