num_pages: 186
description:  
  “Pilot to crew. Pilot to crew. Bail out! Bail out!”
   On 19th October, 1944, 2/Lt Kenneth W. Simmons was forced to jump from the damaged B-24 aircraft while in a bombing raid over Germany.  Once he landed he quickly became a ‘kriegie’, a prisoner of war, which he remained until General Patton’s men freed him in late April 1945.  Much of these seven months of captivity were spent in the dismal conditions of the prison camp Stalag Luft II.  Simmons provides fascinating insight into what life was like be an American prisoner of war in Nazi Germany, from undergoing interrogations to suffering cruelty and abuse from the guards.  He records not only the mundane day to day life of the prisoners but also their private projects, from forging documents to using the latrine to dispose of waste material from their tunneling projects.  “steadily interesting … due to the small details of everyday existence” Kirkus Reviews  “The march of death … is one of the most impressive scenes to be portrayed of World War II.” Houston Chronicle  “a story of hellish and holy experiences undergone by the men who became PW of the Nazis.” Daily Democrat  Kenneth Simmons was an American airman with the 8th Air Force who was forced to bail out of his plane just north of Bad Kreuznach in Germany. His work Kreigie records his experiences as a prisoner of war and was first published in 1960. Simmons passed away in 1969. 
title: Kriegie: Prisoner of War
publisher: Exodus Publications