Castle of the Eagles
Subtitle: Escape from Mussolini's Colditz
Publisher: Icon Books, Limited
Published: 2017
Language: eng
Number of pages: 308
ISBN-13: 9781785781186
Subjects: World war, 1914-1918, prisoners and prisons; Prisoners of war; Prisoners, great britain
Description: "High in the Tuscan hills above Florence, the menacing Vincigliata Castle - a very special prisoner-of-war camp converted on Mussolini's personal orders - held thirteen of the most senior British and Commonwealth officers captured during the campaign in North Africa. Against insuperable odds, these extraordinary middle-aged POWs drove a complex tunnel beneath the castle, and by March 1943 it was ready... Six men would attempt the impossible: an air marshal, three brigadiers, two lieutenant-generals. Three were knights of the realm and two held the Victoria Cross. One was missing a hand and eye, another suffered a gammy hip. The youngest was 48, the oldest 63. During that rainswept night, three teams burst out of the earth and slipped away, intent on reaching neutral Switzerland." --Publisher's description.