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A very interesting first-hand account of what it meant to be a working prisoner-of-war of the Germans for five years during WWII. The book contains tragedy and humour. The author shows particularly well the many schemes - capers, he calls them - devised by the British to maintain morale, and, wherever possible, frustrate the German war effort. This is a fine tale of resilience in the face of great odds.

Taken captive in May 1940, as part of the British Expeditionary Force, his detachment of the Searchlight Regiment - who were defending the retreat to Dunkirk - was decimated by the Germans. He escaped death by a whisker before being taken prisoner and spending the rest of the war in a POW camp at Lamsdorf (sub-camp E3) on the Polish border near Austwitz.

Trevor recounts many capers where the British Sense of humour prevailed. The Germans could not understand why it was possible to be happy when held captive for five years. Little did they realise that the British were up to no good when invited by the Germans to help them build a hydroelectric plant to help their war machine.

In their spare time, the prisoners put on several topical musicals, produced by Trevor, including those of Gilbert & Sullivan. They had their own band of musicians (where did they get their instruments?). So good were they that the Germans arranged for the musicals to be performed in front of their top brass near Berlin. There the group met a spy of great renown.

The book is a compilation of two works by author, Trevor Roberts, who chose not to put pen to paper until 50 years after the war. He published formerly his first book, 800 Lives, and self-published the second, 260 Sundays. His great nephew, Adam K Dean, decided to compile the two works and republish them on VE Day, May 2020, 75 years after the end of the war.

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