Over the Wire : A Canadian Pilot's Memoir of War and Survival as a POW

by Carswell, Andrew

• ISBN13: 9781118109694
• ISBN10: 1118109694
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2012-01-30
• Publisher: Wiley

Summary

A POW's Journey from Hell to Freedom "His story exemplifies the courage and integrity of the generation that sacrificed so much for the cause of freedom ... The greatest single attribute these men who enlisted possessed was the virtue of high moral character and a willingness to do their duty ... It is my pleasure to recommend this book wholeheartedly. Read it, it will make you proud to be a Canadian." -T.J. Lawson, Major-General, Assistant Chief of the Air Staff National Defence, Canada   "This is a quiet Victory in Europe story ... Carswell's story of personal liberation in the dying days of World War II, and his harrowing bailout over Germany, reads like an epic." -Scott Simmie, The Toronto Star   In 1943 RAF Bomber Command was losing planes and aircrew at an alarming rate on its nighttime missions over Germany and occupied Europe. Volunteers across Canada answered the call to duty. This is the story of one of those who served and survived against almost impossible odds. Andrew Carswell grew up in Toronto and, shortly after his eighteenth birthday, enlisted and began the training that would soon qualify him to fly a Lancaster bomber. On his fourth operational mission his plane was shot down over Germany. Andrew and his crew bailed out of the burning airplane just before it crashed in flames. Alone and unarmed, but unhurt, Andrew found himself deep in forest on a bitterly cold night. He was taken prisoner, as were four other members of his crew, and spent the next three years as a prisoner of war in eastern Poland at Stalag VIIIB. His account of life in the camp and his two daring escapes from the heart of this fascinating story of a boy sent to do a man's job. He risked death daily yet never gave up and never lost hope. He was finally liberated by Montgomery's Second Army in 1945 and returned to England. This is Andrew's story, but it is also the story of tens of thousands of Canadians of his generation who were proud to serve their country in its hour of greatest need.

Author Biography

Andrew Carswell enlisted in the RCAF at age eighteen in May 1941 and was sent overseas for further training in April 1942. After his Lancaster bomber was shot down near Berlin on his fourth operational trip, on January 17, 1943, he ended up a prisoner of war at Stalag VIIIB, at Lamsdorf, Ober Silesia, in what is now Poland.

As a POW, Andrew escaped twice from working parties and was recaptured both times. In the winter of 1945, all the POWs at Lamsdorf were forced to walk across Germany as the Russians advanced. Andrew was liberated by Montgomery's Second Army in April of that year.

Flown back to England, Andrew was commissioned and then returned to Canada, where he was discharged in September 1945. He re-enlisted in the RCAF as a pilot in 1949, retiring in 1970 to join the Department of Transportation. As a regional aviation safety officer, he promoted aviation safety to the aviation community, until his retirement in 1988.

Table of Contents

Foreword	p. viii
Preface	p. xi
Seven Thousand Feet and Falling	p. 1
"Englander"	p. 19
Interrogation	p. 32
Next Stop Lamsdorf	p. 47
Stalag VIIIB	p. 56
Swap Over	p. 71
Arbeitskommando E148	p. 83
Escape	p. 95
Return to Camp	p. 111
Life at the Camp	p. 121
Taffy Mac's Souvenir Booklet	p. 146
Doing It Right	p. 163
Eikhammer	p. 174
Destination Stettin	p. 187
End of the Line	p. 205
"Achtung Schweinehunde!"	p. 218
Back at VIIIB	p. 231
March to Fallingbostel	p. 240
Going Home	p. 260
Epilogue	p. 274
Index	p. 287
Photo Credits	p. 289
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