Last Man Standing: Geoffrey Rothwell Survivor of 71 Bombing Missions, POW and the Only Surviving SOE Pilot

by Mcdonald-rothwell, Gabrielle

• ISBN13: 9781445681313
• ISBN10: 1445681315
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2018-08-15
• Publisher: Amberley Publishing

Summary

Tall young pilot Geoffrey Rothwell flew Wellingtons and Short Stirlings in WWII; and anyone who knows anything about that task will understand the significance of the fact that he completed more than 60 bombing missions. But the story doesn't end there: as a Flight Commander on No. 138 (Special Duties) Squadron Geoff dropped agents and supplies into enemy-occupied Europe. On his 71st mission he crashed in Holland and became a guest of the Third Reich in the freezing Stalag Luft 1 on the Baltic coast. He starved, but survived until the moment a drunken Russian officer on a white horse arrived to invite the prisoners to a night of revelry in the local village. As a member of Bomber Command, Geoffrey was one of the last of the many; as an SOE pilot he was the last of a very few. This is his amazing story. Sadly, Squadron Leader Geoffrey Rothwell passed away in December 2017, before this book went to print.

Author Biography

Gabrielle McDonald-Rothwell is a writer and war historian specializing in World War II. A graduate of History and English, she has written for a wide range of New Zealand newspapers and magazines. Her previous books include The Sunken Garden, New Zealand’s Secret Heroes, and Her Finest Hour.