Colditz Last Stop: Four Countries, Eleven Prisons, Six Escapes

Jack Pringle was one of the outstanding escapers of World War II, and was one of only two officers to be awarded the Military Cross for his escape attempts. Colditz Last Stop tells the story of these extraordinary attempts.

The author describes his first escape from a train near Rome, dressed as a woman. Later, from the Medieval fortress of Gavi near Genoa, he makes the only successful escape in its 600 year history through an underground reservoir, only to be captured a week later on the Swiss frontier.

On being moved to Germany after the Italian capitulation, he teams up with David Stirling founder of the SAS. Together, they scale the barbed wire of a Russian POW camp in Austria; fully clothed, they swim a river under machinegun fire from the banks; climb the Tyrol alps until nighttall; elude the tracker dogs set on their trail - and all of this in harsh mid-winter.

Previously, in Calabria, Pringle had been suspected of being a spy, but had manage to evade the firing squad; later, with Stirling, he is given a suspended death sentence in Germany for the same reason.

When escape was not on the menu, the two were busy setting up subversive activities from within the prisons. While at Marisch Trubau near the Polish border, they made contact with the Czech Underground, and from within Colditz itself they worked with local German dissidents.

This is an amazing adventure story, the more so because it is true. In his laconic style Pringle makes no attempt to dramatize. But with the reality of a story covering four countries, eleven prisons and six escapes, there is no need to.