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Archive for June, 2012|Monthly archive page

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The Great Escape: Remembering the Fallen

In Uncategorized on June 27, 2012 at 8:56 am

As history and film enthusiasts know, “The Great Escape” involved the breakout of 76 Allied airmen from Stalag Luft III, a supposedly escape-proof camp deep in the heart of Germany, during the Second World War. Three men ultimately made it back to England, while 50 of the recaptured 73 men were taken to isolated killing fields and executed.

The murders—and the search for the killers—are the focus of my upcoming book, Human Game: The True Story of the ‘Great Escape’ Murders and the Hunt for the Gestapo Gunmen (Penguin, Oct. 2).

In the wake of the killings, inmates at Stalag Luft III were allowed to build a memorial to their fallen comrades. They did so not far from the camp, using stone from a local quarry. The memorial (pictured above) still stands today. It’s a lasting tribute to a daring—but ultimately tragic—endeavor. Scattered about Europe are other monuments to individual victims of the ‘Great Escape’ murders.

Last week, I received a nice email from a gentleman named Michal Holy in the Czech Republic. Michal, much like myself, has held a lifelong fascination with the escape and its brutal aftermath. Touched by these events, which took place in March and April 1944, Michal led an effort to dedicate a memorial to four of the airmen murdered in Czechoslovakia.

The monument to Flight Lt. Lester Bull, Squadron Leader John E.A. Williams, Flight Lt. Reginald Kierath, and Flying Officer Jerzy Mondschein was unveiled and dedicated in March. Michal was kind enough to send me pictures of the unveiling. Nearly seventy years after the event, it’s good to know the sacrifices of a past generation can still inspire people today. If it’s not too late in the production process, I’m hoping I can get a picture of the memorial (below) included in Human Game.

In the 1963 MGM movie, the Great Escape’s mastermind—Squadron Leader Roger Bushell—is depicted as “Squadron Leader Roger Bartlett,” played by the excellent Sir Richard Attenborough. Bartlett and his escape partner—Flight Lt. Andy MacDonald—are caught as they try to board a bus. A Gestapo agent asks to see their travel papers. The two escapees present their forged documents. The agent hands them back without comment. As the two relieved airmen board the bus, the agent wishes them “Good luck” in English. MacDonald, out of habit, responds with a word of thanks, resulting in their immediate arrest.

In reality, Bushell’s escape partner was Lt. Bernard Scheidhauer, a French airman. The two men were captured at the main railway station in Saarbrücken on Sunday, March 26, 1944—two days after the escape. A police officer approached them and asked to see their travel papers and identity cards. The two men handed over their forged documents, which seemed to pass inspection. When their papers were returned to them, Bushell and Scheidhauer thanked the officer in French and turned to leave. It was then the officer wished them good luck in English, prompting Scheidhauer—also in English—to thank him. Both airmen were murdered by the Gestapo three days later. Bushell was 33; Scheidhauer was 22.

A memorial to Scheidhauer (below) stands near the spot where mechanical problems brought down his Spitfire on November 19, 1942, on the occupied English Channel Island of Jersey, which led to his capture.

These photos appear courtesy of Great Escape – Stalag Luft III Facebook group, moderated by Michal.

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Reflections in a glass of scotch

In Random thoughts on June 20, 2012 at 6:36 pm

The edits to Human Game are done; I sent the manuscript back to Penguin last week. To celebrate the completion of yet another step in the publishing process, I went out last night and bought myself a nice bottle of scotch (Oban). When I’m done writing this, I plan on enjoying a glass.

I first drank scotch, appropriately enough, in Scotland. I was eighteen and sitting at the bar with my father in the Hawes Inn, where in room 13 Robert Louis Stevenson wrote some of Kidnapped. I’m British by birth but have lived in the States since I was seven, so legally sitting in a bar as a recent high school grad, enjoying a drink with my dad, was something special. Up until this my point, my tastes had not strayed far beyond bottled beer. But now, with the kilted barman (yes, he really did wear a kilt) asking what I wanted to drink, I decided it was time to branch out. Feeling very debonair, I asked for a scotch on the rocks. It would prove to be the first of several scotches that night. The taste, I admit, was an acquired one—but I enjoyed the slight burn as it went down.

It was a beautiful summer evening. The door to the bar was open, allowing me from where I sat to watch the Firth of Forth flow under the Railway Bridge. As I drank and enjoyed my surroundings, I noticed a gentleman at the end of the bar eyeing my father. More than eyeing, actually, it was pretty much a full-on stare. As extreme coincidence would have it, the guy (Angus) turned out to be a friend of my dad’s from many years before. Additional rounds were quickly ordered, and the business of catching up got underway.

After a few drinks, Angus invited us to his nearby house to sample some of his scotches. Having just been introduced to the stuff, I was eager to try more. We walked from the hotel to his home, which offered a tremendous view of the river. The room we sat in was straight out of Architectural Digest: dark wood paneling on the walls and floor-to-ceiling bookshelves crammed with what seemed to be thousands of books. One end of the room was dominated by a massive window that looked out over the water. A wet bar stocked with an impressive number of scotch bottles vied for attention at the opposite end. Angus was a collector of fine scotches. As he retrieved a number of bottles from the bar, his wife entered the room with a tray of cheese and biscuits. This, indeed, was the good life.

And so the evening progressed with Angus pouring us glasses from various bottles, explaining distillation and the sort of barrels used in the aging process. Most of what he said that night—along with the names of the scotches—were lost to the incredible buzz that soon followed, but a love affair with the drink flourished.

I’ve always believed a man should have a signature drink beyond wine or beer. For many years, mine was scotch–although I’m now trending toward gin and tonic. Nevertheless, whenever I want to celebrate something special or mark a milestone, scotch remains my drink of choice. So now I’m off to pour a glass.

To the folks reading this, I’ll raise my drink and say, “Cheers!”

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More ‘Human Game’ news; Giving Twitter another try . . .

In Uncategorized on June 8, 2012 at 2:18 pm

I’m happy to announce the Book Club rights to Human Game were sold today. My agent tells me this is more a prestige than a profit thing—unless the book becomes a Book Club Main Selection. That said, this is a first for one of my books, and I’m quite flattered!

Just to let the kind folks who swing by here on a regular basis know, my updates to the blog may be few and far between over the next week or two as I try to finish my film treatment. In the meantime, I’ve backtracked on my word and am giving Twitter another try. You can follow me here.

Cheers!

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Reviewing the red ink . . .

In Writing on June 5, 2012 at 8:55 am

Yesterday, my editor at Penguin sent me the copy edited manuscript to Human Game. I’m happy to say they saw few reasons to wield the dreaded red pen. Actually, I’ve been lucky in that I’ve never had to deal with a heavy handed copy editor. My experiences, thus far, have always been positive. If anything, I admire the eagle-eyed quality of those individuals tasked with combing manuscripts for discrepancies, typos, and other snafus.

In the past, the publisher would send me a hardcopy of the edits. With Human Game, however, they’ve simply sent me a Word document with Track Changes on. While I prefer reviewing changes on actual paper, dealing with an electronic version means printing and shipping costs are not an issue.

One thing that has always struck me about the editing process is how short the deadlines are. With previous books, once the publisher had made their various edits, I had one to two weeks to review the changes and address any questions they may have had. This time it’s no different. I received the manuscript on Monday, June 4, and have to send it back by Monday, June 11.

Things are pretty busy right now. I’m hoping to have my film treatment for Human Game done by the end of the week and off to my film agent. Obviously, I have the aforementioned edits to review—and I’m hashing out some ideas on how I’m going to approach my next book.

In the meantime, I received from Amazon my copy of The Grievers by Marc Schuster, a fellow author I met here on WordPress. I started reading the book last Friday and am happy to report that I’m enjoying it immensely. I highly recommend you check out Marc’s blog and, of course, his book!

Until next time . . .

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Early praise for ‘Human Game’

In books on June 1, 2012 at 9:06 am

Here’s some advance praise of Human Game: The True Story of the ‘Great Escape’ Murders and the Hunt for the Gestapo Gunmen. Penguin will release the book in the U.S. on October 2.

Examining the issues of retribution, morality, and justice in wartime, Simon Read’s Human Game manages to show that even in the darkest times, mankind clings stubbornly to a sense of right and wrong.

In the summer of 1945, British investigator Francis McKenna and his team began a trek across post-war Europe to pursue the men who murdered British POWs in cold blood following the famous “Great Escape” from Stalag Luft III in March 1944. Simon Read details the hunt in a book that is one part detective story and one part morality play, striking themes that will resonate in the present day. Remarkably, many of the Germans who witnessed or were tangentially involved in the atrocity retained an active sense of guilt and helped the investigators, even when it put them at risk for retribution from both sides.

Simon Read has done an impressive job stitching together a highly readable and informative story from various sources, and making it live again.

–Jim DeFelice, New York Times bestselling author of American Sniper.

A gut-wrenching account of World War II’s Great Escape and its brutal aftermath. Simon Read’s riveting tale of the Royal Air Force’s manhunt for the Gestapo perpetrators of the cold-blooded murder of fifty unarmed Allied escapees will touch your soul and increase your admiration for the “Greatest Generation.” Whether justice ultimately triumphed over evil can be found in Read’s engrossing narrative.

–Cole Kingseed, New York Times bestselling author of Beyond Band of Brothers.

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