Captive Kiwi

New Zealand journalist RH Thomson was a Warrant Officer in Crete during World War II when it was overrun by the Germans, and was one of the many men left behind when British evacuations were not completed before the Germans cut off their access.

Held as a prisoner of war first in Crete, then on the mainland in Greece, Thomson made it his position to attempt to escape, to generally resist the Germans, and to survive his incarceration. This book covers his time in Crete and Greece, and eventual transportation to Germany.

While not building himself up as a master escapee, or particularly good an concealment one free, it would be unusual for any New Zealand author to make himself sound so, and therefore the book has a tone of understatement. Things like leaping from the window of a moving train to land on the gravel and siding, he makes it sound like he should have done better than to smash himself up and lose his glasses - and therefore remain without long distance vision for the remainder of his time in Greece (which makes it pretty hard to detect if that grey blur ahead is a German in uniform, a Greek policeman, or just a rock).

Escaping in Greece twice he takes foot to villages to scrounge meager food - normally just bread, if anything at all - but regularly taken in (usually only for one night) by those who despise the German occupation of Greece. There are other escapees on the loose, and comes into contact with them from time to time, travelling with one or two for short periods, but more often they remain separated due to the demands on hosts for food and accommodation, and the risks of being caught. The Germans had taken to punishing villages caught aiding POWs by shooting 10 men and burning four houses - not necessarily those guilty, but just random men and houses. This was, of course, to discourage this aid.

There were of course plenty of Greeks who assisted the Germans, or took the opportunity to get rewards from handing over the escapees, or helping them into traps. There was even a British Sargent-major in Salonika POW camp who acted as translator who was working against the prisoners for reward from the Germans.

Capture and escape, evading capture as long as possible while trying to plan an escape to (ultimately Egypt, but initially) Turkey, who remained neutral in the war until later. There were many plans put in place, but none worked out - some overambitious, but most just relied on chains of events that didn't complete, and others failed purely by bad luck.

The book ends as Thomson is delivered to Germany, where he spent a further four years as a POW, a period not covered in this book.

3.5 stars, rounded down.