Stalag IVB's First Aircrew

Book excerpt: Russians arrived in the night. Tanks came through the wire... On the night of the 23rd August 1943 Halifax H.R. 846 of 35 P.F.F. Squadron was attacked by a German J.U. 88 night figher over Berlin. The wireless operator of that Halifax bomber managed to escape from the burning aircraft and parachute into a built up area of the city where he was captured. The main aircrew P.O.W. camp Stalag Luft III was full so the surviving members of the crew were sent to Stalag IVB, a camp controlled by the German army. This book is the true story of the lives of Royal Air Force aircrew prisoners in Stalag IVB from 1943 to 1945. It tells how they managed to survive and support each other through the hardships and deprivation. In 1945 many hundreds of American troops joined them after their capture at the Battle of Ardennes. They were set free by the arrival of Russian tanks when they ploughed through the barbed wire on the night of April 20th 1945.