‘The Ones Who Got Away’: Soldiers’ Bravery Amid World War II

A B-17 plane partway through restoration at the Mighty Eighth Air Force Museum, located in Pooler, Georgia. B-17s were flown by airmen in the Eighth Air Force. Public Domain

During World War II, one of the most dangerous military jobs was being a member of the Eighth Air Force aircrew, who flew missions over occupied Europe and Germany. Of its 210,000 aircrew, 50,000—nearly one in four—were shot down. About 26,000 died and 21,000 became prisoners of war. Another 3,000 survived bail-out, evaded capture, and returned to Allied lines safely.

“The Ones Who Got Away: Mighty Eighth Airmen on the Run in Occupied Europe,” by Bill Yenne, tells those men’s stories. Fewer than one in eight who landed safely succeeded in escaping. It required determination, skill, and a large dose of luck.

The Path to Freedom

Yenne shows that the biggest piece of luck a crewman required after initially evading capture was finding a local to provide shelter. That was virtually impossible in Germany. There, you had to be close enough to the border to cross unassisted. Even in France, the Netherlands, and Belgium some willingly cooperated with the Nazis.