Friday 29 March 2013

The Journey Ahead

Colditz Castle
Crete
Burma

Cafe in Paris During Occupation
Paris Restaurant 1943 - Andre Zucca


The Escape Line is now twelve months old. A blog which began around writing and talk of escape and evasion in World War Two quickly grew into something far bigger.

Away from the text books and historians, the personal experience of war at the sharp end has always fascinated me. Diaries, eyewitness accounts, debriefing reports and recorded interviews, draw the reader close to the individuals and what they went through. These sources of reference presented an opportunity to share what happened to Allied escapers and evaders and their helpers in a more personal way. The real experience often tells us more than any overview.  

The fugitives and those involved in any form of help became embroiled in a unique part of the overall conflict. They were drawn into ‘a war within the war’ as they battled against traitors and enemy attempts to smash the escape organisations. The Escape Line will always strive to include the kind of personal account and content which concentrates on the human story.   
 
Many thanks to everyone who has visited and read my posts over the last year - please do keep returning, as you have done in your thousands.  I will continue to blog weekly on Thursday or Friday.

In no specific order here is a selection of posts planned for the next 12 months:

Women and the Evaders

RAF Escapers from a Nazi Concentration Camp

The Wooden Horse

Colditz

Other Escape Lines

The Clergy and the Evaders

The Quickest Evader

The First One to Cross

Cafés, Restaurants and Cinemas

Escape by Lysander

Escape and evasion in Scandinavia, the Mediterranean, Middle East and South East Asia

The Late Arrivals Club

In the Jungle

MI9, IS9 and MIS – X

Gestapo, Geheime Feldpolizei amd Abwehr

 
Thanks again

Keith M


Next Week – Women and the Evaders

 
 
© Keith Morley

 

 

4 comments:

  1. Well Keith those twelve months have gone by alarmingly quickly. We as readers of your blog have learnt so much about the second world war and the human stories therein thanks to your profound knowledge and deft handling of the subject matter. I have enjoyed adding my thoughts to the proceedings which has involved my researching each subject and learning even more into the bargain. I hope to continue to contribute and look forward to the next batch of posts.
    "Journeys, like artists, are born and not made. A thousand differing circumstances contribute to them,few of them willed or determined by the will-whatever we may think...."
    Lawrence Durrell.

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    1. Thanks for your thoughts Helen, they are always welcome, especially the quotes. Very encouraged by your own interest and learning of the subject. There is still much to write on E & E and like you, I continue to learn every day. Looking forward to the next 12 months work and have been heartened by interest shown in the Blog.

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  2. Hi Keith, is it really twelve months? How well you have done, setting up a blog from scratch. Give yourself a pat on the back, regular blogging takes dedication, and the will to keep coming up with fresh ideas on your theme too, is challenging.

    Like Helen, I have also learnt much about the Escapers, and World War II, which has always interested me since I studied it at O Level many years ago. I feel privileged to have already heard some of your book, which I am very much looking forward to buying a copy of soon.

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  3. Thanks for your kind comments Maria. I'll continue to 'Press On' as The Boys used to say.
    I wanted to write a true story around escape and evasion. Apart from the exciting narrative, it encompasses so many aspects of life, a whole range of emotions and simple human qualities. I hope that the close personal style of writing takes the reader on my airman's journey and they can live the experience, just as he did, and as I have in my research and written work.

    Almost ready to submit now, so will keep you updated.

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