Under The Wire – William Ash

Daz…saw this tonight on the board and thanks for posting this…have been looking for this since I have such a great interest in this topic. The Great Escape as it has come to be called has always been a story I have been reading about since my youth and I try to collect any book or tv documentary about it. Just picked up a new documentary from our National Public Broadcasting sytem onthe subject. Its the Channel 5 documentary made for an American audience I believe. Looking back on the US Governments actions against those young men who went to help Britain during the war via Canada is horrible and all charges should have been dropped when the US entered the war. Talk about having your head in the sand as the world is going up in flames!!!!! Will pick this up …thanks. Have been reading Anton Gill’s fine work “The Great Escape”. Its an outstanding work on the subject …..thanks for sharing this…would love to shake this man’s hand !!! Hope he is in good health and enjoying life as a free man !

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/greatescape/

A Salute from:
BlueNoser352!

I’ve also got Anton Gill’s book – haven’t gotten around to reading it yet, but I will!

YakRider….thanks for sharing your story on your friend Bill Ash, have to get this book as soon as possible.

BlueNoser352!

Daz…saw this tonight on the board and thanks for posting this…have been looking for this since I have such a great interest in this topic. The Great Escape as it has come to be called has always been a story I have been reading about since my youth and I try to collect any book or tv documentary about it. Just picked up a new documentary from our National Public Broadcasting sytem onthe subject. Its the Channel 5 documentary made for an American audience I believe. Looking back on the US Governments actions against those young men who went to help Britain during the war via Canada is horrible and all charges should have been dropped when the US entered the war. Talk about having your head in the sand as the world is going up in flames!!!!! Will pick this up …thanks. Have been reading Anton Gill’s fine work “The Great Escape”. Its an outstanding work on the subject …..thanks for sharing this…would love to shake this man’s hand !!! Hope he is in good health and enjoying life as a free man !

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/greatescape/

A Salute from:
BlueNoser352!

I have known Bill Ash since the 1970s, and although I was aware that he was a Spitfire pilot and POW, he was typical of so many veterans in playing down what he did in the war. You could get the occasional anecdote out of him, but no more. I also knew that he was stripped of his US citizenship for joining the RCAF and took British nationality after the war, which was all to our gain!

All credit to another friend, Brendan Foley, who finally persuaded Bill to recall his exploits for a wider audience. The book is indeed a great read and not just about Bill, but the other heroes who refused to stop resisting simply because they were prisoners.

At times the book is almost surreal in describing life in the camps and on the run, with some things so absurd that if you saw them in a film they would seem to be too far-fetched. Reading about Bill’s recapture after escaping in Lithuania, I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

He never flew an aircraft again, and although I tried to get him to attend Project Propeller last year and have a flight, he felt he wasn’t up to it.

The amazing thing was that a few Sundays ago someone brought a DVD about RAF Hornchurch to the Squadron at North Weald and we watched it. All of a sudden there was Bill being interviewed. The next day I received an email inviting me to the launch of the new book.

It’s certainly a different sort of read from the usual flying autobiography.

YR 😀

I haven’t seen the book yet but I was recently sent the following information about it:
About the book:
Under the Wire by Bill Ash & Brendan Foley
Bill Ash lost his US citizenship to join the RAF (RCAF 411 Sqdn) while America was still neutral in 1940. He flew Spitfires in combat in 1941 and was shot down over France in 1942. He crash-landed and was helped by the French Resistance, eventually falling into the hands of the Gestapo in Paris where he was tortured for refusing to give away the names of his helpers.

He was then sent to a series of POW camps, including Stalag Luft III, made famous by The Great Escape. He helped to lead major tunnel breakouts in camps in Germany, Poland and Lithuania before finally escaping in the last days of the war. He is still alive and well, living in London where he remained after the war and was awarded the MBE for his escape activities.

Sometimes very funny, sometimes heart-wrenching, Bill describes the humour and humanity that helped ordinary people achieve extraordinary things during the conflict that shaped our history. This week is the UK launch, also Australia and NZ (the book will be available in USA and Canada from October).