More Escapers
1T is interesting, and, I think, worthy of note that there has of late been such a demand for and interest in those books which deal with What the psychologists call "the heroic principle " in man. In an age in which human values and indeed human existence are threatened as perhaps they have not been since the dark ages, there are assertions on all sides of man's faith in his unconquerable soul. Spencer Chapman and van der Post in the interior, Hillary and Hertzog in the Mountains, Heyerdahl on the ocean, Cousteau and Hass in the depths --all these stories have a common theme. Like Odysseus and Pilgrim before them, they tell the story of a single man, or at most a small group of men, who set out into the unknown, suffer all manner of danger and hardship, and at, last reach their journey's end. Among this genre must be included last war " escape " books. Here one can share in the activities of those bolder, braver, more ingenious and enduring than oneself ; and the result is to fortify immeasurably one's belief in the strength and indestructibility of the human spirit. „, Both the books under present' review are of their kind first-class. If Mr. Deane-Drummond's is rather the more interesting, it is only he he and his adventures were the more spectacular. In 1941 Oe was dropped by parachute with a small party to blow up an aqueduct in Southern Italy. The operation was successful, but later in the mountains they were taken prisoner. From his first moment Of captivity to his last Mr. Deane-Drummond's thoughts were centred holly on escape ; and his undisguised contempt for those who did i not share his views is'equalled only by his contempt for all things Italian. This uncompromising attitude, a measure of the author's His and integrity, gives his book an added charm. Ills first escape, most vividly described, ended in recapture twenty Yards from the Swis4 frontier. His second, which began with a Perilous journey in darkness 'along a five-inch ledge seventy feet lIP a hospital wall, was entirely successful. Back in England Mr. Deane-Drummond seems to have lost no time in preparing for the descent on Arnhem. Here, after some bloody fighting, he was again taken prisoner. At the villa to which he was removed he found a wall cupboard, only twelve inches dee!), into which, typically, he locked himself. Here this astonishing mah remained standing for, literally, the next fortnight. During this time the Germans used the room as an interrogation centre fot newly-arrived prisoners ; and the author had the curious experience of involuntarily eavesdropping on their conversation. " It was a surprising thing to me that very few officers or men gave only their number, rank and name. Two men ... gave all the information they knew or were capable of giving...." Needless to say, Mr. Deane.. Drummond again escaped and, after further extraordinary adventures, reached his own lines. As a last war record of personal couragei initiative and endurance, his book can have few equals. Mr. R. B. Goodwin's exploits were less dramatic, yet equally remarkable. A New Zealand naval officer stationed at Hong-Kong, he was taken prisoner when the city was overrun by the Japanese. On a tempestuous night in July, 1944, he escaped by the simple method of climbing the perimeter fences (one of which was electrified) and then swimming to the mainland. For the next nine night§ (being an Anglo-Saxon he dared not show himself by day) he moved slowly along the coast, suffering appallingly from hunger, exposure and lack of sleep. A dozen times he found himself within a few feet of Japanese sentries, and a dozen times eluded them. Finally, with his strength almost gone, he threw himself on the mercy of some Chinese villagers ; who happily turned out to be friends. There then began the last, and in some ways most interesting part of WI journey, in which he was ferried from village to village nine hundred miles across China to the allied headquarters at Kunming. Mr! Goodwin has not Mr. Deane-Drummond's aggressive, reckless spirit ; but his quiet, self-effacing story is no less effective or impressive.
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