This page consists of three parts: (1) Those Who Dared by George A. Brown, (2) RAF Evaders by Oliver Clutton-Brock, and (3) a link to the Escape Lines Memorial Society (ELMS)
(1) THOSE WHO DARED
In 1983 or 1984, George A. Brown had published what appears to be a typewritten manuscript of his, titled Those Who Dared, A Comprehensive List of World War II Allied Escapers. It consists of the escape and evasion experiences in WWII of approximately 600 members of the R.A.F., R.C.A.F, R.A.A.F., and various regiments of ground troops. An index is appended at the end of the book and the names have been incorporated in the Index to Evaders and POWs on this website. Each man’s story may vary from a couple of lines to as many as several detailed pages. To view the manuscript, click on the link to the pdf file listed below.
We attempted to obtain permission to post the manuscript on this website before doing so. However, Battleline Books of Langley, British Columbia, which printed the book (see the back cover), apparently no longer exists. The Association of Canadian Publishers found no record of Battleline Books as having been a member. They also checked Access Copyright, which is Canada’s copyright licensing agency, and found six books with a partially similar title but none of them by G.A. or George Brown and none on the same subject. The World Catalogue (WorldCat) lists only five copies of the book, all in libraries in the US and three of the libraries had an emphasis on family history. The manuscript contains no copyright statement nor any ISBN number. We hope that the author, if he is still living, or members of his family will have no objection to our sharing Mr. Brown’s work with the general public. It would seem to be consistent with what he set out to do in writing the book and having it printed.
Click on the following link to view the book:
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(2) RAF EVADERS by Oliver Clutton-Brock
RAF Evaders, The comprehensive story of thousands of escapers and their escape lines, Western Europe, 1940-1945, by Oliver Clutton-Brock was published by Grub Street, London, in 2009. It is available from Amazon , Barnes&Noble, and Casemate Publishers. In addition, according to WorldCat, the world catalogue of library holdings, there are 56 libraries that have copies of the book. Click here to see their list.
Barnes&Noble describes the book as follows:
“During the five years from May 1940 to May 1945 several thousand Allied airmen, forced to abandon their aircraft behind enemy lines, evaded capture and reached freedom, by land, sea and air.
“The territory held by the Germans was immense – from Norway and Denmark in the north, through Holland, Belgium, Luxembourg to the south of France – and initially there was no organization to help the men on the run. The first one to assist the evaders and escapers (“E & E” as the Americans called them) was the PAT line, along the Mediterranean coast to Perpignan and down the Spanish border; named after a naval officer Pat O’ Leary, from 1942 it became the PAO line.
“Next was the Comet line, from Brussels to the Pyrenees. Thousands of brave people were to be involved for whom, if caught, the penalty was death. Theirs is a stirring and awe-inspiring story. Respected historian Oliver Clutton-Brock has researched in depth this secret world of evasion, uncovering some treachery and many hitherto unpublished details, operations and photos.
“It is a tremendous reference work, written in his own colorful style with numerous anecdotes, which fills a gap of knowledge formerly unavailable to historians, professional or amateur. Packed with information, key figure biographies and listings – 2,094 evaders identified – this is a valuable testimony to the courage of all those involved.”
The book’s index to its over 2000 evaders and an errata sheet have been made available by the author to AFEES and appear here as Word documents. Click on the “List of RAF evaders 1940-1945” or the “Errata” sheet and it will download. The “List of RAF evaders 1940-1945” is best viewed at a 150% magnification.
(3) Escape Lines Memorial Society (ELMS)