Under the Wire - Hardcover

Ash, William

4.38

367 ratings by Goodreads

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0593054083 ISBN 13: 9780593054086

Publisher: Bantam Press, 2005

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Bill Ash is one of a rare breed - an American prepared to sacrifice his citizenship and risk his life to fight the Nazis at a time when the USA was still neutral. He joined the Royal Canadian Air Force and before long found himself in England and flying Spitfires in combat. Then, in March 1942, Bill was shot down over the Pas de Calais. He survived the crash-landing and, thanks to the bravery of local civilians, evaded capture for months. It was in Paris that he was betrayed to the Gestapo. Tortured and sentenced to death as a spy, he was saved from the firing squad by the intervention of the Luftwaffe who sent him to the 'Great Escape' POW camp, Stalag Luft III. It was from there that Bill - already branded a trouble-maker by his captors - began his extraordinary 'tour' of Occupied Europe, breaking out of one camp, being dispatched to the next - in Poland, Germany and Lithuania. Bill became one of only a handful of serial escape artists to attempt more than a dozen break-outs - over the wire, under it in tunnels, through it with cutters or simply strolling out of the camp gates in disguise. These were years of extraordinary hardship, frustration and brutality - each time he was recaptured his punishment was a long spell in solitary. He was a real-life 'Cooler king'- but through it all he maintained not just remarkable courage, but also an anarchic sense of humour, great humanity and an unstoppable desire for freedom. From its honest, funny and exciting reflections on life in wartime Britain to the vivid, compelling, sometimes poignant recollections of his time as a POW, UNDER THE WIRE is more than just another memoir. It stands as a tribute to the bravery and resolve, not only of Bill Ash, but of an entire generation

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About the Author:

Born in Texas in 1917, WILLIAM ASH joined the Royal Canadian Air Force in 1939. Posted to England, he became a distinguished Spitfire pilot. He was shot down in 1942, became a POW and serial escape artist. Awarded an MBE for his wartime exploits, he studied at Oxford, worked for the BBC in India and subsequently as senior producer at BBC Radio Drama. A past president of the Writers' Guild and also a playwright, Bill Ash lives in London. His co-writer, BRENDAN FOLEY, is an award-winning journalist and a screenwriter. He first met William Ash in the 1980s and has long been enthralled by his story.

Review:

"What a splendid book! This is a moving and heroic story of a young man who overcomes all obstacles with a sense of humor and succeeds in the end. Hollywood should snap this book up in a flash. Buy it, read it, enjoy it." --Charles Whiting, author of Hero, Life and Death of Audie Murphy
"A remarkable story of one man's refusal to give in to his captors, brilliantly told and with all the authentic sights, sounds ands smells of the World War II prison camp." - Tony Rennell, co-author of The Last Escape.
"Bill Ash has led a life of adventure that will inspire, astonish, and sometimes even amuse the readers of this memoir. Ash is a writer who makes his readers feel as if they're right there beside him through it all. I thoroughly enjoyed reading about the escapades of Bill Ash during World War II. Readers who like stories of wild and magnificent adventure are going to love this book!" --Homer Hickam, author, Rocket Boys/October Sky, The Ambassador's Son
"Under the Wire is everything I would expect from a memoir by Bill Ash -- fast-paced, exciting and moving, but also colored by his mischievous sense of humor. He has a real gift as a storyteller -- the characters and events come off the page as if we were meeting and experiencing them ourselves. Bill Ash was one of the great escape artists of the Second World War, and always managed to put himself in the center of the action. He endured a lot, but never lost his essential humanity and zest for life, something that comes through very strongly in his book. That's what makes Under the Wire such a joy to read -- getting to know the irrepressible Ash and reliving his adventures with him." --Jonathan Vance, author of A Gallant Company: The Men of the Great Escape
"Under The Wire is an introspective and instructive look at the indomitable spirit to escape from World War II German prison camps possessed by men like American fighter pilot William Ash. Beaten, starving, freezing or sick, they were relentless in their quest to force German troops to hunt them and thus not be available for other fronts, and to get home themselves to fight again. From hard times in Depression-era Texas to flying Spitfires against the Luftwaffe to Gestapo torture chambers, Ash's memoir is thoughtful, deep, and poignant for a fighter pilot, almost dreamlike sometimes in its obscurity and wistfulness. But reality always returns in the grim details of camp life, the wily and ingenious methods of escape, and the stories of brave and courageous men and their break outs. Ash has a humor and incitefulness that adds to the history. His book is a testament to man's deep-seated yearning to be free." --Robert Wilcox, author of First Blue
"Under the Wire is a revelation in World War Two history. A true story of fighter pilots, few in number but among the first to take a stand against the destructive powers of the Nazis in their bid to enslave and rule the world. Under the Wire tells it like it was. Here is a true, honest-to-God historical account in the first person of Bill Ash, Spitfire fighter pilot during the Battle of Britain. Everyone should read this bit of history brought to light." --Donald R. Burgett, author of The Road to Arnhem and the Screaming Eagles series

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