33 Months As A POW In Stalag Luft III: A WWII Airman Tells His Story [Paperback]

A.P. Clark (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 21, 2005

An American World War II prisoner tells his story of the Great Escape

Many fascinating stories of the Great Escape have been told since the end of World War II. Not until now has the story of Lieutenant Colonel A. P. Clark, the first combat personnel captured in U.S. uniform by the Germans, been told. In his 33 months in the infamous prisoner of war camp Stalag Luft III, Lieutenant Clark was involved in and responsible for directing escape work among American prisoners. His tale of courage and perseverance is accentuated by the stark photographs he took from the inside with a pinhole camera.

• Includes previously unpublished photographs collected from the Special Collections Branch of the Air Force Academy Library of the German POW camp known as Stalag Luft III in Zagan, Poland • General A. P. Clark served in the U.S. Air Force during World War II, and as a U.S. Air Force officer in France, Germany, Saudi Arabia, and Okinawa and finally served as superintendent of the Air Force Academy before retiring in July of 1974 in the grade of Lieutenant General after 38 years of service

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About the Author

Albert P. Clark, Lieutenant General, USAF (Ret.), graduated from West Point United States Military Academy in 1936 and went on to a distinguished military career. He was second in command of the first American fighter unit in the European Theater of Operations during World War II and was later shot down over France and held in a German camp.

Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Fulcrum Publishing (April 21, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1555915361
• ISBN-13: 978-1555915360
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #619,279 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An amazing true story, April 29, 2005

By 

Book Bean (Boulder, CO) - See all my reviews

This review is from: 33 Months As A POW In Stalag Luft III: A WWII Airman Tells His Story (Paperback)

Before this book, I had no idea what it meant to be a prisoner of war in WWII. I was astonished at the things this man and his comrades survived and endured. Crammed into these camps for months (or years, in most cases), they created a community and did their best to keep their bodies and souls alive. I had no idea that the camps were this big or this intricate. 33 Months is an amazing piece of history that makes the reader feel grateful for the creature comforts we all take for granted, as well as for the efforts of the many soldiers who have sacrificed so much for our country.
Reading this book, I realized that most of the veterans of the big, historic wars are all almost gone from this earth, and that with them a huge piece of history will become less real to us. General Clark is obviously a very honorable man with a good heart, and I'm grateful that he shared his story with the rest of us.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Includes a Unique Perspective on Stalag Luft III and the Great Escape, July 29, 2008

By 

Jan Peczkis "Scholar and Thinker" (Chicago IL, USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: 33 Months As A POW In Stalag Luft III: A WWII Airman Tells His Story (Paperback)

For readers knowledgeable about the Great Escape, most of the content of this book is familiar. A unique feature of this book, apart from the undercover photos taken within the camp and during the evacuation on the heels of the Red Army, is the Christmas card sent by Glemnitz to Clark in 1980 (p. 106). Clark also sheds light on the surveying error that led to tunnel Harry coming up short of the treeline. Buildings had stood in the way, making accurate triangulation impossible (73). He also discusses his experiences in the construction of fly-proof latrines, and how he put this practical skill to use in order to solve the insect-latrine problems at Stalag Luft III--to the approval of the Germans (pp. 47-48).

Clark was not directly involved in the Great Escape, as he was in a different compound at the time. But he heard the 5 AM shot that ended the escape. His version of events differs from those of others. He speaks of 50-60 men being forced to crawl back in the tunnel Harry (p. 116). The other works on the Great Escape all describe the use of trolleys to ferry men and equipment through the tunnel, with no more than several men being in the tunnel at any one time. Furthermore, at the time of the Germans' discovery of the tunnel, it was already first dawn, and, for this reason, no more than several additional men were then scheduled to escape out of the tunnel anyway. It would have been 83 total instead of the 76.

The Allied POWs housed in Stalag Luft III included those who were openly Jewish (p. 114). Yet the Germans did not kill them. (This adds refutation to the argument that the Holocaust was unique in that the Nazis sought to kill all known Jews in their grasp.) Clark elaborates on the horrible treatment of the Polish and Russian untermenschen at the hands of the Germans. (p. 49, 178) It is sobering to realize that an American or British Jewish POW had a greater right to live than a Russian gentile POW (of whom 2 million--some sources say 3 million--died in German captivity).

There are only a few obvious errors in this work. Clark repeats the myth of the Polish Air Force getting destroyed on the ground (p. 36) and confuses the city of Lubin with Lublin (p. 102). In general, however, this is a good all-around book.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars POW WWII Air Force, April 24, 2010

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liloates (Chicago, Il.) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: 33 Months As A POW In Stalag Luft III: A WWII Airman Tells His Story (Paperback)

Very good book. Alot of this story was never known until recently.
Some of these POW's are just telling their stories now.
Very moving. We are just now learning what they had to go through.
I felt honored that they gave us a view into their experiences.