Refuge from the Reich: American Airmen and Switzerland During World War II [Paperback]

Stephen Tanner (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 1, 2000

Imagine the courage of a U.S. aircrew whose plane is rocked by explosions at 26,000 feet. The engines smoking, wounded crying, pilots desperately trying to control the falling craft, secretly unsure whether to shout the dreaded order: "Bail out!" A final moment of terror occurs when fighter planes suddenly appear alongside the stricken craft-and then a sigh of relief. The agile fighters are marked with the white cross of Switzerland. The crippled bomber is escorted to an airfield, and to safety.By 1943, a multitude of U.S. airmen who just months earlier had been farmboys, clerks or students were soaring over Germany, braving the vicious wrath of the Luftwaffe and storms of enemy flak. Thousands of flyers died; thousands more fell into Nazi hands. But for over 1,700 U.S. airmen, salvation came from a small, surrounded country that defied Hitler throughout the war. Refuge from the Reich is the story of how the world's two oldest democracies came into contact amid the raging inferno of Nazi-held Europe.Having parachuted or crashlanded into Switzerland, U.S. airmen encountered a world they were unprepared for: a country where food and heat were rationed and every man was a soldier, subject to instant mobilization to counter the German threat. There were clashes of culture, as well as episodes of high drama. And, by the end of the war, there was an overriding sense of warmth and respect between U.S. airmen and the Swiss who had given them shelter.Refuge from the Reich tells the gripping story of U.S. flyers waging history's greatest air campaign, while providing a firsthand, insiders' view of the small democracy that was able to offer safety to our airmen, while facing dangerous odds of its own.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"A fast-paced account of the experiences of American airmen forced down in neutral Switzerland during World War II. -- James H. Hutson, author of "Sister Republics"

"A must-read for all serious students of World War II." -- Rear Admiral (ret.) and former U.S. Senator Jeremiah A. Denton

"Refuge from the Reich displays Stephen Tanner's precision as an historian and his gifts as a storyteller. -- Robert H. Patton, author

"Seldom has the courage of U.S. airmen been cast in starker relief than in this account of the air war..." -- Ty McCoy, Asst. Secretary of the Air Force (ret.)

From the Publisher

We are proud that Refuge from the Reich, which began shipping October 23, has already received positive acclaim from authorities in the field.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Da Capo Press (November 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1885119704
• ISBN-13: 978-1885119704
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.3 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #834,598 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #85 in Books > History > Europe > Switzerland

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Refuge from the Reich: American Airmen Report, February 1, 2001

By 

Benjamin C. Works "Defense Analyst" (Arlington, VA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Refuge from the Reich: American Airmen and Switzerland During World War II (Paperback)

With a world war blazing around all your borders, it is not so easy to maintain your neutrality. Switzerland, a tiny republic encircled by fascist tyrannies, managed just that difficult feat during World War 2. Three circumstances worked in its favor in achieving this policy. Switzerland had:

(1) an armed and trained populace (2) an almost impenetrable terrain in its Alpine fortress (which covers most of the country) and (3) a strong and tested tradition of honest, and heavily armed, neutrality stretching back to the Middle Ages.

Switzerland's good fortune was also good luck for others, including 1700 American airmen, who, during the course of the war, found safe haven in Switzerland when their ships were crippled in combat and some 100,000 internees and escaped POWs from many armies, as well as about 200,000 civilian refugees.

Well-armed and neutral, Switzerland still had to defend its sovereignty and people not just from the Nazis, but on occasion, from stray American bombers, as well, as Stephen Tanner documents in "Refuge from the Reich," his exciting account of this chapter of the air war over Europe and American airmen's seeking sanctuary in tiny Switzerland.

Ground armies and air armadas swirled along the Swiss borders from June 1940 to May 1945. From time to time, soldiers crossed Switzerland's borders, by land and by air, to find themselves interned "for the duration." In all, over 100,000 soldiers and airmen were interned in Switzerland during the war, including approximately 1700 American aviators, mostly the crews of heavily damaged B-17 and B-24 bombers that could not make it back to their bases in England or Italy.

The first American airmen began arriving in Switzerland in August 1943, as 8th and 15th Air Force began their heavy daylight bombing campaigns over southern Germany. In 1944, as many as ten crippled aircraft might land there in a given day. Stephen Tanner tells the story of the fortunate airmen who made it safely down to Swiss soil -- and also tells the sadder tale of their crewmates who died in crashes or who fell short and ended up in German stalags.

Mr. Tanner has written a compelling narrative history, briefly tracking the evolution of the democratic Swiss Confederation from its origins in the heart of medieval, monarchist Europe, and also describing the development of strategic air power and its application in Europe during World War 2. He gives a running account that weaves the stories of the American aviators and the little democracy's tenacious defense of its independence and scrupulous adherence to the Geneva Conventions. Tanner combines a "top down" strategic overview with "bottom up" personal narratives of the surviving aviators very successfully.

"Refuge from the Reich" is also a very moving book . You will find the stories of the US airmen buried in the cemetery in the Swiss town of Munsingen. You will find accounts of airmen wanting back in the fight and mounting hundreds of successful (and sometimes unsuccessful) escapes, often with the help of US embassy personnel and ordinary Swiss citizens. You will find, too, tales of the infamous little camp at Wauwilermoos, under the command of the corrupt Nazi sympathizer, Captain Beguin, where discipline cases and unsuccessful escapees alike were sometimes sent for punishment. You will find accounts of the U.S. Army Air Force's bombing of Swiss towns and cities in error -- of the bombing of Schaffhausen with 50 dead, and even of Zurich and Basel with less tragic results. Mostly you will find the humanity of the Swiss people and the young American airmen on display, as they encounter each other in the midst of world war.

"Refuge from the Reich" does a very nice job of combining strategy and diplomacy with dangerous missions, hazardous landings, escapes and captures, a little espionage and intrigue, and a most illuminating portrait of a neutral people surviving in the shadow of world war.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars U.S. airmen and the Swiss who had given them protection, March 10, 2001

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Refuge from the Reich: American Airmen and Switzerland During World War II (Paperback)

Refuge From The Reich: American Airmen And Switzerland During World War II tells the riveting story of how U.S. airman, shot out the skies by the Germans, parachuted, crash-landed, or otherwise escaped to Switzerland. There they encountered a country where food and heat were rationed, where every man was an armed solider subject to instant mobilization to counter the German threat. It was a small, mountainous country swarming with internees, refugees, and expatriates seeking protection from the certain death that awaited them from the Axis powers. By the end of the war there was a firm and pervasive sense of respect between the U.S. airmen and the Swiss who had given them secure protection from the Germans. Refuge From The Reich is a valued and informative contribution to the annals of World War II's European theater.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars finally, some clarity!, December 13, 2000

By 

Rudy (Denver, CO) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Refuge from the Reich: American Airmen and Switzerland During World War II (Paperback)

The courage of the Swiss during World War II has never before been so completely or accurately portrayed as in Refuge from the Reich. Long viewed as a neutral, unimportant footnote in WWII history, Switzerland was actually a crucial lifesaver for many US airmen during the conflict. Tanner uses exciting first-hand accounts of planes falling from the sky and Swiss pilots coming to the rescue to point out that, though neutral, Switzerland took an active part in protecting its country and those who entered uninvited.

The crux of the book is the sequence of events leading to and from internment--a forced type of stay required of downed flyers who landed in neutral countries during the war. American flyers came down in the hundreds to survive burning wreckages, all because Switzerland was there to protect them.

Tanner manages to make the Swiss seem at once sympathetic and demanding of their interned soldiers, reminding the world that the Swiss were in a precarious situation that they somehow survived unscathed. For the honest depiction of Switzerland alone this book should be part of every WWII student's collection. Far too much of recent literature about the Swiss has focused (wrongly) on their banking policies to allow this other role to be ignored. To know what really happened--to know about the hardships they suffered, the simple life they espoused and survived by--Refuge from the Reich is a book worthy of buying. WWII buffs in general will love the airwar sequences too; Tanner managed to find some truly thrilling crash-landing stories.