Customer Reviews

Strangers in a Strange Land, Vol. 2: Escape to Neutrality

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The story of the planes and men interned in Switzerland during World War II is little known. Unfortunately, after reading this book, it is still mostly a mystery. I congratulate the authors for tackling the subject, but their treatment is superficial, focusing primarily on the aircraft and only secondarily on the men who flew them in. Though the book is full of excellent photographs of the planes that limped into neutral Switzerland, it does not examine some of the greater issues of the internees. There is little on the way the interned aircrews lived while in captivity, even less on the notorious Swiss prison camp the Swiss operated for some internees. The authors, who are Swiss, do touch briefly on the delicate balancing act the Swiss played during the war in placating their stronger neighbor, Nazi Germany, while at the same time staying neutral and providing a haven for combatants. One interesting story that is covered briefly is the fact that the Swiss, on occasion, did fire on US aircraft, and in several circumstances, that fire, whether from a Swiss fighter plane or antiaircraft fire, resulted in the deaths of American airmen. There are, however, other stories of the Swiss escorting damaged ships in to land, or not turning rescued crewmen over to the Germans. In short, this is a good book, but it could have been much, much more if it had taken a multi-dimensional approach to the history of the Swiss internees and their aircraft.

Squadron Signal books are primarily printed as an aid to model builders. With this in mind, amost the entirety of the book is dedicated to detailed photos and drawings of the aircraft in question.

This magazine-style book covers the Allied aircraft that landed in Switzerland during WW2 and is an interesting piece.Mostly photos and color illustrations, it is a good source for information on a little-known corner of WW2.