DIE LIKE THE CARP! The Story of the Greatest POW Escape Ever

Paperback. The compelling reconstruction of a bizarre episode which had been cloaked in secrecy for many years. In August 1944 - just outside the small Australian township of Cowra, NSW - the biggest prison break in world history took place. Over 1100 Japanese prisoners of war made a premeditated and carefully planned mass break-out - a last banzai charge in which their deaths would wipe out the shame of being captured. More than 230 died in the attempt; 334 of them actually escaped and were captured over the ensuing 9 days by posses of police, soldiers and local farmers. Four Australian soldiers died snd another 4 were wounded. Never before had there been a POW break-out on such a scale - or of such ferocity. The author traces the events that led up to the outbreak and deals in compelling detail with the bizarre events of August 5 and the days that followed, and removes the incredible cloak of secrecy that surrounded the whole episode for years to come. With Maps. 285pp. mass market p/back. From the library of true crime writer, Wilfred Gregg, with his personal b/plate. Lightly browned pp., v. sl. faded sp. o/w Nr. F. with no creasing to covers.