From a Hard Place to a Rock
From a Hard Place to a Rock
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Summary
From a Hard Place to a Rock is a compelling tale of wartime escape from Occupied France in 1940. Part memoir, part social and military history, it has been meticulously reconstructed from original journals, photographs, sketches and letters which were discovered by the author in a briefcase hidden for decades
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From a Hard Place to a Rock by Timandra Slade
Cousins, Captain Chris Waters of the Royal Engineers and Captain Jimmy Johnson of the Royal Welch Fusiliers were with the British Expeditionary Force in the defence of Dunkirk. In late May 1940, Jimmy (son-in-law of Admiral of the Fleet, Lord Keyes) was shot and captured near the Belgium border. Chris was captured after his regiment, which was attached to the 51st Highland Division, was forced to surrender at St-Valéry. Both men managed to escape their German captors and, accompanied by fellow officers, began separately to work their way through France into Spain. Having crossed the Pyrenees they were both re-captured but by an extraordinary coincidence met up in Barcelona. Chris and Jimmy recorded their escape in journals with Jimmy also writing many letters home from internment in France. Eventually the escapees, now in a large group, were released and arrived in Gibraltar. It was not the safe haven they had hoped for. One last cruel twist of fate would deny some of them a return home.
Timandra Slade lives in Chesham, Buckinghamshire. She was adopted into a fascinating and well-connected military family as a baby. In a recent house clearance she discovered a briefcase containing details of her father’s extraordinary wartime escape: his original journal, maps, sketches and photographs, much of the material withheld from her following her father’s death in 1969. In tribute, she has researched his story.
| SKU | Unavailable |
| ISBN 13 | 9781803131924 |
| ISBN 10 | 1803131926 |
| Title | From a Hard Place to a Rock |
| Author | Timandra Slade |
| Condition | Unavailable |
| Binding Type | Hardback |
| Publisher | Troubador Publishing |
| Year published | 2022-06-28 |
| Number of pages | 304 |
| Cover note | Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary. |
| Note | Unavailable |