Escaping With His Life
Sir Nicholas Young retraces his father Leslie’s route from Dunkirk to commando raids, POW camps, and a six-month escape through Italy.
- Author
- Sir Nicholas Young
- Publisher
- Pen & Sword
- Price
- £25
- ISBN
- 9781526746638
- Published
- 2019
Escaping With His Life by Sir Nicholas Young
Leslie Young left the Territorial Army for a regular commission and fought with 2nd Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Regiment during the 1940 retreat to Dunkirk. Restless defence duties pushed him into the Commandos, leading to raids on Norway and the Lofoten Islands before fierce fighting in Tunisia where he was captured on Hill 583. After multiple camps he reached PG 49 Fontanellato, Italy.
Young’s escape began with the 8 September 1943 armistice: the Senior British Officer ordered the men out before the Germans arrived. Dispersing into small groups, Young trekked south through the Apennines for six months, guided by the contadini and Italian Resistance, until he crossed Allied lines—though two young guides were killed in a minefield. Returning to action with the Queen’s Royal Regiment, he fought from Normandy to the German border before his battalion was finally withdrawn.
Sir Nicholas Young combines war diaries, veteran interviews, and family pilgrimages to every battlefield to tell a vivid, deeply researched story.
Pen & Sword. £25. ISBN 9781526746638.