An Alien Sky : The Story of One Man's Remarkable Adventure in Bomber Command During the Second World War

By any measure, Andrew Wiseman (born Weizman) is a lucky man. The only son of a Polish father and an American mother, Andy was born and grew up in Berlin, just as Adolf Hitler was coming to power. As a Jew educated at the famous Werner Siemens Real Gymnasium in Schoneberg, he left only months before his school was closed down and fled with his family to Poland, one step ahead of the Nazi persecution that was to follow and later take the life of his father. From Poland he again fled to England, this time without his parents, arriving as a 16-year-old with little or no grasp of English. After a crash course in the language, he avoided being called up into the Polish army in exile thanks to the timely intervention of no less a man than General Sikorski himself, to enlist in the RAF to train initially as a pilot and then as an air bomber in South Africa. On his return to the UK he was posted to an all-Australian Squadron (466 Squadron) equipped with the Handley Page Halifax. After his first operation in which he was nearly shot down, Andrew survived a handful of eventful trips before falling victim to one of the LuftwaffeÕs top night fighter pilots and landing in France. Briefly on the run he was betrayed and captured, spending the next 12 months as a prisoner of war, using his knowledge of Russian, Polish and German to act as one of the principal camp interpreters, and working as a ÔscroungerÕ for the ÔXÕ committee of escapers. Moved from camp to camp, he was one of those forced into the ÔLong MarchÕ by the Germans attempting to escape the Russian advance, and afterwards played a key role in avoiding the potential bloodshed that threatened when the Russians refused to allow the British and Norwegian prisoners to return home Ð a role for which he was later recognized by the King of Norway. Upon his release, Andy used his language skills to work with the BBC monitoring service and later, BBC Television as a producer, sharing many adventures with the great broadcasters of their time, including David Dimbleby and Raymond Baxter.

The legendary RAF bomber who survived the infamous Stalag 3 POW camp recounts his WWII experiences in this military memoir. Growing up in Berlin just as Adolf Hitler was coming to power, Andrew Wiseman escaped to Poland with is family when he was thirteen. He later made his way to England where he joined the Royal Air Force, training first as a pilot and then as an air bomber in South Africa. Joining No. 466 squadron, he flew Handley Page Halifax heavy bombers in a handful of operations before being shot down in Occupied France. Wiseman spent the next year as a prisoner of war in Nazi prison camp Stalag Luft III, where he used his knowledge of Russian, Polish and German to act as a camp interpreter. Taking part in the prison break known as the Great Escape, Wiseman acted as a scrounger for the X committee who dug the tunnel. Moved from camp to camp, he was one of those forced into the Long March when the Germans attempting to escape the Russian advance. He later played a key role in avoiding bloodshed when the Russians refused to allow British and Norwegian prisoners to return home—a role for which he was later recognized by the King of Norway. Co-written with the acclaimed aviation historian Sean Feast, Andrew Wiseman's wartime memoir is a vivid chronicle of courage, service and survival through the Second World War.

FOREWORD Air Commodore Charles Clarke OBE; CHAPTER ONE An Alien Abroad; CHAPTER TWO A Foreign Land; CHAPTER THREE In Enemy Hands; CHAPTER FOUR A Dangerous Time; CHAPTER FIVE Finding My Way; CHAPTER SIX Tomorrow's World; CHAPTER SEVEN Return to Zagan; ADDENDUM ONE The Crew; ADDENDUM TWO Diary of Bill Lyall; ADDENDUM THREE 466 Squadron RAAFA brief history; ADDENDUM FOUR 466 Squadron Operations Record March-April 1944; SOURCES; SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY; PERSONAL THANKS FROM SEAN FEAST; INDEX.