DURING WORLD WAR II, many Indian soldiers fought with the British in North Africa and on many other battlefronts. Vast numbers of allied soldiers were taken prisoner by the Germans in North Africa, and these prisoners of war (‘POWs’) included several thousand Indians. The POWs were taken first to Italy, and then to prison camps in German occupied territory. One of the prison camps that contained many Indians was in the French town of Epinal. In May 1944, allied aircraft heavily bombed the town as part of a programme to damage French the railway system that was being used by the Germans. During this attack, the camp housing the Indians was badly damaged, and many Indian POWs escaped. At least 500 of them found their way to safety in Switzerland, and a few fought with the French resistance. This almost forgotten episode is described in “The Great Epinal Escape”, a book written by Ghee Bowman (1961-2025).

The book details how and where the Indians were taken prisoner; who they were; their journeys from Africa to Epinal; and their lives in the camps. Then, in meticulous detail, it recounts how the escapees found their way to freedom in Switzerland and the help they received from French people on their difficult journeys. This assistance was given by ordinary people, who knew that if they were discovered to be helping escaped POWs, they would face horrendous punishments, including execution.

Bowman’ scholarly but extremely readable book is the only account in English of this great escape story. Whereas the daring escapes of British POWs from German prison camps have been related in books and films, the Epinal escape, probably the greatest escape of POWs during WW2, seems to have been ignored both by British and Indian historians. The reasons for this are discussed in Bowman’s final chapter.

I bought my copy of this book about an almost forgotten episode during WW” in Bangalore (India), and I have enjoyed reading it.