DrFrocktopus t1_j5dahzm wrote on January 22, 2023 at 3:54 AM

Reply to comment by MetaSatakOz in TIL Bob Hoover, an American Spitfire pilot in WW2, was shot down over occupied France and captured but was able to escape from the POW camp 16 months later, steal a German fighter, and fly it from northern Germany to friendly territory in Holland. by MetaSatakOz

To be fair, being liberated by the Soviets was far from a guarantee of salvation. They sent tens of thousands of Allied POWs to the gulags to use as bargaining chips against the West.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/opinions/1991/07/04/a-70-year-old-hostage-crisis/54578871-6dfc-4d97-8736-04b91398af44/

BlueInq t1_j5fnq0d wrote on January 22, 2023 at 5:58 PM

My British grandfather was in a German POW camp and he escaped west a few days before the camp was liberated by the Soviets in order to avoid being subjected to their hospitality!