Kriegies

Winner, nonfiction (self-published) category of the ACT Literary Awards 2024. Winner, Anzac Trustees Military History Prize, 2024 NSW Premier's History Awards.

Kriegies: the Australian Airmen of Stalag Luft III explores how Australian POWs and their families responded to captivity. Drawing on letters, diaries, memoirs, interviews, and medical records, Kriegies describes - in their own words - how the airman POWs coped with the trials of incarceration: monotony, separation from loved ones, absence of sex, homosexuality, and threats to their mental health. Kriegies also delves into the reactions of those on the home front who provided love and support as they anxiously awaited their loved ones' return. It features the events of the Great Escape - perhaps the most notorious mass escape from German captivity - the tragic fate of five young Australians, and the grief expressed by their comrades and families. Based on the author's award-winning PhD thesis, Kriegies is an intimate portrayal of captivity. It reveals the human story of wartime imprisonment. It is an inspiring account of love, courage, and resilience.