Fly for Your Life

Wing Commander Robert Stanford Tuck, DSO, DFC & 2 bars, was one of the leading Battle of Britain pilots with a score of 29 victories to his credit during this period. In early May 1940 he was transferred to 92 Squadron, flying Spitfires, where he became a flight commander. Within a few weeks when Roger Bushell, the Squadron CO, was shot down Tuck was given command. Later he was given command of a Hurricane squadron - No. 257. He had more than his share of hair-raising escapes when he survived two air collisions, several crash landings and ditched in the English Channel. On a number of occasions enemy fire set his aircraft ablaze and shattered his windscreen - on one occasion tearing his oxygen mask from his face in the process. On January 28, 1942, Tuck's undoubted luck ran out when he was shot down over France and captured by a German battery unit. He was ultimately incarcerated in the notorious Stalag Luft III where he met up again with a number of friends that had also been captured, including Roger Bushell who as 'X' - the camp's escape officer - organized the break-out that became known as the 'Great Escape'. Before the escape took place Tuck was transferred to another camp where he managed to escape and make his way to Russia. The author, Larry Forrester, has told Tuck's story from when he joined the RAF in 1935 to when he returned to England after his escape. Book jacket.… (more)