LRDG - TRACKS - Escape to Switzerland

Much has been written about the Long Range Desert Group and its daring missions. However, one topic is rarely mentioned; those members of the LRDG who were taken prisoner. This book is based on the diaries of Guardsman Cyril Richardson, outline his experiences with G1 Patrol during 1941, then his daily life in the Italian PoW camps, culminating in his escape from northern Italy over the Alps into Switzerland in September 1943. Richardson's wartime diary is in three parts, written into small note-books. The original of the first part was lost or destroyed when he was taken prisoner by the Germans in December 1941. He re-wrote it from memory as a POW in Italy and continued with the events after his capture in parts two and three. It is not the aim of this little book, to find the answers to all the questions which the reader may discover "between the lines", but rather to give some insight into a seldom told story. We hope it will encourage further research and help keep alive the memory of a brave soldier who died too young.