Escape from St-Valery-en-Caux

The thrilling account of a Black Watch Adjutant's eight escapes from captivity during the Second World War

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The dramatic story of Captain Bill Bradford, Adjutant of the 1st Battalion Black Watch, compiled using diaries and letters, coded messages and correspondence between his family and the War Office in their desperate effort to hear news of his safety.

Escape from St-Valery-en-Caux tells of Captain Bradford’s experiences between 1939 and 1941, during which time he was in the thick of the action in France until the surrender of the Highland Division at St-Valery-en-Caux in June 1940. While being marched into captivity Captain Bradford managed to escape once from the Germans and then seven further times from the Vichy French. His son, Andrew Bradford, details his journey to safety in Gibraltar, travelling through France, Spain and North Africa, including a night crossing of the Pyrenees and an astonishing 700-mile voyage in a 17ft sailing boat.