Operation Pimento

On 14 August 1943, Squadron Leader Frank Griffiths set off on a secret mission to deliver supplies to members of the French Resistance living in occupied France. A few hours later, his plane had crashed into a village near Annecy, killing all six of his crew and five civilians. Only Frank survived. What happened next was extraordinary: badly injured and slipping in and out of consciousness, Frank embarked on an epic 1,400-mile, 108-day escape from the Nazis. Assisted by ordinary people - children, villagers, farmers, rebels and soldiers - he managed to make his way to safety in Gibraltar, via a Frenchwoman''s chimney, the attic over a brothel and a Spanish prison cell, not to mention an arduous trek over the Pyrenees. But Frank''s story does not end there. 79 years later, his great-grandson Adam Hart set out to follow Frank''s escape route. Step for step Adam recreated his ancestor''s journey and met the descendants of the people who had risked their lives to help Frank on his way, breathing new life into Frank''s heroic tale and keeping his great-grandfather''s memory alive. Operation Pimento is a riveting tale of danger, bravery and legacy - as told by the voice of a new generation.

Auteur

Adam Hart is a writer and historian from Pembrokeshire in South West Wales. While training to be a journalist at Cardiff University, Adam won a travel bursary to retrace his great-grandfather's escape in World War 2, inspiring this book. He has also written for The Times and Telegraph, appeared on the Antiques Roadshow and ITV Evening News and has spoken on Radio 4 and Times Radio. Operation Pimento is his first book.