Adventures of Pat O'Brien in WWI Air Service Escape
A memoir synopsis recounts Pat O'Brien’s enlistment in the Royal Flying Corps, training in Canada, combat flights over France, and capture. It details brutal hospital neglect, escape plans from Courtrai, clandestine rations, a confiscated German map, a harrowing train escape, perilous treks through Luxembourg and Belgium, forging passes, and eventual frontier trials toward Holland with vivid observations on boots and peasant life.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Pat O'Brien
Royal Flying Corps
Canada
France
Liberty at last from the Belgian border barrier
The narrator recounts a daring escape from German lines in 1917. After weeks of peril, he crafts a wooden ladder and tunnels under the electric fence. A faulty ladder nearly costs him life, but he finally crawls under the wire into Holland and retrieves a keepsake before continuing to safety, seventy-two days after his initial escape.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Asath
Paul Rumney
Courtrai
Uuylger
O'Brien
Holland
Huy- Jiwer
Brien
North Star
Hunt
Mother Earth
Alexious
Belgium
Liberty
Methusalah
Armas
Otek
England
London
Escape From Belgium to Holland and Rotterdam
A British officer recounts fleeing into Holland after leaving Belgium, guided by a series of near misses and puzzling landmarks. He braves marshes and a mystery fence, meets Dutch civilians who shelter him, reaches Rotterdam, and secures passage to England aboard a rescue ship. He reflects on internment, the contrast with prison camps, and the welcome back to London.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Belgium
Lit
Belwhen
Tan
America
England
Rotterdam
Holland
Belegium
Apwerp
Zolland
Germany
France
Also Mentioned on This Page
Pat Derien
Fernina
Luxemurg
Luxemburg
Cuapter XIV
Emaapter XV
Umapter Kvi
Hol
Dolland
Ul’ Holland
Talland
Felds
Thail
Mense
Anzious
Refur ‘Gees
Ghent
Hinhoffen
Hinhotsen