Where The Hell Have You Been?
This gripping story tells of Richard’s internment in a POW camp in northern Italy – the same camp made famous by Eric Newby – and of his subsequent escape. Having decided to risk making his way back to Allied HQ in the south, he embarked on a gruelling 500-mile journey through German-occupied territory, evading capture again and again and ultimately being saved by a family of brave Italian peasants who jeopardised not just their own lives but those of an entire village to hide him.
In the winter of 1943, a year after he disappeared, he staggered back into Army HQ, to be greeted by his now famous stepfather with the words, ‘Where the hell have you been?’
This is a great adventure story – a reminder of a lost age when, in the face of terrifying challenges, a generation rose to extraordinary feats of valour in the service of a cause greater than themselves.
"An utterly compelling account of how one POW kept his identity secret from the Nazis and evaded capture, relying on the bravery and kindness of strangers. A terrific read.”
Andy McNab
"One man's extraordinary odyssey of escape
through wartime Italy: riveting and remarkable."
Ben Macintyre, author of Agent Zigzag
“Tom Carver's excellent book gives us a better understanding why our most well known World War II General was the complex man he was.” General the Lord Guthrie, Chief of the Defence Staff, 1997-2001
“An escape story in the finest English tradition. Beautifully written and poignant to the end – deserves to become an instant classic” David Loyn, BBC Foreign Affairs Correspondent
“This account of Monty’s step-son’s exploits in the Second World War is a gem. It reminds one of the gallantry and devotion to duty of a generation that has nearly left us.”
Patrick Cordingley, Commander of the Desert Rats, Iraq, 1991
About the author
Tom Carver was a longtime foreign correspondent with the BBC. He lived with the mujihadeen suring the Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan, walked with