Thousands of airmen shot own on enemy soil between 1940 an 1945 miraculously escaped capture. Revealed here are some of their stories, based on first-hand interviews, photographs and official documents. This compelling narrative covers all theatres of the Second World War and features heroes from Britain, Canada, Australia and other Commonwealth countries.

They include the Halifax pilot shot down in northern Germany who walked and cycled over 1000 miles to arrive safely in Barcelona two months later, and the Wellington crew who were rescued after a 400-mile, 28-day trek through the African desert.

These men know extreme adversity: hunger, thirst, injury, isolation and the constant fear of capture. They also know great kindness from the local people who risked helping them. Their journeys to safety - often across savage terrain - tested human endurance and ingenuity to the very limit.