Geriaviator (pp Rupert Parkhouse #9920),
Rupert really does too much self-introspection. His first and best duty to his country is to stay alive (a dead hero is no use to anyone). And, frankly, some of these escape schemes seem hare-brained in the extreme. But, then again, he was there, and I wasn't.
I applaud his decision:
...I started to study history, German and other subjects...
With the time he'd spent in POW camp, and with cigarettes as a sweetener to get the co-operation of the 'goons', he should have been able to get a good working grasp of colloquial German by now. And (from a position of complete ignorance), I should have thought that getting out of camp was the easy bit. What follows next ?
The "Captain of Kopernick" hoax shows what can be done with a German officer's uniform and a knowledge of the language. My limited observation of the German temperament (during 2½ years there 50+ years ago) leads me to think that not that much has changed.
Any chance of asking Rupert about this ?
Danny.