The One That Got Away

‘A good story, crisply told’ New York Times

Franz von Werra was the only German prisoner of war to escape Allied captivity and make it all the way back to Germany during the Second World War.

Shot down over Britain during the Battle of Britain, the charismatic and audacious Luftwaffe fighter ace refused to accept defeat. Captured by the British, he launched a series of increasingly daring escape attempts, frustrating his captors at every turn. His final bid for freedom saw him leap from a moving prisoner train in Canada before embarking on an extraordinary journey through snow and wilderness to the then neutral United States and, ultimately, home.

Drawing on von Werra’s own account, together with extensive interviews and first-hand testimony from those who pursued, guarded and encountered him, James Leasor reconstructs one of the most remarkable escape stories of the war.

First published in 1953, The One That Got Away was groundbreaking in its balanced portrayal of both Allied and German participants, helping to establish a new standard for wartime narrative history. It became an international bestseller and was adapted for the screen in 1957, starring Hardy Krüger as von Werra.

A classic tale of courage, ingenuity and determination, this remains one of the greatest true escape stories ever told.

An extraordinary true story of escape, endurance and one man’s refusal to remain a prisoner.