Leo Heaps is the author of four books. The Grey Goose of Arnhem: The Story of the Most Amazing Mass Escape of World War II was published in 2020. It is the 44th book I completed reading in 2023.

Opinions expressed here are unbiased and entirely my own! Due to scenes of violence, I categorize this book as R. The book is written by Lieutenant Leo Jack Heaps, who was part of the force that landed at Arnhem.

During Operation Market Garden in September of 1944, 10,000 airborne troops landed in the Netherlands. It was the largest airborne operation of WWII up to that point, and it was a failure. 8,000 of those that landed were killed, wounded, or captured.

This book tells the story of 250 men of the British First Airborne who escaped from Arnhem. With the help of the Dutch Resistance, they struggled back to the Allied lines.

The story begins with the landing around Arnhem. The book then tells of the airborne’s efforts to take the bridge and resist the eventual German counterattacks. After holding out longer than expected, those that were able began to withdraw. They struggled to make their way to safety across the Rhine.

I enjoyed the 7.5 hours I spent reading this 269-page WWII history. While the book is history, it reads like a thriller. If you are interested in Operation Market Garden, you will enjoy reading this book. I like the chosen cover art. I give this book a rating of 5 out of 5.

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The narrative skipped around quite a bit and the transition from one event to the next was often abrupt and detracted from the story. The details of the battles and the harrowing experiences of the soldiers trapped behind enemy lines were very interesting.

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for providing a copy of this book to read and review. The opinions expressed here are my own.

I received an advanced reading copy of this book from NetGalley.com in return for a fair review. I started this book with great interest as I have recently read 'Dutch Girl' by Robert Matzen which takes place during the same time and area. Operation Market Garden was a spectacular failure when the allied soldiers lost the bridge at Arnhem in 1944. As a result, hundreds of soldiers were left stranded in German-controlled Arnhem when the allied troops withdrew. Thanks to the bravery of the Dutch Resistance many of the lost soldiers were saved. Others were not so lucky. This book, however, was very hard to follow and not well-structured. Single paragraphs were extremely long and the point of view kept switching between first person and third person. I even went back and read the first 15% over again thinking I had missed something, but it didn't help. The rescue itself was amazing, but the story followed so many different men that it was hard to keep them all straight. Maybe some sort of forward or introduction that explained how the book came to be would have helped clarify things. The one take-away I did get from this book was that we shouldn't complain about being stuck at home during this pandemic. These men were stuck behind enemy lines. They didn't know who to trust, or where their next meal was coming from. They slept in barns, in fields and in various hiding places always wondering if they would be discovered and killed, or even worse, sent to concentration camps. Staying home doesn't seem so bad after all that.

Free ARC from Net Galley

Incredible story of E and E from perhaps the most famous Canadian in the British para corps?

Great read of what so many unnamed heroes have done for freedom.