When the Moon Rises

In the face of the advancing Allied forces, Italy capitulated in September 1943, leaving thousands of Allied prisoners of war held in camps around the country to fend for themselves. Amongst those prisoners was Tony Davies who had been captured in North Africa. Determined to make the most of the opportunity, with two fellow companions in arms Tony set off on a 700-mile walk through German-occupied Italy with nothing to sustain them other than an almost schoolboy-like enthusiasm.

The story of their adventures was received with great acclaim when this account was first published in 1973, and When the Moon Rises takes the reader on a roller-coaster journey through Italy from the River Po to Calabria, meeting a cast of exciting and voluble characters en route. Regardless of the ever present risk of recapture, Tony Davis and his comrades enjoyed street parties and drinking binges with the cheerful Italians who were happy to be no longer fighting the British.

Repeatedly chased by the Germans, the tension mounts as the story reaches its dramatic climax, the little band never failing to maintain their wit and humor. When the Moon Rises is one of the classic escape stories of the Second World War.