They were often the people who had been to hell and back. The torment and torture, death and destruction, dominated their thoughts for the rest of their lives but talking about it to family and friends…well that was a different matter.

Joe was Antoni Zozef Podolski and how he survived and what he achieved during the Second World War is quite astonishing and illustrates what a brave, courageous and tough young man he was.

Although he never spoke about his early war years he suffered a stroke in the 1980s and then decided to get a tape recorder and talk about what happened to him. Forty four years after the outbreak of WW2.

He was captured by vicious and murderous Russian soldiers in his homeland of Poland during 1939. Trapped between invading armies and against all odds he escaped and ended the war as a fighter pilot based in Norfolk.

(Image: Family collection)

The captivating and horrendous story of how Joe, in his teenage years, survived being murdered by the Russian beasts is told in a book 23 Days: A Memoir of 1939 published by the family ten years ago and this is your opportunity to get one of the last copies available.

Be warned, this is not a tale of glory and honour, it is one of brutality. While not an easy read it is one which illustrates........

© Norwich Evening News