Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Humanities/2021 April 26

= April 26 =

Repatriation during (not after) World War II
I just rewatched The Captive Heart. A key plot element had the protagonist, supposedly a British POW, repatriated "back" to England just before he is unmasked as a Czech escapee from a concentration camp. Did such in-war repatriations actually take place? Clarityfiend (talk) 03:16, 26 April 2021 (UTC)


 * Here's one account: ... -- AnonMoos (talk) 04:00, 26 April 2021 (UTC)


 * Amazing. Thanks. Clarityfiend (talk) 09:48, 26 April 2021 (UTC)


 * The system was open to abuse however; see Captain Ion Ferguson, a British Army doctor who "coached two RAF prisoners to convincingly simulate schizophrenia, who were consequently repatriated, while waiting for his own repatriation to Britain in the same way".
 * Our List of attempts to escape Oflag IV-C article also lists Lt.Col. M.B. Reid, who "Feigned heart disease by smoking heavily and drinking concentrated black coffee prior to medical examination and was repatriated". Alansplodge (talk) 17:07, 26 April 2021 (UTC)


 * Also happened in the First World War. C. W. Hill and E. H. Jones pulled the trick against the Turks. You should definitely read Jones's The Road to En-dor. DuncanHill (talk) 21:23, 26 April 2021 (UTC)
 * Thanks, I have found it here. Alansplodge (talk) 21:30, 26 April 2021 (UTC)