Heaps was part of the doomed Battle of Arnhem. It was part of the larger Operation Market Garden, which didn't go anywhere close to planned.
Heaps goes through a lot. He is trapped behind enemy lines, gets captured, escapes, and helps the Dutch Underground transport evaders on numerous occasions. The tone is more narrative than internal, but I understand that. This was written a year after the war ended, and the wounds were still fresh. He may not have even had sufficient time to reflect how he felt at that point.
The writing itself is easy to follow, and there isn't any unnecessary flowery descriptions. I appreciated how he gave an update on various people if he knew what happened to them. There isn't any real in-depth intro into his life before the war, and for obvious reasons, his post-war life if a bit of a mystery. Heaps also wrote another book about Arnhem, The Grey Goose of Arnhem, and it looks like that one is focused more on various individuals.
I enjoyed this book. I learned a lot, and that's always a plus. It's on the short side, at a 145 pages, so if you're interested in Arnhem and the Dutch Resistance, this might be a good place to start. Good Book!
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