Daring SAS escapes of WW2 a 'triumph of the human spirit'

Captured following a successful mission to blow up planes near Sicily, brave Captain John Verney and two of his fellow SAS men would defy the odds time and time again to slip out from under the noses of brutal Italians, making use of boats, carriages, freezing rivers, caves and finally a mountain range.

- By Jon Coates

AN SAS officer spent months hiding in caves while crossing a mountain range in Italy during a freezing winter in one of the greatest escapes of the Second World War. Captain John Verney, then 29, was on the run for six months with two comrades after they made a break for freedom while being taken by train from a PoW camp near Rome to Germany.

Despite being dressed in threadbare clothes while crossing the Apennine Mountains during late 1943 into early 1944, Captain Verney plunged into an icy river while under fire to complete his daring escape and be carried to nearby Allied lines. After needing to separate for the final push, his fellow heroes Captain Edward Imbert-Terry and Captain Martin Gibbs also managed to get away from the pursuing Nazis.

This is one of five incredible stories brought to life by military historian and author Damien Lewis in his latest book SAS Great Escapes Four, out now. He was helped by the war hero's son Sebastian Verney, who he says gave him access to his father's “invaluable” personal accounts.

Captain Verney was born in India in 1913 where his father Lieutenant Colonel Sir Ralph Verney, the 1st Baronet of Eaton Square, served as the Military Secretary to the Viceroy of India until 1921. After attending Eton and studying modern history at Christ Church, Oxford, he worked in the film industry before being drawn to the military life his father had enjoyed.

He signed up with the North Somerset Yeomanry, which in 1936 was a part-time cavalry regiment. It was absorbed into the Royal Armoured Corps in 1941, after which it saw sustained action in North Africa. Despite his privileged upbringing, Captain Verney found marching in step, saluting and being called “sir” irritating, so he was a natural fit for the newly formed egalitarian and self-disciplining SAS regiment.

'How he survived is beyond comprehension'