Do the Birds Still Sing in Hell?: A powerful true story of love and survival

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Joseph Horace Greasley was a British soldier during the Second World War who was captured by the Wehrmacht and became famous later for having escaped from his camp over 200 times to meet with his love interest. His life was the subject of an autobiography titled Do the Birds Still Sing in Hell? Then there was the constant placing of the author at the centre of some heroic piece or other. 200 escapes? Really? As much as it's stated that it's based on "true events" and it's not "exaggerated" - I still feel like this is more a work of fiction. It, unfortunately, made me question how much of the story was true - especially the conversations - how can they be recalled with such clarity after that many years? Upon finishing the book it becomes apparent that there was no one alive to verify the story. Although it is likely radio parts were sneaked into the concentration camp and that Jim escaped to see the woman he loved on numerous occasions, there is often a lingering feeling of exaggeration and recollection of conversations that could not have been possible. It is also never made clear whether the letters from Jim’s lover, Rosa Rauchbach, are the original articles or are they what he remembers of them. It is especially dubious that Jim kept copies of the letters he wrote to Rosa, unless he had the foresight to keep them for this book.

The author said people tell him all the time about "great stories" he should write. Someone told him about Horace, and he thought, I'll talk to the old codger, see what he has to say, humor him. Then was riveted for hours by the story and decided to write it. The first time Horace has sex with Rose (the love of his life and the reason he started escaping over 200 times).... it's rape. She says, "No. Stop. We'll get caught." and whether that last line means she wants to but is afraid to get caught or not, the first two words make it rape. AND he even says he was raping her. There are so many problematic points in this story, it's hard to see anyone as a good person. Flapper. Flapper is a good guy. I get that a lot of the problems have to do with war, and there are no winners in war, but still.... Forgotten the title or the author of a book? Our BookSleuth is specially designed for you. Visit BookSleuth For instance, while some people describe all which happens in a very matter-of-fact way without pulling any punches or embellishing anything, there are others who pull more towards the emotional side, in hopes of making us feel rather than simply see. In my opinion, Do the Birds Still Sing in Hell? falls into the latter category.Do The Birds Still Sing In Hell?: He Escaped over 200 Time from a Notorious German Prison Camp to See the Girl He Loved. This Is the Incredible Story of Horace Greasley

The ending left me flat. It is sad to know his English Rose died during child birth along with the baby. What did he do after that? Did they have reunions in later years? War is a marvellous stimulus for the economy of a failing country. It takes young men out of unemployment and creates wealth for Arms dealers, construction companies and medical and drugs corporations. Said country can rape thieve and pillage with complete justification. World War III - coming to a TV screen near you soon.”

Again, considering that he was a PoW, I would have thought that he would have had bigger concerns than whether his penis (the biggest in the camp - thanks for the constant reminder 🙄) still worked 🤷🏼‍♀️

I didn't like the way it was written, it felt juvenile and very clunky and there were SO MANY typos 🤦🏼‍♀️ In the world of literature, I think it’s safe to say we’ve gone pretty deep in terms of memoirs from the Second World War, in the sense we got many different approaches and outlooks on various aspects of this historical period.Do the Birds Sing in Hell? by Horace Greasley is yet another fascination World War II memoir, detailing a young British man’s journey into the hell of the Wehrmacht and the bits of solace he found along the way. With this being said, I do understand why Greasley gave them so much attention: they were his sole escape from living in a seemingly-interminable hell, and as such I imagine every second spent with Rose meant the world to him. In other words, I feel this is the sort of flaw in this memoir which can be totally forgiven, especially since you can simply skip through those parts without missing any important information. The Final Verdict Even the point when a Nazi-sympathizing civilian was overhearing sensitive information while taking a piss, the author felt the need to add the detail of the civilian "pinching the tip of his penis" to slow the flow of urine. WHY do we need these details? Though it was ghost-written by Ken Scott, he stated he literally only acted as Greasley‘s fingers and typing out the book for the latter, aged 89 at the time, was heavily afflicted with arthritis. While Greasley does begin by providing some context for himself and the political climate he was facing at the time, it doesn’t take long for him to begin discussing the rushed preparations he was forced to undertake to join the army. After seven weeks of training, we see him joining with the 2nd/5th Battalion Leicester, and his capture when he found himself facing the might of the German army with nothing but a few rounds in his pouch.