Journey to the Horizon

Journey to the Horizon

‘JOURNEY TO THE HORIZON’ tells the story of three fighter pilots and two Lancaster crews shot down by the Germans. It follows them on the run, hiding, in captivity and in some cases to death. They were British, Canadian, New Zealanders and Americans. Five of them met in Paris while being escorted by members of the Comete Escape line, others evaded in various ways.

Some endured severe hardships in a POW camp, while in one case even a pilot ended up in the Buchenwald concentration camp. Those who died now rest in various cemeteries in France.

Main character is Donald Kenyon Willis, an American pilot who fought with the Finns against the Russians in 1940, then joined the Norwegian Naval Air Arm against the Germans, escaped to the Shetlands, joined the RAF as one of the first Eagle Squadron pilots, until he joined the USAAF. After the war, he was base commander in Austria and Germany became a test pilot in JATO (Jet Assisted Take-Off) experiments at Wright-Patterson Air Base in Ohia. He was one of the last five pilots to evade capture via the Pyrenees the night before D-Day with U.S. Lieutenant Colonel Thomas H. Hubbard and 2nd Lieutenant Jack Cornett and Britons Pilot-Officer Len Barnes and Sergeant Ron Emeny .In the book, Onderwater and Lissette also recount the sometimes terrible experiences of Barnes’ and Emeny’s fellow crew members after their two Lancasters crashed in France. In the course of research, Hans Onderwater followed the same evasion route, met the aides who risked their lives, and crossed the Pyrenees on foot with the 1944 Basque guide until he, too, reached Gibraltar. He visited Stalag Luft 1 Barth on the Baltic coast and Stalag Luft 3 Sagan in Poland, Buchenwald near Weimar and Ravensbrück near Berlin. He spoke with the five pilots or their families and corresponded with the others. Over the past 40 years, he interviewed more than 100 people who were in some way connected to the pilots and their experiences. The book is a rare example of intense research by two determined men who visited and became friends. The book is the result of mutual interest, friendship and a search for the truth. The book is an exciting history of the experiences of the pilots, the resistance members and the families who had to wait for many months for the fate of their loved ones.

‘JOURNEY TO THE HORIZON’ is a tribute to the crew who were brought down by the occupying forces. It also honors those who died and those who endured a long time as prisoners of war.