The last time I told you the story of 19 year old Sergeant Daniel Culler. His B-17 bomber, “Hell’s Kitchen”, had just forced landed in Switzerland. He planned to set the plane on fire by pumping out its fuel and then firing a flare into it to stop it falling into German hands. The rumour going around on the American air bases was that the Swiss were swapping American and British planes that fell into their hands for new German military aircraft for their armed forces. Swiss soldiers had prevented him carrying through his plan, and saved his life. He hadn’t noticed that he was soaked in petrol. But with what was going to happen to him as a prisoner of the Swiss, there were undoubtedly long periods of time when he wished that he was dead. This programme, Dan’s story as a prisoner of the Swiss, makes for chilling listening. The Swiss behaved in totally unexpected ways towards some of the Allied airmen that they interned, not as prisoners-of-war because the Swiss were neutral, that the Nazis would have admired.

Tag words: Geneva Convention; General Barnwell Rhett Legge; Straflager Wauwilermoos; Captain André-Henri Beguin;