This riveting memoir of the Second World War constitutes a rare insight on WWII seen from perspective of a young French soldier fighting alongside the American GI's. After the German "Blitzkrieg" and sudden defeat of French troops, the young Raymond Lescastreyres feels great sadness and shame. In 1940, when only Britain continues fighting heroically, the seventeen year-old Raymond is smuggling mail across the "demarcation line" at Mont-de-Marsan in southwest France. Reported to the Gestapo, he must flee overnight and he crosses over to the Free Zone where, lying about his age, he enrols in...