Fury to Hell

When members of the RAAF were shot out of the sky during World War II over the land of the enemy they were invariably subjected¿to cruelty by civilians while authorities turned away. Many were murdered. Those taken into custody received the harshest treatment of all POWs of Germany in WWII. Their interrogations were vicious as the opposing military attempted to extract information to counter a bombing campaign that took the war directly into occupied territories and the homeland. Unlike other POWs they were tightly secured behind barbed wire in their own compounds, should they escape and again fly bombers into European skies. The turbulent journey of Warrant Officer Albert 'Bert' Adrian Stobart illustrates the experience of thousands of others who¿left Australia to fight a foreign air war. He was ripped from his RAAF 460 Squadron Lancaster bomber only to watch all but one¿of his close-knit crew perish. For almost two years Stobart barely survived Stalag IVB. He returned a changed man to observe fellow RAAF POWs struggle with anxiety and depression, poor health, and premature death. This is his story and the story of too many others.