FOURSQUARE: The Last Parachutist - George Bearfield

 

The fantastic thing I find about reading books on war is the surprising stories.  The ones that capture you.  The human side of war but intertwined with daring operations that might not be that well known.

Foursquare: The Last Parachutist does not disappoint.  This is a story of the authors family, a story of a grandfather and grandson.   This is a story about bravery, about resourcefulness, about loss, about patriotism and about resistance in Czechoslovakia.

This is a story of a Czech family, cousins that came to England to fight the war.  To contribute, to make a difference in freeing their country and Europe from the Nazis.

In 1938 Jaroslav and Josef Bublik came to England and became part of the Czech intelligence service.   Both tied through family and both to play a significant contribution to the war.  Jaroslav trained parachutist to go back into their country whilst Josef was one of the first to be dropped.  The story captures one of the most daring actions of the 2 World War, the assassination of Heydrich.  Josef was tracked down and killed before he could escape.

As the war drew to its conclusion Jaroslav was asked to take part in one final mission:  Operation Foursquare.

Sixty years later and hearing parts of stories and family myths Jaroslav’s grandson takes the plunge and asks his grandfather about the operation.

What draws you into a story is always a good question.  The author George Bearfield brilliantly captures the balance between a very personal family story talking to his grandfather with meticulously researched information and detail on the operations on the ground.

I found this book very moving.  The family story and the relationships so passionately set out in the writing. For me this was more than just writing about the war.  This was writing about a family’s history and how that is linked to a country’s history.

More and more we need to recognise the massive contribution of many nations to the successful outcome of the war.  The book does that and more.  Recognising the sacrifices that the Czech people made and the operations that contributed to that successful.   These brave people fighting for their countries with passion, bravery and with the knowledge that they could lose their lives.

This is a brilliant, very personal story, of a corner of the war not many know about.  George Barfield’s writing is fast paced, bringing the writing of an action novel to a true story.   This is a book you don’t put down; you want to know what happened whilst marveling in the relationship between grandfather and grandson. 

This is a brilliant must read book for all readers and will be a valuable resource in history.