Two Gold Coins and a Prayer: The Epic Journey of a WWII Bomber Pilot and POW [Paperback]

TWO GOLD COINS AND A PRAYER
AN APPRECIATION
By
James R. Lankford
National Historian, 14th Armored Division Association

James H. Keeffe III, Two Gold Coins And A Prayer: The Epic Journey of a World War II Bomber Pilot and POW, Appell Publishing, Fall City, Washington. Pp. i - 408.

Over the years, many World War II memoirs have found their way into publication. They vary dramatically, ranging from those that are poorly written, presented without proper historical context, or overly self-aggrandizing to the rare, precious few that are well-researched, historically correct, and honestly portray the wartime experiences of men who accomplished great things all the while retaining the foibles which plague all human beings. Two Gold Coins And A Prayer happily belongs to the latter group.

It is the enlightening and intriguing story of a B-24 Liberator pilot, as told to his son.
Through the highly descriptive pen of his son, the reader follows young Jim Keeffe, Jr. from the time he decides to volunteer as a pilot, through the various flight schools he attended, and finally to England, where as a 2nd Lieutenant he flew as co-pilot on several bombing missions before his plane was badly damaged during an air raid on Berlin.

Forced to bail out of his plane before it crashed, 2nd Lt. Keeffe landed in German occupied Holland, where he was hidden from the German Secret Police by members of the daring and brave Dutch Resistance. He was eventually captured after crossing into Belgium in a heroic effort to make contact with the advancing allied forces. After being held for a time in various prisons run by the German Secret Police he was eventually turned over to the German Air Force, the Luftwaffe, and sent to Stalag Luft III, the large Prisoner of War camp made famous in the movie, The Great Escape.

After several months at Stalag Luft III, 2nd Lt. Keeffe joined thousands of other allied POWs in the long, cold, and often dangerous forced march to the infamous Stalag VIIA in southern Bavaria. The badly overcrowded camp was already a hell-hole when 2nd Lt. Keeffe and his comrades arrived, but grew steadily worse as more and more POWs were herded into the camp in advance of the advancing Allied forces. Eventually 2nd Lt. Keeffe and approximately 130,000 other Allied POWs were liberated by the 14th Armored Division. In the chaos that followed, 2nd Lt. Keeffe and a close friend made their way from southern Bavaria to France, and from there to Camp Lucky Strike where they were cleaned up, provided new uniforms, and given medical treatment. After a brief stay they embarked on a troop ship that took them to home.

The book benefits greatly from the author's attention to detail that brings the reader almost physically along with 2nd Lt. Keeffe. The technical and historical details that help accomplish this are fully explained either in the text itself, or in the extremely helpful chapter notes. These notes also include the citation of sources used in writing the chapter, a practice that is in keeping with a high standard of historiography, as are the accompanying bibliography and appendices. The text is adorned with many previously unpublished photographs, maps, and illustrations from 2nd Lt. Keefe's private collection, as well as similar materials from the Lt.General Albert P. Clark Collection at the US Air Force Academy Library. They add valuable information and additional context to the narrative.

Inserted at appropriate places in the chronology of the story are comments, updates really, of what happened to people previously mentioned in the narrative. In particular, the reader learns the fates of those members of the Dutch Resistance who assisted 2nd Lt. Keeffe in evading the German Secret Police for over five months. All too often, the reader learns that after 2nd Lt. Keeffe was captured these brave men and women had been arrested by the Secret Police, imprisoned, and in some cases executed. Rather than interruptive, these intrusions add greatly to the flow of the narrative by placing in stark perspective the trials and tribulations of an American POW imprisoned by the Germans, with those of the Dutch citizens who risked their lives on a daily basis to help downed allied airmen. In this there is a symmetry that often escapes authors of similar memoirs.

Two Gold Coins And A Prayer will appeal to members of the general public who wish to know more about the brave young men who flew American bombers during WWII, the members of the Dutch Resistance who risked their lives to keep those unfortunates who were shot down over Holland out of Nazi hands, and the experiences of those who were imprisoned in German POW camps. Military historians will also benefit from the exquisite attention to detail found in this book, and will undoubtedly discover important bits of information that are new to even the most erudite among them.

James R. Lankford

There are many good memoirs of World War II, even many specifically about bomber pilots and prisoners of war, but Two Gold Coins and a Prayer is unique for a number of reasons. It is, at the outset, the very personal story of a well-trained Army Air Forces pilot shot down over Holland in March 1944. For five months, Lt. Jim Keeffe relies on the kindness of strangers in occupied Holland who risk their security and their lives to keep him safe. The detailed account of that trust and friendship is a story in itself, including the two precious gold coins referred to in the title. A wealthy Dutchman offers them to him in exchange for the English pounds that would betray him instantly if the Germans found them.
As the Dutch move him from safe house to safe house, Keeffe is grateful for their protection but also determined to make his way back to his unit in England. In July 1944, his story takes another unfortunate twist. Soon after the Dutch underground manages to sneak him into Belgium, he is betrayed and captured in Antwerp. There a German interrogator he nicknames Big Guy spells out in chilling words what Keeffe has feared most, "So you see, lieutenant, we know all about you and where you've been since you came down. We know the people you've stayed with and we know what they do. But we're not going to do anything at this time because we want them to keep sending us evading fliers like you." Keeffe then spends many months in Stalag Luft III, a POW camp in Germany, and suffers a forced march to another prisoner camp before finally experiencing liberation in late April 1945.
The narrative style of this book holds the reader's interest from beginning to end. The details bring the story to brimming life --everything from what this airman carried and thought and felt to how he coped on the run and in a POW camp. Throughout the experience, Keeffe somehow managed to hang on to those two gold coins--through multiple interrogations, strip searches, and prison camp clothing exchanges. He has them still, along with his memories of those who went to great lengths to keep him safe.
The reader is struck time and again by the human element of people making impossible wartime decisions. This book offers a clear and detailed map of Lt. Keeffe's wartime journeys, along with numerous photographs, diagrams, and documents that further enhance the excellent storytelling. It is a book the reader will not soon forget.

I really enjoyed this book. The story is exciting, fascinating and true, and I really appreciated all the photos, maps, letters, and historical information. The photos and maps are spread through-out the book, not all lumped together in the center. As I read the book, I felt as if I were there. This is one of the best personal WWII stories I have read. I highly recommend it.