(Early Access) Episode 75 – Stanley Booker: Airman, Prisoner, Saviour, Spy, with Sean Feast

Ep. 75 – Stanley Booker: Airman, Prisoner, Saviour, Spy, with Sean Feast 

How does a young RAF observer go from flying operations with 10 Squadron to becoming one of the few Allied airmen imprisoned in a Nazi concentration camp?

In this episode of Never Mind the Dambusters, Jane Gulliford Lowes and James Jefferies welcome back acclaimed aviation historian and author Sean Feast to discuss his compelling new book, Airman, Prisoner, Saviour, Spy: The Remarkable Story of Stanley Booker DFM.

Stanley volunteered for aircrew at just eighteen years of age and qualified as an observer, joining 10 Squadron RAF during the crucial months leading up to D-Day. Shot down over occupied France in 1944, he was captured, brutally interrogated by the Gestapo at Fresnes Prison, and became one of 168 Allied airmen deported to Buchenwald Concentration Camp as so-called "Terror Flyers."

Against all odds, Stanley survived.

His story didn't end with liberation. After the war, he flew more than 200 sorties during the Berlin Airlift, later worked with British intelligence during the Cold War, and spent decades fighting for official recognition of what he and his fellow airmen had endured.

This is an extraordinary story of courage, survival, resilience and the long struggle for justice.

In this episode

• How Sean Feast first met Stanley Booker and why he felt compelled to tell his story.
• Stanley's training and operational career as an observer with 10 Squadron RAF.
• The mission that ended with Stanley's aircraft being shot down over occupied France.
• Capture, betrayal and interrogation by the Gestapo at the notorious Fresnes Prison.
• The little-known story of the Allied "Terror Flyers" imprisoned at Buchenwald Concentration Camp.
• Why Stanley and his fellow prisoners spent decades seeking official recognition.
• Stanley's remarkable post-war career during the Berlin Airlift and later intelligence work in divided Berlin.
• Sean reflects on Stanley's legacy and what readers can learn from his extraordinary life.

About our guest

Sean Feast is one of Britain's leading aviation historians and authors. A former journalist, he has written extensively on RAF Bomber Command, the Pathfinder Force and the wider Allied air war. His work is renowned for combining meticulous research with deeply personal stories that illuminate the human experience of war.

Featured book

Airman, Prisoner, Saviour, Spy: The Remarkable Story of Stanley Booker DFM by Sean Feast

Available here:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1911714376

Mentioned during this episode

• RAF 10 Squadron
• Buchenwald Concentration Camp
• Fresnes Prison
• The "Terror Flyers"
• The Berlin Airlift
• George Blake
• Above Us the Stars by Jane Gulliford Lowes

Related listening

If you enjoyed this episode, you may also like:

• Peenemünde, V-Weapons & the Master Bomber with Sean Feast (Series 4)
• Internment of Allied Airmen with Andrew White
• Bomb Disposal in Hamburg with Thomas Rost

Join the conversation

Had you heard of the Buchenwald Airmen before listening to this episode?

Why do you think it took so many decades for their experiences to receive official recognition?

Join the discussion in the Never Mind the Dambusters Facebook group or connect with us across our social media channels.

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