The astonishing war memoir of Victor Gregg, captured at Arnhem and a survivor of the Allied bombing raid on Dresden, published with exclusive new material to mark the author's 100th birthday

‘Victor Gregg is the most remarkable spokesman for the war generation’ Dan Snow ‘A classic’ Mail on Sunday ‘Astonishing’ James Holland Born in 1919, Victor Gregg enlisted in the Rifle Brigade aged just eighteen and began a life of adventure. A soldier throughout the Second World War, he saw action across North Africa, was a driver for the Long Range Desert group and fought at the battle of Alamein. Taken into captivity at the Battle of Arnhem in 1944, he was sentenced to death for sabotaging a Dresden factory; he escaped only when the Allies’ infamous air raid blew apart his prison and very soon encountered the advancing Red Army. Revised and expanded with exclusive new material in time for Gregg’s 100th birthday, Rifleman is the extraordinary story of an independent-minded and quick-witted survivor.

"Quite simply, it is one of the best first-hand accounts that I have read … This gripping book immediately joins a select band of the best soldiers’ stories told from the sharp end" - MAIL ON SUNDAY

"One of the most shocking accounts of warfare you will ever read ... An account of heartache, violence and cunning by a man whose will to survive and unbreakable optimism are a true inspiration" - INDEPENDENT

"Fascinating … a gut-wrenching read" - SUN

"His coldly factual account of the torments of its burned-to-death victims exceeds in power even Kurt Vonnegut's famous fictional account, Slaughterhouse Five ... Warrior Gregg has seen and experienced the stuff of nightmares, but remains a chirpy optimist in his 90s" - DAILY MIRROR

"Intensely moving" - MAIL ON SUNDAY

"It reads like the best fiction" - SAGA

"Vic’s honesty and warmth shine through this engaging story" - CHOICE