The following story appeared in a local newspaper in October 1944:

Radio Aided Escape - Crossed Mountains to Safety 

By securing a wireless set, Gunner Robert Baker of the Royal Artillery, a Raunds prisoner of war, managed to get in touch with the outside world after he had escaped from his German guards and crossed several ranges of mountains. 

The only son of Mr and Mrs J Baker, of 22, Park Street, Raunds, is now home again.

Sent to the Middle East in June 1941, Gunner Baker was captured between Gazala and Tobruk and was then sent to Italy. 

Later he was transferred to Yugoslavia, where he worked on a farm. The Slav people treated all of the British prisoners very well. 

However, when Marshall Tito’s army started the offensive the Germans collected all the prisoners and took them to Graz in Austria.

When the Russians began to approach Graz, the Germans organised a march, but the Russians gradually caught them up and the guards began to get panic-stricken and fled to their homes. Gunner Baker and his comrades, left to their own resources, headed west for the Austrian Tyrol and after crossing several ranges of mountains, arrived at Pongau, where Gunner Baker managed to obtain a wireless set. 

The first forces to enter the town were the Americans.

Gunner Baker looks none the worse for his experiences, due to the Yugoslavian people’s kindly disposition.