When Corporal George Thompson of The Buffs was walking to freedom from Stalag IVB after the camp's liberation in April 1945, he most probably stopped for a moment, looked up at the sky and thanked his lucky star again. That star had kept him alive through five long years of war, the last eighteen brutal months of which he had spent as a prisoner-of-war.As he passed through the huge, intimidating gates of the camp for the last time, George carried...