The Longest Walk Home

The epic 2,000 mile escape of a WWII POW, in his own words

By: Ray Bailey, David Wilkins

Narrated by: Steven France

In 1940, Private Raymond Bailey, a 21 year old Vauxhall motors apprentice, serving with the 1st Kensington Regiment, was captured in Northern France, becoming a Nazi prisoner of war. But he wouldn't remain one for long...

The Longest Walk Home is the incredible account of his daring 2,000 mile escape across Europe and over the Pyrenees, to the safety of British Gibraltar, and home in time for Christmas. Along the way Ray has nerve-shredding encounters with German soldiers and the Spanish Civil Guard. Often he is exhausted and starving. All that keeps him going is his youthful energy, unfailing optimism, and the kindness of strangers who risk their own safety to help him.

Ray's escape is remarkable, but so too is his memoir. It was written within a year or two of the events it describes, when Ray was just 22, and despite Ray's obvious writing talent it was lost for decades until it was discovered at auction in an unmarked box of WWII memorabilia by David Wilkins. Ray's is a true unheard voice, and one of the last from this time.©2025 David Wilkins

A Contemporaneous Account of a WWII Escape

I really enjoyed this book, which focuses on a recently found manuscript by Ray Bailey, a Private in the British Army in WWII. Ray was captured early in the war as France fell. Ray chronicled the amazing tale of his escape in a series of notebooks that were lost but recently came into the hands of David Wilkins.

The book mainly consists of Ray's manuscript with some helpful interjections from Wilkins that provide detail and context. For a guy who left school at 14, Ray writes amazingly well. The story is engaging and moves well. Along the way, Ray is fortunate to meet many people, mostly women, who assist him, often at their own peril. Ray is resourceful and is also willing to do what it takes to escape, stealing bicycles and other items along the way. The title is a bit misleading, because he did not walk the entire way!

The book is important because it tells one man's story, and it is an important story that would otherwise be lost. This is amplified by the fact that, at the end of the book, Wilkins tries to follow up on what happened to the many soldiers that Ray met and served with along the way. Despite Wilkins' efforts, many seem to have simply disappeared to the sands of time. It is a good thing that Ray did not go with them.

The narration is good. At times, it is sometimes a bit difficult as a listener to differentiate between what is written by Ray and what is written by Wilkins. But overall a good job.