William Ash told his story as an escape artist in his memoir, Under the Wire. Other authors have written about the escapes he and others made while held in German POW camps during World War II. All of the events in this book actually happened, and the people mentioned by name are ones that Ash met during his time in the camps. Many of the thoughts Ash expresses in the book reflect what he wrote about his actual thoughts during his time as a POW.
In some places, however, I have created dialogue and some of Ash’s thoughts, to fill in the details of his escape attempts. I have tried to remain true to the story of his activities as he described them and as they were recorded in military records at the end of World War II.