BNPS.co.uk (01202 558833)
Pic: Bonningtons/BNPS

Trooper Moreton (2nd left with Thompson machine gun) with fellow ex POW's after being liberated in April 1944 - they then joined up with American forces and spent the last two weeks of the war fighting the Germans up to the Elbe.

The amazing story of a fearless soldier who escaped from the Nazis eight times during five years as a POW including once to save a dying friend's life can be told after his bravery medals emerged for sale.

Trooper Thomas Moreton, of the 19th King's Royal Hussars, was held captive at the notorious Stalag XXB in East Prussia after being captured during the Battle of France in May 1940.

The tank driver was part of a defiant rearguard helping to buy time for the mass evacuation of British Expeditionary Force soldiers at Dunkirk.

After being recaptured following one of his escapes, he twice went in front of a Gestapo firing squad but emerged unscathed. On another occasion, he broke out of camp to find a doctor who would tend to his gravely ill comrade as he was being denied treatment by the camp guards.