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Pictured: The Greatest Escape book.

The remarkable moment a German soldier saved a shot-down British airman from certain death at the hands of a baying mob has been revealed in a new book.

Captured Bomber Command navigator Sergeant Joseph Barratt was still in his British flying uniform and limping on crutches when he was taken to a railway station by his captors.

Upon arrival, he was confronted by an angry group of locals who were after revenge for Allied bombing raids on the Ruhr heartland. Sgt Barratt, of 102 Squadron, was left by himself on the platform as the mob approached and he feared the worst.