Take Men on Board!

Read Time: 3 Minutes

Some stories feel almost too improbable to be true. Take Men On Board is one of those. In February 1944, with Nazi-occupied Holland still under German control, five Dutch men decided to escape. Not by air or through hidden land routes, but across the North Sea in the middle of winter, using a refitted fishing boat powered by a truck engine.

That they made it across at all is astonishing. That theirs was the only successful Dutch sea escape that year makes it even more remarkable. Borre Winckel’s account, drawn from deep research and family history, turns what could have been a simple war chronicle into something vivid and human. It’s about courage, luck, and the stubborn will to survive when the world seems determined to crush it.

If you ever want a reminder of how much determination and sheer ingenuity the human spirit can muster, Take Men On Board delivers it in spades. This isn’t just a war tale; it’s about people trying to make something impossible work with whatever scraps they can find, and sometimes that’s more gripping than any firefight.

The audiobook follows the real events behind a daring wartime escape, told through a mix of recollection and retelling, showing exactly what it took to get out. There’s a lot of trial and error here, small moments that show just how much thought went into each decision. From sourcing a Chevy truck engine as a substitute for a boat engine, to scavenging batteries and fuel, every step feels like a calculated risk wrapped in desperation.

It’s also one of those rare wartime accounts where film footage exists (see below). The RAF’s rescue of the Engelandvaarders was actually captured on camera. Seeing those faces later adds an eerie authenticity to what you’ve just heard, grounding the story in something real and visible.

The later chapters shift focus to Indonesia, where the end of the war gives way to the collapse of Dutch colonial rule. The tone changes from daring escape to moral reckoning, tracing Philip’s involvement in the massive repatriation of prisoners of war. By then, the exhilaration of survival has faded into something heavier and more complex. It feels less like an adventure and more like a reckoning with what comes after.

What’s interesting is how ordinary it all sounds, in the best possible way. These weren’t movie action heroes; they were people who made things work because failure wasn’t an option. The book captures that grit and persistence, even while some scenes sound like they’re ripped straight from the movies. Smuggling operations, sneaking supplies past the Germans, digging tunnels to escape POW camps… it’s surreal to think of people actually doing the things I’ve only ever seen in films.

Take Men On Board is about endurance, humanity, and the quiet bravery history often forgets. It leaves you wondering: when everything is at risk, what would you have done?

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