Birds in a Cage

Soon after his arrival at Warburg PoW camp, British army officer John Buxton found an unexpected means of escape from the horrors of internment Passing his days covertly watching birds, he was unaware that he, too, was being watched Peter Conder, also a passionate ornithologist, had noticed Buxton gazing skywards He approached him and, with two other prisoners, they founded a secret birdwatching society.This is the untold story of an obsessive quest behind barbed wire Through their shared love of birds, the four PoWs overcame hunger, hardship, fear and stultifying boredom Their quest would draw in not only their fellow prisoners, but also some of the German guards, at great risk to them all.Derek Niemann draws on original diaries, letters and drawings, to show how Conder, Barrett, Waterston and Buxton were forged by their wartime experience into the giants of postwar wildlife conservation Their legacy lives on. Read Birds in a Cage by Derek Niemann – kino-fada.fr I liked this book.Birds in a Cage is the story of four British prisoners of war, Second Lieutenant Peter Conder, Second Lieutenant John Buxton, Second Lieutenant George Waterston and Squadron Leader John Barrett, who, after WWII, went on to influence nature conservation practice and policy.It s a remarkable tale which is beautifully told On the face of it, it might not sound like the most interesting of subjects, but it really is fascinating.Reading this book made me think of how easy birders h I liked this book.Birds in a Cage is the story of four British prisoners of war, Second Lieutenant Peter Conder, Second Lieutenant John Buxton, Second Lieutenant George Waterston and Squadron Leader John Barrett, who, after WWII, went on to influence nature conservation practice and policy.It s a remarkable tale which is beautifully told On the face of it, it might not sound like the most interesting of subjects, but it really is fascinating.Reading this book made me think of how easy birders have it these days with great optics and field guides, and recordings of songs, and distribution atlases etc And it made me think about how important nature was to these men and how their love of nature helped them endure hardships that were extreme Walking, exhausted, through a frozen la...Imagine day to day life as a World War Two prisoner of war POW and bird watching wouldn t probably be the first activity that springs to mind Yet, Derek Niemann s book, Birds in a Cage , is about just that and much .Four British POWs John Buxton, Peter Conder, John Barrett and George Waterston find purpose and solidarity as ornithologists, observing birds when and where possible during their imprisonment in Germany and Poland In spite of their situation as ...Birds in a Cage tells the story of four keen birdwatchers Peter Conder, John Buxton, George Waterston and John Barrett who met in a German prisoner of war camp and spend their days undertaking scientific research on bird migrations and behaviour Post war the four men each became part of Britain s wildlife conservation movement, maintaining professional and personal relationships for the rest of their lives As is often the case with popular history books the subtitle is somewhat misleading Birds in a Cage tells the story of four keen birdwatchers Peter Conder, John Buxton, George Waterston and John Barrett who met in a German prisoner of war camp and spend their days undertaking scientific research on bird migrations and behaviour Post war the four men each became part of Britain s wildlife conservation movement, maintaining professional and personal relationships for the rest of their lives As is often the case with popular history books the subtitle is somewhat misleading Four secret birdwatchers, the unlikely beginning of British wildlife conservation 1 their birdwatching was not secret either from other prisoners or guards, many of whom helped, 2 nor was it the unlikely beginning of British wildlife conservation, which was already underway pre war, including by the protagonists, and was driven by manyactors than just t...An extraordinary, moving account of the experiences of WWII four prisoners of war, united by their interest in the wild birds that nested and flew freely around the barbed wire enclosed camps Their meticulous observations and study of the birds helped them cope with the degradations and privations of their imprisonment and, in many ways, helped shaped their futures when they were finally repatriated An engrossing and inspiring read, it moved me to tears in at least three places, so horrific we An extraordinary, moving account of the experiences of WWII four prisoners of war, united by their interest in the wild birds that nested and flew freely around the barbed wire enclosed camps Their meticulous ...I have to say I have never been particularly interested in birding so that affects the way I view this book To read how this group of amateur ornithologists coped with many years of being caged in German POW camps during WWII is fascinating I was not familiar with the varieties of birds they studied but will have to do a littlereading about birds.This group of POWs survived their captivity by focusing their efforts on studying birds instead of dwelling on the threats of their POW trials I have to say I have never been particularly interes...P.158 extract from an article by George Raeburn which appeared in The Magazine in 1943 Pseudo Nightingales The observer will soon find that many normal brother officers hear nightingales singing at night when he does not This admission will involve him in a grave loss of prestige and it is of little avail to talk glibly about the possibility of reed warblers or owls being the true source of the midnight music, as his own infallibility on the subject of nightingales is the honest belief and P.158 extract from an article by George Raeburn which appeared in The Magazine in 1943 Pseudo Nightingales The observer will soon find that many normal brother officers hear nightingales singing at night when he does not This admission will involve him in a grave loss of prestige and it is of little avail to talk glibly about the possibility of reed warblers or owls being the true source of the midnight music, as his own infallibility on the subject of nightingales is the honest belief and proud boast of every Briton, and many Dominion officers too I am so glad this story has finally been able to be told Birds In a Cage tells the true story of four men whose collective war time experiences led directly to them devoting the rest of their lives to our feathered friends with such energy drive and compassion that their collective achievements ar...On my To Be Borrowed list for some time, this book killed two birds with one stone sorry 30DaysWild and Title beginning with B for my library book caf.It wasn t quite the story I was expecting Perhaps I thought it would besaccharine that these men, all PoWs of the Germans for years on end were saved by their detailed observations of birdlife in the camps and science enriched Well, perhaps they were but it was a close run thing then, and after Derek Niemann has concentrat On my To Be Borrowed list for some time, this book killed two birds with one stone sorry 30DaysWild and Title beginning with B for my library book caf.It wasn t qui...To fully appreciate this book you should ideally have an interest in ornithology which I do , because the men in this moving story of surviving internment as PoWs during the second world war are obsessive birders They spend their every waking hour compiling lists and recording the behaviour of each and...I was disappointed with this book I understood the novel would beabout the 4 main characters and their thoughts, feelings and lives, instead it really was a long list of bird sightings etc So if you are into ornit...WW II story about British officers in POW camps The soldiers use bird watching to maintain their sanity and vicariously enjoy freedom They continue to develop their love of naturalism after the camps by working in vario...

• English
• 19 March 2017
Derek Niemann
• Hardcover
• 312 pages
• 1780720939
• Derek Niemann
• Birds in a Cage