Richard Pape

Richard Bernard Pape MM (1916 - 19 June 1995) was a British Second World War escapee, autobiographer and novelist.

Richard Bernard Pape was born in Roundhay, Yorkshire in 1916.

His first book, Boldness Be My Friend, was an account of his Second World War adventures, as a navigator in a Short Stirling bomber that was shot down close to the German/Dutch border, captures and escapes.

The book was brought to Anthony Blond's London literary agency in 1952 by Vanora McIndoe, the daughter of Sir Archie McIndoe, from Pape who was hospitalized in East Grinstead, and having plastic surgery, following a drunken motorcycle accident on the Isle of Man. After being read and approved by Blond's colleague Isabel Colegate, the book was published by Paul Elek, who gave a £600 advance.

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