Charles Granquist

Charles Granquist grew up in a tent in Blaxland in the Blue Mountains. When war broke out in 1939 Granquist increased his age from 17 to 19 and joined the A.I.F. sailing with the 2/4th Battalion on board the Strathnaver to Egypt. He spent nearly four years as a POW and orchestrated a remarkable five escape attempts. Granquist is one of only several hundred surviving Australian POWS that were held in Europe. At 90 years old he wrote his first book A Long Way Home on his experiences incarcerated at a number of different European prison camps including Markt Pongau, Feldkirvhen, Wolfsdberg and St.Georgen.