Uncovering an extraordinary escape: former BBC journalist Vincent Hunt’s book sheds light on WWII experience of 850 Latvian soldiers

In Escape from Berlin, British author and historical journalist Vincent Hunt brings to light a gripping but little-known episode from the final days of World War II. The book recounts the extraordinary journey of 850 Latvian soldiers of the Janums Battle Group who, in April 1945, chose survival over death in a daring escape from the crumbling outskirts of Nazi Berlin.

The book is the latest installment in Hunt’s ongoing series tracking the fate of the Latvian 15th Waffen-SS Division during the war’s chaotic closing months. “Escape from Berlin is a sub-story within a much larger picture,” says Hunt. “The overall story is too vast, too emotionally intense to tell all at once. This episode, however, stood out because it was a complete, self-contained tale of endurance and willpower.”

The narrative is built around a previously unpublished diary by First Lieutenant Edvīns Bušmanis, discovered in the archives of the Latvian War Museum. "It’s an almost hour-by-hour account of the battalion’s march – 125 kilometers through forest and swamp, navigating by compass, dodging Red Army tanks and German patrols, with barely any food," Hunt explains. “Once translated, the diary read like a novel. It was a dramatic, human account of men trying to stay alive.”

As part of his immersive research, Hunt retraced the battlegroup’s route through Brandenburg, Germany. “I wanted to see what they saw, to walk the same ground. In Zerbst, I met local historians who still remember the group’s arrival—and the US bombing that devastated the town days before.”

For Hunt, a former BBC journalist turned historical writer, capturing the personal side of conflict is essential. “I’ve spent the last six or seven years talking to the last surviving veterans of the Latvian Legion,” he says. “Their memories help construct an eyewitness history. These are individual war stories, but collectively, they give shape to an entire generation’s experience.”

This is not Hunt’s first foray into Latvia’s wartime history. His earlier books include Blood in the Forest, Up Against the Wall, and The Road of Slaughter, which detail both the battlefield and political trauma Latvians endured in the 20th century. “The Baltic story is endlessly compelling,” he says. “Each state has its own unique experience—its own pain—but I also sense a hopeful future, especially when I visit Riga. There’s a vibrancy there, led by a generation focused on building rather than surviving.”

Hunt’s audience, he believes, is made up of readers drawn to untold stories and vivid, character-driven accounts of overlooked history. “Many of the men I write about emigrated to Australia, Canada, the US after the war. Their families often say, ‘I wish I’d asked my grandfather what happened.’ These books help answer those questions.”

Escape from Berlin culminates in the battlegroup’s surrender to American forces at the Elbe on April 27, 1945. Hunt even unearthed rare US Army newsreel footage showing Colonel Vilis Janums and his men marching into captivity. “When I showed it to a Latvian community group in the UK, people gasped. Their fathers and grandfathers were among those men,” he says. “My dream is to identify the young soldier in the center of the cover image. That would be extraordinary.”

The book is available via publisher Helion (www.helion.co.uk), through online retailers, and at the Latvian War Museum in Riga. It will be launched in Riga on April 29, 2025—80 years after the events it recounts. Hunt’s next project, Sent to Die in Berlin, focuses on the Reconnaissance Battalion of the 15th Division, which fought and perished in the heart of Berlin itself.

“I hope my work adds these Latvian voices to the wider story of the war,” Hunt says. “Because they were there. And their stories deserve to be heard.”