soon recaptured. Werra's absence was not noticed until the next afternoon. After crossing the frozen St. Lawrence River, Werra made his way to Ogdensburg, New York, arriving several months before the US entered the war and turned himself over to the police. The immigration authorities charged him with entering the country illegally and Werra contacted the local German consul, who paid his bail. He came to the attention of the press and told them a very embellished version of his story. While the U.S. and Canadian authorities were negotiating his extradition, the German vice-consul helped him over the border to Mexico. Werra proceeded in stages to Rio de Janeiro, (Brazil), Barcelona, (Spain) and Rome, (Italy). He finally reached in Germany on 18 April 1941. Return and death On his return to Germany Werra became a hero. Adolf Hitler awarded him the Knights Cross of the Iron Cross (). Werra was assigned the task of improving German techniques for interrogating captured pilots, based on his experiences with the British system. Werra reported to the German High Command on how he had been treated as a POW, and this caused an improvement in the treatment of Allied POWs in Germany. He wrote a book about his experiences titled (My Escape from England), although it remained unpublished. Werra returned to active service with the and was initially deployed to the Russian front as of I./JG 53. He scored 13 more aerial victories during July 1941, raising his confirmed total to 21. In early August 1941, I./JG 53 withdrew to Germany to re-equip with the new Bf 109F-4, after which it moved to Katwijk in the Netherlands, operating from an airfield begun for the Dutch military, finished by the victorious Germans and known to the as . On 25 October 1941 Werra took off in Bf 109F-4 Number 7285 on a practice flight. His aircraft suffered engine failure and crashed into the sea north of Vlissingen. Werra was presumed killed, though his body was never found. Film Werra's story was the subject of the 1957 film The One That Got Away starring Hardy Krüger as Franz von Werra. The film was based on a book by Kendall Burt and James Leasor published in 1956. A documentary called von Werra (with clips from The One That Got Away) was released in the 2000s. References Bibliography Further reading External links Barron Von Werra Begins Tour of