IRON CROSSED When you are a war-hardened 20-year-old on operations with the elite Brandenburger Commandos, you know that less than one in two come back and your only victory is survival. You lose your virginity, gain three Iron Crosses and nearly lose your manhood. But you survive. Iron Crossed is a true story of sacrifice, heroism, loss and love. Martin is twice decorated for bravery on his first mission. As the war turns against the Germans, he has to combat partisans in the blood-freezing desolation of the Russian front. When his war ends, another challenge arises as he and his pregnant wife Marlene have to make a daring escape to the West from Russianoccupied Germany. In a war-devastated Germany, a new life beckons in an unknown land half a world away where Martin helps build Australia's massive Snowy Mountains hydro-electric scheme from the ground up. Marlene and Martin together face the tough migrant experience of hardship and poverty with resilience and humour: a typical story of Australian migrants in the 1950s. Iron Crossed is based on extensive tape-recorded interviews of Martin and Marlene by the first author, their daughter. You can hear excerpts from these recordings at: http: //philjohnrose.net/Iron_Crossed/index.html