'It is surprising that Masonic activity in prison camps should be almost as old as Freemasonry itself, but what is not so surprising is that it should have happened at all, in that its binding and secretive nature lent itself immediately to the conduct of clandestine activity.

It also provided a ready-made set of spiritual values in which a man could vest his belief and therefore contributed much to the need to combat despair and loss of hope that constantly beset the prisoner.'

So begins a fascinating account of Masonic activity by prisoners of war written by Keith Flynn OBE. It begins in the middle of the eighteenth century and continues the story through to the end of the Second World War.