In August 1946 twenty-one French Girl Guides arrived at Le Bourget airport in Paris, on their way to a holiday camp in Ireland. Soon they would board an old military aircraft bound for Dublin. But in appalling weather the plane strayed off course and literally hit a mountain: Djouce Mountain, a dominant feature of east Wicklow.

Miraculously, all crew and passengers survived in this very remote part of Ireland, and what follows are tales of incredible endurance, courage and heroism by survivors as well as their rescuers.

Suzanne Barnes, herself a keen hill walker, came across this story and decided to track down the surviving witnesses to the event: rescuers, doctors and locals with personal memories of the crash. Travelling to Paris, Nantes, Le Havre and Lille, she also managed to meet many of the Girl Guides and give them an opportunity to recall their stories of fortitude and, ultimately, of survival.