The long march

Andy Wiseman’s report is very touching to read.
My father was one of those ‘Kreiges’ in Sagan, a Flight Sgt ‘Observer’, who went on the ‘long march’. He’d been a POW since early 1940 when his 77 Sqdn Whitley was shot down…dropping leaflets.
As a boy I remember seeing his POW notebooks with drawings, poems. menus and stories, but as they are now at the RAF Museum they’ve become vague memories. I also recall hearing about the likes of ‘Dixie’ Deans, a NCO who became a spokesperson for so many of the POW’s.
My father remained in the RAF post war (he was a ‘regular’) and during a posting to Bruggen, he retraced his POW locations. It was very moving for him as his war was spent that way and in the end it caught up with him as the back injuries he suffered finally stopped his RAF service.
Obviously the war was nearing it’s end when they were made to leave Sagan but he did escape by hiding in the hay one night and managed to avoid the guards ‘bayonet checks’.
If you can, do get a copy of John Nichol and Tony Rennell’s book about the ‘long march’ -“The Last Escape” (Penguin).
Those of us of my generation have been extremely lucky to have lived without any major ‘home wars’.
David Taylor.

The topic was briefly touched on last year http://forum.keypublishing.co.uk/showthread.php?t=92874&highlight=Stalag+Luft+III

🙁 Sadly the 619 Squadron / ME846 link I posted is no longer active on the NAM website however the display is still present at Winthorpe and acts as a tribute to three of the marchers – Sgt Thomas Newbery, Sgt Dennis Belshaw; and Flt Sgt Leslie Taylor.