Marching 80 years later in the shoes of POWs
The Long March began at Stalag Luft III, located near what is now Zagan, Poland. This camp was operated by the Luftwaffe, the German air force.
On Jan. 24, we gathered at the camp for a commemorative service. During the service, family members, event coordinators and the mayor of Zagan made heartfelt speeches. They also placed wreaths and crosses adorned with red poppies — symbolizing soldiers who served and died in battle — in front of a memorial statue. In attendance was Alfred Junger, a German man who, as a child, witnessed the prisoners of war embark on the Long March. He came to pay his respects and observed as soldiers and families retraced those same steps to honor the POWs.
On the first day, the soldiers and the descendants of the POWS walked 20 miles from Zagan to Lipna, Poland, making a few stops along the way. One of these stops was Gozdnica, Poland, formerly known as Freiwaldau, Germany. At this stop, everyone was greeted with delicious Polish baked goods, candies and warm wine. On stage at the Gozdnica Community Center, some wonderful Polish women from the Housewives Association of Gozdnica performed songs for the crowd. Eventually, a few American soldiers took to the stage to sing their hearts out to 'Wagon Wheel' by Darius Rucker. After their performance, the American soldiers exchanged hugs and photos with their hosts.
One of the POW family members I met on the first day was James Castle. He completed the entire march in honor of his uncle, Flight Lt. Tony Parsons. Castle shared his feelings about the experience with me. 'To have other family members of POWs, supporters of the SLIII (Stalag Luft III) community and the different military units, all marching together was fantastic.'
Castle's uncle, Lt. Parson, was a Hampden bomber pilot in the 83 Squadron of the Royal Air Force. He encountered heavy flak over the coast of Holland. After being stranded for four days in the North Sea, Parson witnessed two of his crewmates drift away, never to be seen again. After 102 hours (about nine days) on a dinghy, he and another survivor were rescued and captured by the German navy. This led to his placement in various hospitals and POW camps, eventually arriving at Stalag Luft III. At Stalag Luft III, he shared a room with Peter Butterworth, whose son, Tyler, was also present during the anniversary commemoration.
While at Stalag Luft III, Parson's job was to create compasses from food tins provided by the Red Cross. The soldiers who engaged in this work were known as 'tin bashers' and made assorted items, such as lampshades, cooking trays and air pipes for tunnel construction. The Red Cross played a significant role in supporting the soldiers, providing them with books and exams to enhance their knowledge.
In the last three years, James Castle has taken on a role as a first aid trainer with the British Red Cross, based in Kent and Sussex. He is also a standard bearer for the Royal British Legion, and has paid homage at various locations during remembrance marches. One of these was dedicated to Lt. John Kiddell from the Royal Navy, who died in the camp and hailed from Castle's home village.
We ended the first day in Lipna, Poland, formerly Selingersrüh, Germany. During the Long March, the POWs spent the night there in barns. They struggled with extreme cold, near starvation, and fear of what would happen next. Wawo and Anya Putkiewicz, who currently own the barns, kindly allowed the American Army Reserves to spend a cold night there. One of those reservists, Capt. Beanca Thai, said that the story of the POWs had deeply moved her and served as motivation during hike. Thai remarked, '(I) Couldn't imagine being in that barn (with) snow and everything.' Thai had no prior knowledge of the Long March and researched it by watching Apple TV's 'Masters of the Air.' This series explores the experiences of the 100th Bomb Group, Stalag Luft III and the stories of Maj. Gale Cleven, Maj. John Egan and many more during World War II.
The next day, before everyone set off from the Lipna Barns, another ceremony took place. Everyone gathered around a plaque that Wawo and Anya had erected in honor of the POWs. The families placed more wreaths around the plaque, and then everyone was ready to continue another 20-mile stretch. Sgt. 1st Class Ralph Barricklow, E-7 in the Army's Civil-Military Operations Center, shared that he was one of many people involved in organizing the event. He coordinated volunteers, arranged sleeping accommodations, assembled a medic team, organized food supplies, directed traffic and took on many other responsibilities. Although he had no prior knowledge of the Long March, he found the experience truly inspiring. He also had relatives who served in World War II and felt he was walking in their honor.
At the end of this leg of the journey, everyone arrived in Bad Muskau, Germany, at the Stables of Fürst Pückler Park, now a beautiful and expansive location. At this point, the soldiers were struggling with exhaustion and blisters.
In Lt. Parson's diary, which Castle shared with me, he describes the fatigue he was experiencing at this point in the march. Parsons was originally assigned to rest at a glass factory, but there was a change in his circumstances. 'After a two-day rest in the factory, I decided I could not walk the 25 km to Sprenburg (sic) so (I) reported sick with badly swollen feet. I and a few others were moved downtown to a riding school owned by Von Honhiem. That night and the one following I slept in the stables — very good stables, too. They were steam heated, dry and (had) one bathroom to serve 400 men.'
In contrast, when our group reached the stables we were greeted with bratwursts and beverages. The Army reservists spent the second night in the warm stables, allowing them to rest comfortably and prepare for the last 20 miles of the march. They felt very welcomed by the German locals.
On the last day of the march, the U.S. Army reservists were joined by German soldiers. Castle made friends easily throughout the march. He was easy to spot. He was wearing a long wool coat and carrying the flag of the Joint War Organization for the Red Cross Society and the Order of St. John Jerusalem, which supports ex-military personnel, first responders and medical workers. During the day, Castle passed a German World War I memorial located by the side of the road and chose to pay his respects with an act of homage. While he was doing this, a member of the German army approached him and said, 'Good lad. Thank you.' After this encounter, the soldier invited Castle to the front of the march, where he joined others in leading the column.
The culmination of the event took place at Güterbahnhof Spremberg, Germany, where the POWs boarded trains for their trip to Nuremberg, Germany. Everyone attended the final commemorative ceremony, where the mayor of Spremberg had placed a stone to mark the occasion. German civilians, families of the POWs, and American and German soldiers gathered, shedding tears as they acknowledged the journey they had shared and the hardships endured by the POWs. One, Sgt. Barricklow, found the march's distance overwhelming, yet he remarked, 'Seeing the looks on the families made it worth it.' Throughout the journey, the soldiers received applause and cheers from Polish and German citizens. Thai, Castle, and many others expressed how welcome this had made them feel.
The Kenneth McCaleb Peace Initiative aims to provide students at Missouri Southern State University with a deeper understanding of the effects of war and its impact on individuals. This experience was enlightening not only for me but for everyone involved. When asked about the significance of military participation in anniversaries like the Long March, Castle shared his thoughts: 'It is important that we and future generations remember these events from the past and work together as united countries to make sure that they do not happen again. We must learn from history and share peace together.'
Editor's note Kylee Trevarrow is a senior at Missouri Southern State University who will graduate this spring with a bachelor's degree in history and a minor in anthropology. She recently traveled to Germany and Poland to participate in an event commemorating the Long March of 1945 with her professor, Steven Wagner, and a classmate, Raylynn Downey. The opportunity was given to them by the McCaleb Initiative for Peace at MSSU. This initiative was established in 1998 by Kenneth McCaleb and his wife, Margaret Baughman McCaleb, to examine the causes of war and discuss ways in which war can be prevented. Since its establishment, the initiative has provided many students with the chance to travel to sites of past wars, study the devastation they caused, and report their findings to promote peace and help prevent future wars. McCaleb was one of the prisoners of war who survived the 62-mile Long March. As part of the commemoration of these events, Trevarrow marched alongside the families of these POWs, and more than 150 American, British, Polish, and German military personnel who volunteered to participate. This is a last of six parts they about their journey.
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