Sleepless night in churches and barns on World War II Long March

Yahoo

16-03-2025

The Long March began at Stalag Luft III, in what is now Zagan, Poland. Stalag Luft III was a prisoner-of-war camp built by the Luftwaffe in March 1942 to detain captured airmen who were part of the Allied coalition at war with Nazi Germany. At its peak, the camp housed approximately 49,000 prisoners of war, with around 11,000 of those men participating in the Long March in late January and early February of 1945. During their taxing journey, the soldiers faced freezing temperatures, snow and starvation, and many suffered from illnesses. The Luftwaffe also constantly threatened them.
While marching through their ordeal, the soldiers had little chance to sleep or rest. One of the first stops they made was at a church in Halbau, Germany, which is now Iłowa, Poland. This is where soldiers from Stalag Luft III's Center Compound stayed the night. The soldiers crowded into the church and other nearby buildings. Some could not find shelter and had to stay outdoors in the cold.
When we arrived at the church, we saw its large clock tower and beautiful stained-glass windows. A plaque inside commemorates a donation made by Maj. Gen. Delmar Spivey and a few others 30 years after the war. This donation paid for one of the windows. The inscription reads, 'Dedicated to the glory of God, donated by grateful American Air Force POWs (from) Stalag Luft III who found shelter here during the night of (Jan.) 28, 1945.'
For Richard Butler, whose father was Flight Officer Richard Butler, the experience was especially profound. He was able to sit in the same spot where his father sat 80 years ago. His father had been in a battle over Italy, where he destroyed another aircraft but flew through debris that damaged one of his engines. This caused a fire, forcing him to parachute and land in the Bay of Naples. After escaping Italian forces, Butler was later captured by the Germans. Butler was processed at Stalag VII A before eventually arriving at Stalag Luft III. He participated in the Long March and was among those who stayed in the church. For Richard Butler, revisiting the places where his father had been evoked a deep connection. He said, 'It makes me feel very close to him. I read his journals, and published them, and did a lot of research for background. And I thought about what it was like — but to actually be in this place takes that intellectual knowledge a step further, or several steps, and I feel like he's there beside me.'
Another place we visited was the barns in Lipna, Poland, formerly Selingersrüh, Germany. Many POWs spent a frigid night there during the Long March. A restoration of the barns is being done by Wawo and Anya Putkiewicz, along with their two little girls. They are dedicated to keeping the history of the barns alive. They have completed the restoration of one out of the four buildings on the property. Their goal is to maintain historical accuracy while also ensuring safety for visitors. They have also incorporated new elements, including a plaque recognizing the soldiers who stayed there overnight. Bullet holes nearby serve as a reminder of the events that occurred there. Wawo and Anya aim to preserve history and enhance people's understanding of not only the Long March but the impact that communism had on Lipna, Poland, after World War II. To achieve this, they will hold events and exhibitions to educate the public about the history of their city.
During the POWs' stay at the barns, we were told, they encountered a German count and his wife. While there, the count provided them with hot water.
One family member who was moved by the experience at the barns was Judith Carey Moore. Her father, Staff Sgt. Gerald J. Carey of the U.S. Army Air Corps, stayed in one of the barns while on the Long March. Carey served as a tail gunner on a B-25 aircraft. His plane encountered heavy flak near Bologna, Italy, causing one of its engines to catch fire. As a result, the pilot issued the order to bail out. After his capture, he was sent to Stalag Luft III. Throughout his Long March experience, Carey slept in many barns, including the one at Lipna. He also believed that he had stayed at a pottery factory. On the 80th anniversary commemoration of the Long March, Judith discovered that it was actually the glass factory in Bad Muskau, Germany.
When I asked her how it felt to be in the places where her father and his fellow POWs had slept, Judith replied that it was 'emotional to actually see the places and be near the places that they were because these men didn't say anything when they came home. They kept it quiet, they never talked about it. It's good to find out more about what they went through.'
This experience allowed her to gain a deeper appreciation for her father's strength.
The McCaleb Initiative for Peace has allowed students to travel to many locations where significant wars occurred. This was the first time students have visited sites related to Kenneth McCaleb's wartime experience. In McCaleb's memoir, he recounts being crammed into barns with only straw to sleep on. One night in a barn, he was suffering from a hernia and struggled to move his left leg. The other POWs he was with during the Long March were like family, and they assisted McCaleb while he was injured.
Eventually, they all arrived at Bad Muskau, Germany, where they sought shelter. Some people found refuge in glass warehouses, stables and barns in the area. McCaleb ended up in a warehouse, where they were able to build a fire. During this time, everyone in McCaleb's group developed sinusitis. Fortunately, the warmth inside the glass warehouse helped McCaleb recover from his hernia and regain feeling in his leg.
McCaleb's experiences, including these sleepless nights, motivated him to gain a deeper understanding of war and emphasize the importance of striving for peace. Judith Carey shares that motivation. '(People) don't grasp the total picture of what it is to be without your freedom and what these men went through to give us our freedom.'
When asked if she had any concluding thoughts, Judith said, 'I would like to say thank you to the German people who helped them along the way. I like to thank all the churches that gave them shelter.'
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. During this trip, the MSSU group had the chance to meet the family members of several of these POWs and learn the stories of their fathers and grandfathers. This is the fourth article in a series on their trip.