Stalag Luft III Forced March Reenactment, Jan/Feb 2009

Stalag Luft III March Pictures

Berlin: Kaiser Wilhelm Kirche - with tower damage from WWII.	Marianne in front of one of the barns at Belaria, where they put the "troublemakers." (Her father had tried to hold off his captors with a gun.)	Bismark Water Tower outside Zagan.
The barns at Belaria	Val and Kat by the bee hives and bee trailer at Belaria.	The Hayduk Hotel in Ilowa, where we stayed the second night of the march.
Our bus driver, Valdi is Polish. He speaks German but not English. Miriam is trying to remember her German to communicate. Despite his serious demeanor, he is a really fun guy "und macht vielen Spass" (makes a lot of jokes).	Diane is thankful that she doesn't have to do laundry in wash basins like those in South Compound.	Diane, Miriam and our guide, Jacek (pronounced "Ya-sik"), curator of the SLIII museum. Jacek has made all the arrangements for our march and for touring the related sites in Poland. Our bus driver says that in Germany, tour guides typically say one or two sentences and then wave you on to the next site, but Jacek could talk "von morgan bis abend" (from morning to evening). He really has been a wonderful guide!
The hauntingly beautiful entrance to the Bismark Water Tower.	Massive pre-war grainery within view of the center and east compounds. Our fathers may have seen this building upon their arrival at SLIII.	Entrance to the Great Escape Memorial. Just prior to the escape, the American soldiers were moved to a different compound, so the escape was primarily British soldiers. Because the tunnel was short of its mark, fewer men escaped (only 76 rather than the 200+ planned). This eventually was a blessing, though, because all but 3 were recaptured and 50 of those were murdered on Hitler's orders. A memorial has been erected to remember the dead and each year the RAF reenacts the long march from SLIII to commemorate the sacrifices made there during the war.
Day Two - we reenact the previous night's arrival at Ilowa for a picture. On Day Two we marched 18+ miles to Priebus. My feet felt like mincemeat!	The fire pit for West Compound.	Reproduction of a "Goon" tower at Stalag Luft III.
Val and Jim exit the machine gun tower at the Zagan train station. Note the shooting hole to the right of Val.	Zagan Train Station. The view seen by most prisoners upon arrival at Stalag Luft III.	Diane & Miriam on the site of barracks 158 at SLIII, their father Ed Bender's barracks.
SLIII Metal Cross honoring those who died in Napoleon's Russian campaign of 1812.	SLIII West Compound Theatre.	SLIII South Compound Theatre.
South Compound kitchen.	Val in the Center Compound Fire Pit.	We stayed one night at Willa Park Hotel in Zagan, Poland. The hotel was previously a hospital.
A portion of our group behind the barbed wire at the SLIII Museum. We are all wearing our T-shirts that we had made, that feature our fathers' pictures.		The church at Ilowa where some of our fathers slept during the march.
The last pew in the church at Ilowa. My father rested here a few minutes before his friend came to get him so he could join the rest of his combine in some near-by barns.	George's limerick: Kriegie Kids took a group of oddballs On a trek through history's halls, They all had a hoot, And Kat thought things were "cute," And Valdi put up with us all!	Flat Stanley in the uniform of a captain. He joined the march with to Diane and is serving to help educate the students at Diane's school about WWII.
Marilyn Ohio Marilyn's father, 2nd Lt. Thomas F. Jeffers, was a Bombardier, 458th Bomb Group, 754th Squadron, flying out of Horsham St. Faith, England. He was shot down on his third mission to Fassberg, Germany, flying in a borrowed B-24 called Rhapsody in Junk. He flew out early that morning knowing that all his roommates had been killed the day before over Caen, France, flying in his crew's plane that they had borrowed. Jeffers was picked up in a farmer's field in Blick, Germany, a tiny farming community not far from the hometown of several of his wife's relatives. Nine of his crew survived, but the top turret gunner was found dead on the ground and was buried in a German cemetery. Jeffers was transported to Stalag Luft III and lived in Block 128, Combine 5. While there, his first child was born. He was later liberated at Stalag VIIA in Moosburg, Germany. He went on to be a career Air Force officer, retiring as a Lt. Col. He died June 24th, 2004. Jeffers is the subject of his daughter Marilyn Walton's book, Rhapsody in Junk: A Daughter's Return to Germany to Finish Her Father's Story.	Miriam & Diane Tennessee & Missouri Miriam & Diane's father, Captain Edward M. Bender, B-17G Pilot, 457th Bomb Group, 750th Squadron, based at Glatton, England. On his 13th mission on April 25, 1944, the borrowed plane he was flying went down near La Goulafriere, Eure, France. He was at Stalag Luft III in the West Compound, Block 158, Combine 13. After the Long March, he went by boxcar to Nuremberg and left there on April 5th. The SAO of their unit stalled during the walk to Moosburg (Stalag 7-A) in the hopes they would be liberated. They got to Moosburg on April 25 (one year from when he had parachuted) and were liberated by Patton's army on April 29th. Ed Bender retired from the reserves as a Lt. Col, and is 90 years old.	Becky Michigan Becky's father, Lt. Morris F. Epps - B-24 Liberator bombardier, 448th Bomb Group, 714th Squadron, served with “The Mighty Eighth” out of Seething, East Anglia, England. On his fifth mission (June 18, 1944) his plane was shot down over Hamburg, Germany. He was captured by the Luftwaffe, taken to Dulag Luft and then to Stalag Luft III where he was placed in the South Compound, Barrack 128, Combine 13. On January 27, 1945, he was in ill health when the South Compound was ordered to lead a forced evacuation of Stalag Luft III. After marching 35 miles in 27 hours, his section rested in a glass factory in Muskau and then departed, leaving the sick behind with the West Compound men. He later moved to a pottery factory, a paper factory, and finally to another pottery factory where he joined the men of Center Compound with whom he completed the fifty-two mile march and the subsequent 72-hour boxcar ride. His journey ended at Stalag VIIA in Moosburg, where he stayed until liberated on April 29, 1945. After liberation, he returned home to his wife in Knoxville, Tennessee. He sought a life of helping others and began a career in education after college, working in Virginia and New Jersey. He dearly loved teaching and spent several years in the classroom. Afterwards, he served in a number of administrative leadership positions, including superintendent of schools.
Marianne Kansas Marianne's father, 2nd Lt. Thomas Conway Leary, was a P-51 pilot, 2nd Fighter Squadron, 52nd Fighter Group, 15th Air Force, based in Madna, Italy. He was shot down over Seregeles, Hungary, October 14, 1944. Because he tried to hold off his captors with a gun, he was sent to the "trouble-makers camp, Belaria Compound. Lt. Leary was a native of Kansas City, Missouri.	Richard (Marianne's husband) Alaska Richard joined the march to honor Marianne's father, 2nd Lt. Thomas Conway Leary.	Jim Washington Jim's father, Lt. James H. Keeffe, Jr., was the co-pilot of a B-24, 389th Bomb Group, 566th Bomb Squadron, based at Hethel, East Anglia. On his 4th mission on March 8, 1944, he was shot down over Papendrecht, Holland. With the help of the Dutch Underground, he evaded for 5 months. He was arrested in Antwerp, Belgium and at Stalag Luft III, he was in the Center Compound, Block 43, Combine 7.
Evelyn Colorado Evelyn's father, Lt. James Arnett Gore, was a B-17 Navigator, 379th Bomb Group, 524th Squadron, based at Kimbolton (England). Shot down June 25, 1943, over Hamburg, Germany. SLIII South Compound, Block 139, Combine 3. James Gore lives in Durango Colorado with his wife of 63 years. He is 91 and is excited about the forced march reenactment trip completed by the children of SLIII POWs (a.k.a., "Kriegies"). He went back to Stalag Luft III in 2005 with his family and drove the march route.	Kirk (Evelyn's husband) Colorado Kirk joined the march to honor Evelyn's father, Lt. James Arnett Gore.	Kat, Wayne & Marolyn Arizona Kat, Wayne & Marolyn's father, 2nd Lt Charles W. Arnett, was a B-24 Pilot, 492nd Bomb Group, 857th Squadron, stationed at North Pickenham (England). Shot down on 3rd mission over New Brunswick, Germany, May 19, 1944. SLIII West Compound, Block 166, Combine 13. Won the lottery which got him a seat on the very first plane evacuating the American POWs from Moosburg. Retired as a Lt. Col.
Val Wyoming Val's uncle, Vernon Burda, was a B-24 Navigator, 781st Bomb Squadron, 15th Air Force, and was stationed at Pantenella (Italy). He was shot down on his 30th mission over Vienna, Austria, on July 16, 1944. He was a prisoner at SLIII Center Compound, Block 43, Combine 7.	Jerry (Val's husband) Wyoming Jerry joined the march to honor Val's uncle, Vernon Burda.	George Illinois George is a WWII reenacter, and joined the march to honor all the men who were prisoners at Stalag Luft III.
A portion of the road to Priebus is paved with cobblestones - these were VERY hard to walk on.	The 18+ mile road to Priebus seemed to stretch on forever.	The tall, dark pine forests remind me of the setting for many of the Grimm's fairy tales. I kept expecting Hansel and Gretel to emerge from the woods.
Site of a former work farm on the road to Priebus.	A group shot at the barns at Grosselten.	The universal sign in Poland that signals that you are leaving a town.
A factory along the road to Priebus where POWs may have stayed during the march.
An elementary class at the school at Priebus.	The house with the barns at Grosselton.	The newer castle at Bad Muskau. It honors Prince Hermann Ludwig Heinrich von Pückler-Muskau (1785-1871), a German nobleman known for his talent at landscape architecture.
The old Schloss (castle) at Bad Muskau, where some of the POWs slept on the march.	The stables at Bad Muskau, where some of the POWs slept during the march.	The library in the new castle at Bad Muskau, where some of the POWs stayed. The library was recently renovated.
The glass factory at Bad Muskau where some of the men stayed.	A mural painted on the wall inside the factory illustrates how the factory looked in 1945.	Jacek and the factory manager hold up an old sign and aerial photo of the factory at Bad Muskau from about 1945.
The very-welcome "Spremberg" sign that signaled the end of our 100 kilometer march! After singing songs on this last leg of the journey to keep ourselves going, Diane and I were slightly ahead of some of the others. Knowing we'd be "goners" as soon as we stopped, we continued our walk on into Spremberg to the hotel while we could still place one foot in front of the other!	A snowy street in Spremberg.	George's 2nd Limerick: We left Stalag III at 11:03 To begin our 60 mile march, To Spremberg through Halbau, With a brief stop in Muskau, By the end our feet had no arch.
Spremberg train station. A welcome site for those with sore feet.	Back of the Spremberg train station (track side).	Hans Burkhardt, Evelyn & Flat Stanley at the old Spremberg train station. Quite by chance, we met Hans in Spremberg and were thrilled to find that he had been 11 years old when the Kriegies marched into Spremberg. His family had given food and water to some of the Kriegies. Hans told us that it was -26 C (-14 F) that winter!
Spremberg train station.	Spremberg train station.	From Spremberg on to Dresden, and a tour of the Frauenkirche - the Lutheran church heavily damaged in the bombing of Dresden, that was painstakingly renovated, but still features the charred bricks from the fire bombing.
Inside the Dresden Frauenkirche.	The Frauenkirche square features a statue of the theologian and reformer Martin Luther.	Views of Dresden from the Frauenkirche cupola.
Nighttime outside our hotel in Nuremberg.	Our quaint, 700-year-old hotel room featured a unique chandelier.	The NAZI documentation center in Nuremberg featured a map that showed Hitler's Party Rally Grounds. Beige colored areas were less developed portions of the grounds. Stalag 13-D was at the very top of the map.
Nuremberg architecture.	Nuremberg gate at night.	Nuremberg Catholic church.
Nuremberg's St. Lorenz Lutheran church.	The doors of St. Lorenz.	Wayne, Marolyn, & Kat at the site of the Stalag 13-D Train Station (Bahnhof), where our fathers arrived in Nuremberg. Note the old foundation at the top of the picture.
Wayne, Marolyn, Diane & Kat at the site of Stalag 13-D. Nothing remains of the camp and there are apartments there now.	Diane and Miriam beside the last remaining Stalag 7-A barracks at Moosburg.	George outside the Moosburg barracks.
Inside the barracks at Moosburg.	Jim by the barracks at Moosburg.	The museum at Moosburg.
The Kriegie Kids by the Moosburg Museum model.	A wooden ship made by the Kriegies at Stalag 7-A	The group at Moosburg Museum
The church at Moosburg.	Inside the church at Moosburg.	The pulpit inside the church at Moosburg.
Moosburg Cemetary	Memorial at the Moosburg Cemetary	Inside the church at Moosburg.
Munich - Journey's End