'I owe my life to the Nazis who foiled the Great Escape' says the last survivor Read more:

London Daily Mail ^ | 28th January 2010 | Jonathan Margolis

[iowamark]

Marching along the frozen roads of Poland and northern Germany this week, a hardy group of young RAF recruits - accompanied by relatives of the survivors of the famous Great Escape of 1944 - are commemorating a legendary moment in history.

Sixty-five years on, they are recreating the deadly 1,000-mile march which the Nazis forced captured Allied airmen to undertake at the end of World War II.

It is a fitting commemoration of the bravery and toughness of a remarkable group of British, American and Canadian airmen, dozens of whom were involved in the previous year's escape from the notorious Stalag Luft III prison, immortalised in the 1963 Steve McQueen film.

Fifty of the escapees were murdered by the Nazis, as the film showed. Later, the forced march to escape the invading Russians saw men trekking in temperatures as low as -25C, with many having no winter clothing. It killed another 200.

Sadly, only one British survivor of the Great Escape team is still alive.

Ken Rees, who will be 90 next week, was one of the tunnellers who helped burrow an escape route out of the camp - and was also in the elite party of 76 selected for the escape after being recaptured. He also took part in the Long March out of Stalag Luft III on Hitler's orders.

Ken is frail, having recently suffered a fall and breaking a leg, but is following news of this week's march from the village in North Wales where he lives.

And his memories of the Great Escape and the punishing forced march - which he typically dismisses as 'nothing much' - are still fresh in his mind...

[samiam1972]

Thanks for the ping. I need to add the book mentioned above to my reading list.

[Shqipo]

Great Escape bump!

[Petronski]

Aspect ratio fix:

[Randy Larsen]

Bought the book, and want to thank your relative for his service.