FINAL ORDEAL

Auckland Star, Volume LXXVI, Issue 118, 21 May 1945, Page 2

FINAL ORDEAL

500 MILES' MARCH CAPTURED N.Z. AIRMEN R.N.Z.A.F. Official News Sen-Ice LONDON, May 18. Many New Zealand airmen who have reached England after being prisoners of war in Germany were footsore and weary from marching, for during the past two months most of them have travelled 500 miles on their feet. They tell a sad story of having little "food and no sympathy, while old men spat at them and women shook their fists. * When the Russian advances became dangerous to Germany's security the prisoners were shown no sympathy. The food problem was acute. Those imprisoned south of Berlin were told that they would be shifting. In the cold and dreary month of January, with snow deep on the ground, the prisoners started on their long trek. The authorities gave them enough rations for two days and the Red Cross gave them a parcel. The men trudged on and the guards knocked them often to make them move faster. In each village they received the same cold stare of contempt. At night the prisoners were crammed into small huts, where the air was so foul it was impossible to sleep. Then Allied bombers would pass over in thousands, and the tired and weary men were herded into tin shelters, which would not have saved one man. Marching was resumed in the early morning and continued until it was too dark to move. Sometimes a convoy would sweep past so suddenly that there was hardly time to get off the road. Six soldiers were killed by passing convoys. During one period no rations at all were received. The only way to live was to sneak into a fowlhouse on some farm and get some eggs. Then the eggs had to be eaten raw. Occasionally on the road Russian slave labourers were passed and the prisoners would exchange some article of clothing for a portion of black bread. There was a stay of one week in a small town. Civilian guards took over. They were more cruel and harsh. It was nothing for them to make the hungry, weary men stand face to a wall for hours on end and give them a brutal knock if they dared to move. The seemingly endless trek was started again. Many soldiers became sick and could go no further. They were left in camp and for beds they were given sacks strewn on the floors. . It was in a little village outside Frankfurt two months after the trek started that the prisoners saw some peasants waving white flags. They heard the rumble of tanks. Americans were entering the town.- The prisoners were almost free, but they were too dazed to realise that after long and bitter years liberation was at hand. The Americans gave the prisoners food and comforts. Later they were taken over by the British authorities. Within a short space of eight hours they were back in England, where they received special medical treatment in quiet rest homes. When they are well enough arrangements for sending them home will be put into effect by a special staff at R.N.Z.A.F. headquarters.