Sons of Great Escape survivors to retrace WW2 march

The sons of two World War Two soldiers who survived recapture after the legendary Great Escape are to cycle the 120-mile distance their fathers were forced to march.

Stuart Green and Roger Churchill met for the first time at the 80th anniversary of the famed escape from Stalag Luft III in 1944.

The route will closely mirror that taken by thousands of Allied prisoners of war in 1945, when Russian forces moved in on Nazi-held territory in Europe.

Setting out on 5 May from the site of the camp in modern day Poland, the three-day ride will cover 300km (186 miles), ending at the Neue Wache Memorial in Berlin.

Mr Churchill's father, former squadron leader Dick Churchill, was one of 76 airmen whose escape from the Stalag Luft III camp was brought to life in the 1963 Steve McQueen movie.

Seventy-three of the airmen - including Mr Churchill - were recaptured by the Germans within three days, and two-thirds were executed on Hitler's orders.

Mr Green's father Alan was a navigator in a Stirling bomber.

The then 22-year-old survived being shot down twice, before being captured by German forces in the Netherlands after the second downed flight.

In January 1945, both Dick Churchill and Alan Green, who had been held in the camp, were forced to march 120 miles along with thousands of other prisoners of war.

"It happened to be the worst winter in Germany for 50 years and a lot of these men weren't in great shape having been in captivity for a long time," Mr Green said.

Many of those who set out died due to malnutrition, exhaustion, and the brutal conditions they endured.

A research trip to the Netherlands in 2011 saw Mr Green reunited with a key part of his father's story.

"Incredibly, I was introduced to the son of the farmer who had helped my dad and was then presented with pieces of his parachute harness which they had kept all these years, having found my dad's parachute after his capture," he said.

"Apparently, the parachute itself was used to make a wedding dress, a common practice during the German occupation."

Roger Churchill said his father left Stalag Luft III with a sled, and that when the snow melted, he managed to fit it with axles and wheels with the help of other prisoners.

"They were ingenious," he said.

"They had to be very creative in what they did. It was an incredible ability to achieve things with very little to hand.

"It was a phenomenal act of bravery in many respects, and fortitude."

Dick Churchill died in 2019, aged 99, as the last surviving member of the real-life Great Escape team.

Mr Green believes the effects of the war caught up with his father Alan, who died suddenly on his 56th birthday in 1976, when Mr Green was just 12.

In 2024, both sons met at the 80th anniversary, and discovered a mutual love of cycling.

The ride in May will commemorate the so-called Long March, taken by thousands of Allied soldiers.

The final day will also mark 80-years since VE Day, and both Mr Churchill and Mr Green want their journey to send a message.

"One of the things both Stuart and I feel very strongly about is to bring it home to younger generations," Mr Churchill said.

"We live in a fortunate society, we have a democracy, we are allowed to have open speech.

"That's what a lot of these people fought for. And we are privileged to live in this society because of what they put themselves through.

"My father was shot down at 20. He was 24 when he escaped from the Great Escape, and they were 25 when they were on the Long March."

Mr Churchill and Mr Green will be joined by other riders from across Hertfordshire and Buckinghamshire, raising money for a range of causes including the RAF Benevolent Fund, the Royal British Legion, and the Stalag Luft III Museum.

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