The harrowing account of a Teesside POW’s gruelling forced march across Germany near the end of the Second World War can today be retold in his own words.
For the 70th anniversary of the infamous ‘Long March’ in the winter of 1945, the family of Robert Paton Bayne have given the Gazette the opportunity to publish extracts from his fascinating wartime diary.
Robert, from Stockton, was among 80,000 allied POWs forced to march westward across Poland, Czechoslovakia, and Germany in extreme winter conditions, over about four months between January and April 1945.
With the Soviet Army advancing, the German High Command ordered the evacuation of POW camps in the East to delay liberation of the prisoners.
Due to below freezing temperatures, unsanitary conditions and a near starvation diet, hundreds of prisoners died of disease along the way and many more were seriously ill.
Robert was one of the lucky survivors but, forced to scavenge for food along the way, he staggered into his new prison camp in Fallingbostel, North West Germany, weighing a skeletal six-and-a-half stone.
His son Allan, said the only thing that kept his dad going through his horrendous ordeal was the thought of seeing his beloved wife Julia again.
Robert’s diary, which he had to hide from his German captors, shows clearly how the POWs became obsessed with food, or the lack of it, on the march.
On Saturday, February 17, he wrote: “We received rations for three days. Half a loaf per man, one tin of meat to three men.
“Total distance for the day 23 kilos (kilometres). The Jerries have supplied no drinks yet. We stole a few turnips and sugar beet to chew on the road.”
His diary entry for Monday, March 12, recounts how Robert was forced to sell his watch “for 6 kilo of bread and 2 kilo of jam”.
He goes on: “There are Russians, French and all nationalities here and there is no organisation at all. I got no soup as I was not able to struggle in the mob.”
After a month and a half on the road, Robert and his fellow POWs finally arrived at their destination Stalag XIb in Fallingbostel. There he was diagnosed with “bad malnutrition” and moved to the convalescing hut.
By the time his POW camp was liberated by British troops on April 16, 1945, Robert, a sergeant in the Royal Engineers, had been a prisoner of war for more than two years.
Originally from Scotland and a foreman joiner by trade, Robert met Thornaby girl Julia while he was stationed locally.
Just two weeks after he married his sweetheart he was captured in Tunisia at The Battle of Kasserine Pass on February 21, 1943.
From there he was shipped to Naples, Italy. But after the Allied armies invaded and pushed through Italy he was moved further and further north until he ended up at Stalag VIIIa in Görlitz, Poland, from where his Long March would later set off.
Following his liberation, Robert returned to Teesside and his wife and the couple raised two children, John and Allan, at their home on Londonderry Road.
Robert died in 2005, aged 89, and rarely spoke about his wartime experiences including the brutal Long March.
But his memories will live on through his two diaries which have been passed down to Allan’s daughter, Lisa, who now lives in Australia.
Allan, a retired engineer who lives in Fairfield, Stockton, told the Gazette: “We have known about the diaries since we were kids. He gave me them to take into school to show my class.
“But he never talked much about the war.
“He did tell us he liked the Eastern Europeans, but he didn’t like the Italians or the Americans. Despite his experiences he didn’t feel too bad towards the Germans!”
Allan said the plan was to keep his dad’s diaries in the family for generations to come, so his suffering on the Long March is never forgotten.
“The physical challenge, the equivalent journey is London to Edinburgh, along with starvation and -20 degree temperatures was immense and demonstrates the mental strength and endurance that these men had,” he said.
“I’m sure that the love he had for his beautiful wife Julia was the reason he was able to survive. I’m proud to have some of those genes.”
Towards the closing stages of the Second World War Soviet forces edged into Germany - provoking some of the most incredible, but largely unknown stories of courage and stamina.
The Long March refers to a series of forced marches over about four months between January and April 1945.
From a total of 257,000 western Allied prisoners of war held in German military prison camps, over 80,000 POWs were forced to march westward across Poland, Czechoslovakia, and Germany in extreme winter conditions.
As well as the Long March, the series of events is also known as ‘The Great March West’, ‘The Long Walk’, ‘The Long Trek’, ‘The Black March’, ‘The Bread March’, and ‘Death March Across Germany’, but most survivors just called it ‘The March’.
Forced to tramp hundreds of miles in wretched conditions with little food, water or accommodation, prisoners were subjected to a horrendous ordeal.
Hundreds died of starvation or disease, scores collapsed through malnutrition and exhaustion.
In 2010, more than 100 RAF and Air Training Corps personnel commemorated the 65th Anniversary of The Long March. They marched the exact route taken by POWs from Zagan to Spremberg, Poland to Germany during 1945 accompanied by five RAF veterans.
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