This journey has been a cathartic experience, offering an opportunity to lay some ghosts and unresolved issues to rest.
This story/journey began after the death of my Father and the research into his wartime history. (Which eventually led to these life changing images and a new personal direction).
IN 1940 at 20 yrs of age he was conscripted into the 2nd Battalion of the Hampshire regiment. He was captured by the Germans on 8th June 1940 at Ruoen in France. Of the 340.ooo British soldiers that went to France and were rescued by (Operation Dynamo.)  some 40,000 British Troops were left behind and went into Captivity. His group was force marched 350 miles over a 3 week period to Trier in Belgium. With little food and water during the hot summer of June 1945, it was a challenge but nothing to compare with the forced march out of German occupied  Poland in the winter of January 1945!

From Trier they were crammed into cattle trucks, similar to the ones that Jewish families and civilians were transported to the Nazi concentration camps.  Marked 8 horses or 40 men, up to 60 men were locked in. They endured a harrowing 700-mile journey over three days and nights, uncertain of their destination. 
During the trip soldiers had to defecate in their tin helmets and boots then throw it through the small slats in the carriage.Those closest to the slats were showered with the excrement. They sat and slept in the same position throughout the journey. 

Apart from the occasional stale loaves thrown into the wagons, there was no food, and drinking water was in short supply. By the time they arrived at their destination men were suffering from dysentery, lice, exhaustion and i would assume complete dejection.
When the carriage doors were opened they discovered they were at a  prisoner of war camp in  Poland.
He spent the first 2 yrs at XXA in Torun, laboring in construction groups, often equated to slave labour, was carried out under strict supervision and armed guard, contributing to the German war effort. After two yrs he was was transferred to a British work party (E3) in Upper Selisia, Blechammer, close to the I.G.Farben oil refinery complex.
The I G Farben site was a prime target for British and American Air Force bombing raids which occurred twice weekly on Tuesday and Friday from June to December 1944. During one of those air raids on Blechammer 30 soldiers based at E3 were killed.  The living and conditions, long working hours, minimum rations and the threat of violence, are well documented. 

                                              
The long marches to Freedom. (Eleven long weeks, 82 days) 

On 22 January 1945, as the Russian army advanced from the East, POW camps across Germany were evacuated with only a moment's notice. The men were ill-prepared and poorly equipped for the harsh conditions they were about to endure. January 1945 was one of the coldest winters on record with temperatures reaching -25c.   Around  600 men left the camps at XXA Torun. It is on record there were 30 recorded deaths and burials on that march, men died from a combination of frost bite, malnutrition, exhaustion, Dysentery, heart attack, and some shot or beaten to death by the German guards. It was on record that they were instructed to shoot any soldiers considered to be malingerers. 

His camp E3, along with BAB20/21 and BAB 40? was evacuated on the 22 Jan and forced march west ward into Bavaria along the Czechoslovakian border! He mentioned the difficult conditions and having to leave dead soldiers in the snow that had passed away during that night and  move on! In all  my Fathers march ended in Bayreuth on the 13 April 1945  when his group met up with the American Army. Firstly i still find it difficult comprehend how men endured and survived 11 weeks (82 days) while  under German guard, with limited rations, inadequate clothing and shelter. I am now Awaiting details from the National Archives of the march from Blechammer to Bayreuth and will publish them here shortly.  

The IG Farben Complex was situated a few miles from an Auschwitz sub camp. He recounted seeing Jewish prisoners in dire condition, walking along the road, and expressed his helplessness to assist them. I am convinced that such harrowing images haunted him long after the war ended. #

The history of the marches out of Poland has not been given the full recognition and significance they deserve.Soldiers were forgotten and never given the opportunity to tell their story. I needed to understand the difficulties my father endured during and after his war time experiences. My mother mentioned that he had told her that one day he would tell me about his experience, he never did, that was one missing piece of the Jigsaw. Had he done so i would have had a much easier ride? 

On there return to England many  men were able to lead normal lives! Others were deeply effected by there experiences, my Father included. I think his experience compartmentalized his emotions stripping away his ability and freedom to enjoy himself, that word again! Some times he would tell a joke and just before the punch line he would laugh uncontrollably with tears in his eye`s and seamlessly the laughter would turn to sadness and he would stop abruptly and be quiet. Was it survivor's guilt, repressed anger, or simply an understanding of the losses and the futility of it all? It's really sad when I think about it now. My father harbored no resentment towards the German people; he recognized that they to, were  the victims of war.  Aren't we all, in some way, victims of war? He also mentioned the soldiers in the Japanese pow camps had a much tougher time! This was a testament to his wisdom.

Yet, his anger stemmed from the injustices they suffered and his inability to share his story. He carried that burden for the rest of his life, which I think was the problem.There were moments when his suppressed anger or frustration would overwhelm him in response to trivial remarks that normal! people would overlook without a second thought so there was always an air of apprehension present. He would then retreat into his own space, seeking solitude and privacy.I have come to recognize what those triggers were.(tbc). So as a family we were more often than not walking on egg shells so as not to upset that delicate balance! He never once ever raised his hands in anger or scolded any of us children. My mother would say, give him a couple of days and he will calm down and be o.k. She understood what he had gone through, she stood by him and cared for him without judgement, isolating him from all stressful situations. Had he been an alcoholic or gambler, we might have been able to help him, but his condition was that silent killer of a person's psyche: the inability and lack of opportunity to share their story. He became socially isolated, with no friends or hobbies. 

On December 15 1945, my father was discharged from the Army as medically unfit. A British POW, who was the senior officer on the march from XXA, "Staff Sargent Thomas Aitken" made a sworn affidavit as to the terrible conditions on that particular march. On the strength of his affidavit the Senior German officer leading the march "Hauptmann Willie Mackensen" was tried, found guilty of war crimes and was hanged at Hamelin prison, Germany on the 8/3/1946. The full affidavit describing the conditions, including the time of death, causes, and places of burial along the route of each individual soldier is available on line. 

(I have now attached the Affidavit!) Last section.