'I owe my life to the Nazis who foiled the

[Still Waters]

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.

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[hetrodoxly]

Great story and a remarkable man.