Lewis Edwards - Forced March

This was dad's harrowing written account of the forced march from Poland to Germany.

Forced march by British PoWs from Poland to Germany 1945 Starting from Marienburg January 23rd at 2am
From	To	Distance (KM)	Food Supplied (x/x = fraction)
Marienburg	Dirschau	26	1 loaf.  1 parcel.
NOTE: Night in open field 25-30 below zero.  3 men died.
Dirschau	Schoneck	24
Schoneck	Tyldon	18	1/2 loaf.
Tyldon	Berent	23
NOTE: This stage was through a snow blizzard.  4 men died.
Berent	Butow	35	3/8 loaf
NOTE: 4 days rest.  50 men badly frostbitten.
Butow	Reinwasser	30
Reinwasser	Baldenburgh	32
Baldenburgh	Bublitz	18	1/4 loaf.
Bublitz	Tychow	35	1/4 loaf.
Tychow	Belgard	28	1/2 loaf.
Belgard	Gross Pobloth	16
Gross Pobloth	Dargeslaff	31
Dargeslaff	Zurkwitz	24
Zurkwitz	Revenow	22
Revenow	Durrencehof	10
Durrencehof	Pritter	34
Pritter	Zirchow	20
Zirchow	Pinnow	28	1/4 loaf
NOTE: 1 days rest.
Pinnow	Posthow	19
Posthow	Seltz	28
Seltz	Grevenson	28	1/4 loaf
Grevenson	Gielow	29
NOTE: 8 days rest.  1 food parcel.  1/2 loaf.
Gielow	Dahmen	20
Dahmen	Jurgenshof	29
Jurgenshof	Zarchlin	15
NOTE: 1 days rest. 1/2 loaf.
Zarchlin	Brook	12
Broock	Blievensdorf	37
Blievensdorf	Neu-Lublow	15
NOTE: 7 days rest.  5 - 11 March.  1/18, 1/5 and 1/7 loaf.  1/4 and 1/5 food parcel.
Neu-Lublow	Uelitz	13	1/7 loaf
NOTE: 7 days rest until March 19th. 1/5, 1/5, 1/7, 1/7, 1/7, 1/7, 4/5 loaf.
Uelitz	Warlow	31 1/2
NOTE: 2 days rest.
Warlow	Garlin	37 1/2
Garlin	Schilde	28	3/4 loaf
Schilde	Vielbaum	24
NOTE: 1 days rest.
Vielbaum	Erxleben-Mockon	24
Erxleben-Mockon	Dahlen	25
NOTE: 1 days rest.
Dahlen	Stendal	7
Into cattle-trucks fromm Stendal to Halberstadt (via Magdeburg). On arrival at Halberstadt 400 men placed in old barn, 600 in old bier-garten. No bread issued. 10 men share one litre of carrot-soup per day, plus 2 small boiled potatoes per man. All put to work coal loading and clearing up wreckage at railway station.

Marienburg History
(Mäl´bôrk), Ger. Marienburg, town (1994 est. pop. 40,100), N Poland, on the Nogat River. It is a rail junction with sugar refineries and dairies. Originally a castle founded (1274) by the Teutonic Knights, Malbork became the seat of their grand master in 1309. It successfully withstood sieges by the Poles in 1410 and 1454, but in 1457 Malbork was sold to Poland by mercenaries whose pay was in arrears. The town passed to Prussia in 1772. Germany took control of the town in 1920, and it was returned to Poland in 1945. The castle (rebuilt in the 14th and 19th cent.) is one of the finest examples of German secular medieval architecture. (Extracted from The Columbia Encyclopedia)