Oflag 64 “Long March Out” - Overview

Graphic by Lt. James F. Bickers, USA, POW Oflag 64

The “Long March Out” was long. According to one Kriegie calculation, it took 82 days to travel some 439 miles across Poland and through Germany. Of the 1,200 or so POWs marched out by the Germans, only about 400-500 made it all the way. Some fell ill, could not walk any further, escaped, or died.

The Long March is a challenging story to recount for various reasons. I have read nearly every POW's story on "Oflag 64 Remembered," the former POWs' online hub for that camp. I have pieced together their stories in chronological order. I use outside resources only to provide context. 

Lt. John P. Sandford, 333rd Infantry, prepared a diary of the march from Sczubin to Moosburg, Germany, from January 21 to April 29, 1945. Lt. Clarence Meltensen, 3rd Rangers, also kept a diary documenting the march from Sczubin, Poland, to Hammelburg, Germany, from January 21 to March 9, 1945. Lt. Robert Thompson, 36th Infantry, also kept track of the march. I used all three to construct this story.

I have chosen to organize the Long March in three parts:

• Part 1: Sczubin to Ruhnow: The Germans split the marching POWs at Ruhnow after about two weeks.
• Part 2: Ruhnow to Luckenwald: The Germans took one group of POWs to Stalag VII-A at Luckenwald, south of Berlin.
• Part 3: Sczubin to Moosburg: The Germans marched the remaining POWs to Moosburg in southern Bavaria.

I will conclude the report by highlighting what happened to the POWs who did not go on the march, the men who stayed behind, and those who escaped during the chaos of the Soviet advance. I call this section “The Lone Rangers."

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Go to Oflag 64 “Long March Out:” Part 1, Sczubin to Ruhnow