terrierman

November 30, 2014

William Leonard Ball.

After being a Prisoner of War for 5 yrs in Lamsdorf: Stalag VIIIB 344 Prisoner of War Camp 1940 - 1945 and surviving The Long March from Stalag VIII-B (not far from Auschwitz) in Poland which led through Czechoslovakia, towards Nuremberg and then through Germany in the winter of 1945,The march Took 3 months in temp of -25 c. He was then Sadly Killed when the plane He and other prisoners where flying Home in crashed into a field after take off North of Paris.

In January 1945, as the Soviet armies resumed their offensive and advanced into Germany, many of the prisoners were marched westward in groups of 200 to 300 in the so-called Long March or Death March. Many of them died from the bitter cold and exhaustion. The lucky ones got far enough to the west to be liberated by the American army. The unlucky ones got "liberated" by the Soviets, who instead of turning them over quickly to the western allies, held them as virtual hostages for several more months. Many of them were finally repatriated towards the end of 1945 though the port of Odessa on the Black Sea.

The Long March was during the final months of the Second World War in Europe. About 30,000 Allied PoWs were force-marched westward across Poland and Germany in appalling winter conditions, lasting about four months from January to April 1945. It has been called various names: "The Great March West", "The Long March", "The Long Walk", "The Long Trek", "The Black March", "The Bread March", but most survivors just called it "The March". It has also been called "The Lamsdorf Death March".

As the Soviet army was advancing on Poland, the Nazis made the decision to evacuate the PoW camps to prevent the liberation of the prisoners by the Russians. During this period, also hundreds of thousands of German civilians, most of them women and children, as well as civilians of other nationalities, were making their way westward in the snow and freezing weather and many died. January and February 1945 were among the coldest winter months of the twentieth century, with blizzards and temperatures as low as –25 °C (–13 °F), even until the middle of March temperatures were well below 0 °F (–18 °C). Most of the PoWs were ill-prepared for the evacuation, having suffered years of poor rations and wearing clothing ill-suited to the appalling winter conditions.

09May 1945

RF230 Lancaster III RF230

No.514 Squadron

2 miles east-south-east Roye-Amy

The aircraft was returning to UK with 24 released prisoners of war as part of Operation EXODUS, a task placed on Bomber Command using the heavy bomber force to repatriate prisoners, some of whom had been incarcerated for over 5 years, to UK as quickly as possible. The aircraft crew sent a brief message saying that they were making a forced landing but when the pilot applied full flap, the aircraft went out of control, entering a spin from which it did not recover and it crashed and was destroyed by fire. It appears that several of the passengers moved from their allotted places in the aircraft, causing centre of gravity problems and the pilot had already used 8 divisions of elevator trim to keep the aircraft in balance. However, the application of full flap caused loss of control.

Flight Lieutenant Beaton was a relatively junior officer to be the holder of the DSO. He was awarded this for his gallantry and determination when his aircraft was badly damaged raiding Le Havre in daylight and he sustained a broken leg and other serious injuries. Nonetheless, he refused to relinquish command of the aircraft and flew it back to UK and made a safe landing. The citation for the award is reproduced below, since it represents an exceptional performance by a young officer. It seems particularly tragic that Beaton should lose his life flying an errand of mercy after hostilities in Europe had been concluded.

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Flight Lieutenant Donald BEATON 22 DSO

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