A SOLDIER from Haslemere is one of 48 prisoners of war featured in a new interactive map commemorating the 75th anniversary of the 1945 Lamsdorf Long March, an often-overlooked part of Second World War history.

Jack Denyer was a Private in the 2/5th Battalion of the Queen’s Royal Regiment (West Surrey) when he was reported missing on July 19, 1940 as a result of action on May 20, 1940.

His status as a prisoner of war was confirmed four months later on September 13, 1940, and records tell that Jack eventually arrived at Bau und Arbeits Battalion – BAB 21 (Construction Battalion), a sub-camp of the prisoner of war camp Stalag VIIIB in modern-day Poland.

It was at this camp that Jack would spend much of the war – until in 1945 when, with the Soviet Army rapidly advancing across Europe, he was one of a group of POWs forced to undertake a treacherous journey from Poland to Germany in sub-zero temperatures, which later became known as the Lamsdorf Long March.

The website www.lamsdorflongmarch.com traces his extraordinary journey across more than 600kms of war-torn Europe, leaving the Blechhammer labour camp in southern Poland on January 21, 1945, passing through Czechia before arriving at his final destination at Aichig in eastern Germany more than two months later on March 28, 1945.In all, 21,867 men from the allied forces were marched from Stalag VIIIB and its associated work camps where they had already spent up to five years in wretched, cramped conditions, enduring hard physical labour on a poor diet and limited medical facilities.

Jack survived the march – but many were not so fortunate.

Using personal accounts and diary entries, the online map at www.lamsdorflongmarch.com traces each of these journeys – and individual stories include the hidden diary of a Military Cross recipient, secret photos, a daring escape, and a homemade sledge built under the nose of camp officials.

Some of the men remembered were remarkably young, having lied about their age to enlist. Others simply did not come home.

Map co-creator Dave Lovell, from Romsey in Hampshire, would like the men – including his father, Arthur Lovell a private in 7th Battalion the Royal Sussex Regiment – to be remembered as ‘beacons of hope’ during difficult times.

He said: “This is a story of hope, of how an instinct for survival, dogged determination and the support of fellow men helped overcome the most extreme conditions. It is also a story of utter deprivation and unfathomable human resilience.

“My father said very little about these three months of his life but they undoubtedly shaped his life and his beliefs.

“In making the map I discovered the harsh reality of his daily routine, his courage and conviction that kept him alive where others fell by the wayside.”

Co-creator Ian Bowley, whose father, Private Ernest Ronald ‘Ron’ Bowley, served in the 2nd Battalion, the Lincolnshire Regiment, believes this part of Second World War history has been largely overlooked as having been captured was somehow seen as a failure after the war – even though many stayed behind at Dunkirk to slow the German advance and enable more than 300,000 men to get away.

“I firmly believe a POW medal should have been awarded to all men who had spent time in POW camps during the Second World War, but petitions have been rejected on a number of occasions,” he said.

“Hopefully, the success of this project might provide fresh impetus to this appeal.”