Longest Escape and Evade on Foot???

[sa_bushwar]

One of the longest "Escape and evade" actions by a SWAPO freedom fighter was recorded by a Koevoet unit, when during June 1986 Zulu-Four-Sierra and Zulu-Four-Echo Koevoet units picked up a spoor (track) of 2 guerillas north of the cutline near Handabo in Angola. They tracked them south over the cutline, where one turned north back into Angola. The other one headed south, putting considerable distance between himself and the Casspirs every day. They chased him for 5 days, calling helicopter gunship support in the afternoons as the trackers could detect from the spoor that he was near. He managed to remain undetected and the trackers found no signs of sleeping places, and it appears he kept going for 5 days without sleep. Abandoned hypodermic syringes frequently found on his tracks suggested he injected himself with benzedrine or something similar to keep awake. Placed were found where he collapsed from exhaustion, dragged himself to a tree, pulling himself up and continuing. Eventualy they lost his spoor on the Chandelier Road and it is suspected he was picked up by a car. The have tracked him for 368 km's, which must make it one of the longest Escape and Evade actions in military history. In early 1987, Zulu-One-Juliet captured an insurgent in the Eenhana area. It emerged that he was the one they chased for 5 days mentioned above. He was the Recce Commander of PLAN's Charlie detachment in the east. Three days later he volunteered to change sides and joined Zulu-One-Juliet. He turned out to be a brilliant tracker and anti-tracker. (Covert War, p 259-260, Peter Stiff).

[Indiana Jones]

If you have an interest in similar stories, take a look at the ordeal of Olt. Cornelius Rost aka "Clemens Forell", who escaped from a Siberian POW GULag to Iran via Mongolia for a distance of roughly 14 000 kilometers...

[MoFo]

Hmm Chris Ryans attempt in the gulf war was pretty friggin outstanding.

He traveled over 200 miles in seven days on foot, in both the freezing cold and baking sun. He suffered sleep deprivation, starvation, severe dehydration and other such physical ailments. He had even lost all his toenails. He lost a considerable amount of weight (36 lbs), something that could have killed him. Three of the original squad of eight died. Two of hypothermia and one of being shot as he ran out of ammo.

[playtym]

Hmm Chris Ryans attempt in the gulf war was pretty friggin outstanding.

What was that, 200 miles if I recall correctly? About 320 kms.

[vinny_121_ND]

Chris ryan's name came to mind when I saw this title. heck of a brave man. Too bad the squad split up into two. I was really surprised it was snowing and freezing cold there.

[Koskela]

If you have an interest in similar stories, take a look at the ordeal of Olt. Cornelius Rost aka "Clemens Forell", who escaped from a Siberian POW GULag to Iran via Mongolia for a distance of roughly 14 000 kilometers...

Wasn`t a movie made of this story for some years ago? I think it was made i Germany. Mayby some of our German members knows something about it?
Anyway, I think that was the longest E&E all time...

/K

[Freibier]

There is a 6 part b/w mini series from 1959 and a movie from 2001 titled "So weit die Füße tragen" (As far as my feet will carry me) about Olt. Rost's E&E.
Well worth checking out, imo.

[justagoodolboy]

One of the most interesting E&E and subsequent rescue stories is that of BAT 21.

[axfax]

If you have an interest in similar stories, take a look at the ordeal of Olt. Cornelius Rost aka "Clemens Forell", who escaped from a Siberian POW GULag to Iran via Mongolia for a distance of roughly 14 000 kilometers...

"Soweit die Füsse tragen" (~ "as far as your feet carry you") - absolutely the most fascinating and also irritating story of evasion and escape! Waht a strong mind that lived in that officer! Really worth a read - the movie doesn`t really come up to the book.

[Superking]

One of the most interesting E&E and subsequent rescue stories is that of BAT 21.

Added: And stay away from the movie if you wan't to know about it.

[gaijinsamurai]

If you want to read a good book, I strongly recommend "The Long Walk" by Slavomir Rawicz. He was a Polish cavalry officer who was captured by the Soviets in 1939 and sent to the gulag. He escaped, and made it on foot to then-British-occupied India. He eventually joined one of the Polish units which fought with the Brits. It's a great story.

[[WDW]Megaraptor]

I remember reading about a man in the Old West c. 1840 who was unconscious and left for dead in Indian/Grizzly bear country by his buddies. He managed to crawl a long distance to the nearest fort, I forget how far. I'll dig up the details of this story later, i've got the book.

[justagoodolboy]

I remember reading about a man in the Old West c. 1840 who was unconscious and left for dead in Indian/Grizzly bear country by his buddies. He managed to crawl a long distance to the nearest fort, I forget how far. I'll dig up the details of this story later, i've got the book.

I believe it was atleast a hundred miles, I could be off though. It was a fair distance. Post what you find.

[[WDW]Megaraptor]

This is from the book The Wild West: History, Myth & the Making of America by Frederick Nolan.

Tough as Colter was, there were mountain men even tougher. Such a one was Hugh Glass. No one knows where he was born or who his parents were - some say he might have been of Irish descent - nor anything about his early life, other than that he might have been a pirate in the Gulf of Mexico with Jean Lafitte (and then again, maybe not). What is known for sure is that he was reckless and insubordinate, rugged and self-reliant, and that in 1823 he joined an expedition up the Missouri led by William H. Ashley, organizer of the rendezvous system.

Wouned in battle by the Arikara Indians - 'Rees' as they were known - he recovered in time to be one of a party sent to relieve a group of hunters left at Fort Henry, at the mouth of the Yellowstone River. Late in August, 1823, Glass was attacked and severely mauled by a grizzly bear, so badly that it seemed impossible that he could live. Ashley knew he and his men could not safely remain in the land of the hostile and dangerous Arikara, and asked for two volunteers to stay with the dying man until the end. John Fitzgerald and young Jim Bridger stepped forward.

They stayed with Glass until he died, or until they thought he was dead, then took his rifle, his ammunition and other possessions, loaded them into their own packs and left. But Hugh Glass was not dead. He regained consciousness to find himself totally alone in the wilderness. Fortunately for him there was water in a nearby spring and berries on the trees he could eat, and ten days later he was ready to being what would become an epic journey. Racked by pain and fever, passing in and out of consciousness, he set out for the only place in that wilderness where he could get help, Fort Kiowa, half the breadth and half the width of South Dakota away.

According to legend, he got lucky and happened upon a buffalo calf that just had been brought down by wolves. He drove the wolves off by setting fire to the grass, and remained by the carcass, gorging on buffalo meat, until his wounds began to heal. Then he moved on, crawling maybe a mile a day, sometimes two or three as his strength grew. Living on roots, berries, carrion, whatever he could find, he crawled, staggered, limped an incredible three hundred miles down the Grand River toward the Missouri. There, they say, he was befriended by Sioux Indians who took him the rest of the way to Fort Kiowa.

It goes on the say that after recovering from his trip, he travelled all accross the west in search of the 2 men who abandoned him, just to chew them out. On the way to find them, his party was ambushed by the Arikaras and all of them were killed except for Glass and one other. He eventually found both of the men who left him, one in Montana and the other in Omaha, Nebraska. Hugh went on several more expeditions, but in the winter of 1832-33, he was killed and scalped by the Arikaras.

[SBL]

I remember reading about a man in the Old West c. 1840 who was unconscious and left for dead in Indian/Grizzly bear country by his buddies. He managed to crawl a long distance to the nearest fort, I forget how far. I'll dig up the details of this story later, i've got the book.

With friends like that...