In 1944 Ralph Churches, a young Australian soldier, led 120 Allied prisoners to freedom by walking across the roof of Slovenia. That epic WW2 escape, known as The Crow’s Flight, and still honoured by the people of Slovenia. I was privileged to retrace The Great Escape.
“Things may get harder today,” says our unflappable, super-fit guide Matej. “So perhaps we need to squeeze our teeth a little, okay?”
Squeezing, or gnashing, your dentures is pretty unavoidable for anyone embarking on The Crow’s Flight, a 270km guided hike across some of the most challenging terrain in eastern Slovenia.
In order to complete the high country odyssey from the northern city of Maribor to Semič on the Croatian border, Matej and his fellow guides Igor and Dare impose a strict, but not unreasonable walking schedule, with early starts, a consistent walking pace and short but regular breaks.
Although the daily targets are modest (around 20kms), the route involves some steep ascents and the occasional bit of bush bashing to avoid a washed out forest path; which is why this version of the walk is called The Slovenian Double Shot.
But the determined, teeth squeezing hiker is more than adequately rewarded for their efforts with huge lunches, epic mountain views, comfy accommodation and plenty of refreshments.
“In the Slovenian countryside it is polite for farmers to offer a stranger a glass of home-made schnapps,” explains Matej, a professional ski instructor. “It is not polite to refuse this offer.”
I can state with absolute confidence that we were the politest Australian walking party ever to venture into this ravishing landscape to mountain, forest and well-tended farmland. No offer of schnapps was ever refused and we quickly became adept at shouting out na zdravje! (your health!) alongside our hosts. Drink hiking may have its dangers, but this local firewater proved a balm for tired calves and sore feet – and a chance to meet plenty of inquisitive, sun-hardened country folk.
Natural Slovenian hospitality was not the only reason for these impromptu farmyard celebrations. Our 2019 walk marked the 75th anniversary of the original Crow’s Flight when 120 Allied soldiers escaped from Stalag XVIII-D, a German prisoner of war camp in Maribor. Despite being relentlessly pursued by crack German troops, including the SS, this ragtag group, dressed in summer clothing and inadequate shoes, somehow reached an airstrip outside Semič, from where they were flown by RAF Dakota across the Adriatic to Bari in Italy.
Although the man who planned and led this audacious escape – the largest successful break-out by Allied POWs in Europe – was an Australian soldier called Ralph Frederick Churches, the story of The Crow’s Flight is still largely unknown in his homeland; the Australian War Memorial refused to include Churches, who was awarded a British Empire Medal for his efforts, in a recent exhibition of heroic Australian POW escapes. The full story was not told until 1996 until Churches published his wartime memoirs.
“For many years the family knew little about this episode in Dad’s life because he was bound by the Official Secrets Act,” says Neil Churches, who founded The Crow’s Flight tour company to keep alive his father’s wartime gallantry – and to honour the Slovenian partisans who helped hundreds of Allied airmen and soldiers to liberty.
The Great Escape, a daring break out of 76 POWs from Stalag Luft III in German-occupied Poland and immortalised in the 1963 movie starring Steve McQueen, was a propaganda coup, only three prisoners escaped. The Crow’s Flight, by comparison, was a brilliant success. Ralph Churches and Englishman Les Laws led their party of New Zealanders, Brits, Aussies and Frenchmen to freedom without losing a single man.
British broadcaster Monty Halls, a former Royal Marine, was so impressed with Ralph Churches (known in the camp as The Crow due to his South Australian origins) that he made a Channel 4 documentary about the escape.
“The Crow’s Flight was a masterpiece of planning, logistics, endurance, fortitude and defiance in the face of overwhelming odds,” he writes in Escaping Hitler (Pan, 2018). “It also brought together a rare combination of individuals who proved capable of pulling off an absurdly ambitious scheme.”
Despite being little known in Australia, Ralph Churches, who had been captured by the Germans during the Greek campaign of 1941, remains a celebrated figure in Slovenia. Yugoslavia, the former Communist regime, showered him with honours. The escape route is now marked by the distinctive Crow’s Flight logo in black and red. Large descriptive panels, in English and Slovenian, record the remarkable events of August and September 1944 – and the crucial role played by brave Slovenian partisans in disrupting the German war effort.
It is entirely fitting that our commemorative walk should begin with a brief tour of the old prison camp in Maribor. While much of Stalag XVIII-D, now part of an industrial estate, has been destroyed, the original concrete buildings which once held Russian prisoners remains a stark reminder of the wickedness of the Nazi regime.
“The Germans treated the Russian prisoners with extreme brutality,” explains Neil as we explore the weed-infested site. “Hundreds of them died here – one of Dad’s jobs was to remove the bodies from this building. It made a lasting impression on him.”
Later that morning we find ourselves at the small railway siding of Ožbalt where Churches, Laws and five other prisoners slipped away from their work gang and fled into the forest. It was here that they teamed up with the Slovenian partisans who were to play such a key role in their escape; the advance party, later returned to of Ožbalt, and spirited away another 113 POWs.
“After a night of drinking and dancing in Lovrenc na Pohorju, which had already been liberated by the partisans, Dad had the mad idea of going back for the others,” says Neil. “To his surprise the partisans agreed and a plan was hatched.”
Listening to Neil’s detailed and at times emotional commentary is one of the delights of The Crow’s Flight hiking adventure – and provides a fascinating insight into this proud, ancient land.
“As children we were brought up to revere everything about Slovenia,” Neil recalls. “We ate Slovenian food, my parents drank Slovenian wine – Dad even imported the local mineral water.”
Since leaving the old federal socialist republic of Yugoslav in 1991 (hostilities only lasted 10 days) Slovenia has prospered enormously as part of the European Union, with high-tech industries, modern freeways and plenty of shiny BMWs and ŠKODAS.
Despite the passage of time, the eastern part of Slovenia is little changed since Ralph, Les and their mates slogged their way though its dark beech forests, emerald green meadows and rock strewn mountain passes in the late summer of 1944.
“The timing of the escape was deliberate,” says Neil. “Dad knew they’d have to live off the land and in August the countryside is dripping with apples, pears and other fruit.”
Every cottage in this part of Slovenia has its own vegetable patch; most have a few rows of grapes and a basket press in the barn. The valleys are planted with fields of tall corn. Locals harvest wild berries in the hedgerow as they have for centuries.
The Crow’s Flight is much more than a chance to relive a story of wartime derring-do – the POWs narrowly escaped a German ambush and paddled across the Sava river under the noses of their pursuers – but a celebration of modern, vibrant, prosperous and highly surprising Slovenia.
While the sheer beauty of the landscape is reward enough, the unpretentious, quaffable Slovenian wines and wholesome local cuisine (which ranges from thick country soups to air dried meats and delicate river trout) add to the pleasure of this engrossing cross-country romp.
While some Slovenian gastronomic icons, such as Štruklji, a type of dumpling, failed to win me over, it was sheer joy to find a country which still values stews, spuds, pork, honey and hard cheeses – and where a shot of high-octane schnapps is waiting for you at every farm gate.
Booking Details
The Crow’s Flight is a 20-day fully hosted walk that retraces the journey taken by 120 Allied POWs in August 1944. The walk begins in Maribor and finishes in Semič and includes some of Slovenia’s most impressive mountain scenery. The cost is €10,454 and includes all accommodation, meals, guides and support vehicle. See thecrowsflight.com
Mark Chipperfield was a guest of The Crow’s Flight touring company.
Picture credit: Cathy Finch