World War II prison escapee dies

A mural marking the events at St Valery was painted in Invergordon

A former soldier who escaped during a march from a prisoner of war camp during World War II has died.

Donald Allan Maclean, 91, from North Uist, was among the few survivors of a rearguard action following the evacuation of Dunkirk in 1940.

Mr Maclean was among hundreds later forced to surrender to the Germans in the French town of St Valery-en-Caux.

However, he and two friends made a bid for freedom in 1945 and were picked up later by US soldiers.

Mr Maclean was called up from his job at Lochmaddy Post Office on North Uist in 1939 and was among the 51st Highland Division which fought a rearguard battle across France in the days after most British forces escaped from Dunkirk.

Surrounded in St Valery by German troops under the command of Field Marshal General Erwin Rommel - the Desert Fox - the soldiers were forced to surrender and marched off to prison camp in Poland.

In 1945, as the Allies advanced, prisoners were escorted west in what became known as the Long March.

But Mr Maclean and two friends escaped and lived rough till they were rescued by American troops.

Gaelic poetry

In later years he and fellow St Valery veterans would meet to relive the campaign and their experiences.

A member of Inverness Gaelic Society, Mr Maclean was also inspired to write Gaelic poetry about his war-time days.

He retired from a senior post at Inverness Post Office in 1977 and is survived by his daughter Morag and four grandchildren.

A mural recalling the events at St Valery covers the wall of Invergordon Railway Station in Easter Ross.

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