The Long Way Home

At the age of 19, Glasgow-born John McCallum signed up as a Supplementary Reservist. By the middle of September 1939, he was in France, working frantically to set up communication lines after the outbreak of war. Wounded and captured, he was sent to the notorious Stalag VIIIB prison camp, together with his brother, Jimmy, and friend Joe Harkin. The three men set about planning their escape. With the help of a local girl, they put their plan into action. In an astonishing coincidence, they passed through the town of Sagan, around which the 76 airmen of the 'Great Escape' were being pursued and caught. However, unlike most of these other escapees, John, Jimmy and Joe eventually made it to freedom.