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By Davy Crockett
Both a podcast and a full article
During the World War II period in 1940s, ultradistance races in America totally disappeared. Many of the talented runners turned in their leather running shoes for leather boots and served their country in war. But as servicemen, there were many endurance activities that took place both on the bases and on the battle field.
A “forced march” is a relatively fast march over a distance carrying a load. It was a common military exercise during the war. These marches were fast hikes with full military gear. Their history can be traced back to Roman legions who were required to march 18.4 miles carrying 45 pounds in 12 hours.
Incredible marches occurred in times of war covering ultradistances. Most have been forgotten. There were very many that can be found for those who want to search the pages of history. A few noteworthy marches from 1941-45 are covered in this article to illustrate the toughness and determination of servicemen who put their lives on hold to defend freedom.
Infantries liked to keep marching records. In 1916 two companies from the 4th Missouri Infantry marched a distance of 45 miles in 15 hours during the Mexican Border War. The march broke all known marching records for US troops.
The Japanese Forced March
In 1942 as World War II was raging and less than a year since that Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, an article was published in Reader’s Digest sharing a story of an amazing Japanese Forced march that was part of their training. The Japanese claimed that one of their army units had set a new marching record. It got the attention of US servicemen who were training for battle.
The Japanese march occurred prior to the bombing of Pearl Harbor. An American observer marched with the Japanese company and wrote the fascinating article. The observer explained that each man carried a firearm, 150 rounds of ammunition and a 40-pound pack. The march commenced in a driving rain at 3 a.m. “Roads turned into quagmires, rifles, packs, clothing, shoes were water-soaked. All morning, all afternoon and half of the night the regiment slogged on.”
By midnight the troops had marched 31 miles. They halted for a half hour to eat and adjust packs. By 8 p.m. the next evening the regiment had marched another 30 miles. Before they could eat, they were required to dig a 600-yard of trench. “As each squad completed its section, they gulped a helping of rice, then fell asleep in the trench.”
After only four hours’ sleep the men were ordered to make a forced march back to their barracks. Up to this point they had marched 61 miles in 40 hours with only five hour’s rest. “Once again the regiment took to the road in the darkness before dawn. The march continued all day in a broiling sun. The river of packs moved forward. Hour after hour the long serpent of weary men struggled through the darkness. There were two 20-minute halts that night. After rice balls at 6 a.m. we went on in the dogged silence of iron determination.”
At noon as they approached the finish, an order came to double-time. This group had marched 122 miles in 72 hours with only four hours of sleep. The weary column broke into a painful ragged trot. The gates of the barracks finally came into sight. The observer wrote, “They were home. The forced march, which no other army in the world could have endured, was completed.” The Japanese colonel explained about conducting the final mile in double-time. “Tired men can always march just one more mile to take another enemy position. This is the only way to prove it to them.” One man who collapsed during the double-time later died in a hospital.
The Paratrooper 155-mile March
Colonel Robert F. Sink (1905-1965), commanding officer over the 506th U.S. Parachute Infantry Regiment, in the 101st Airborne Division, wanted to conduct a “toughening practice” and felt his men could do better than the Japanese. The Regiment was located at a paratrooper training school at Fort Benning, in Georgia.
Robert Sink graduated from West Point in 1927 and was commissioned as an Infantry Officer. In 1937 he served in the Philippines and then was stationed at Fort Huachuca in Arizona. As the war began, he was assigned to the 503rd Parachute Infantry Regiment and in July 1942 was named the commander of the 506th. During the war, he would turn down promotions in order to stay with his unit. He would be at both D-day and the Battle of the Bulge.
The Parachute School
Paratroopers spent thirteen weeks at the school for basic training at Fort Benning, Georgia. Trainees were selected from other basic training units to become paratroopers and went through four weeks of jump training. This consisted of many hours of tumbling exercises, learning to somersault safely to their feet. They also learned how to twist their parachute lines in descent so as to always land with their back to the wind. To become accustomed to the shock of a parachute opening, they would jump from a 20-foot high platform, wearing parachute harness attached to a steel cable. They would also make descents in a standard size parachute from a 250-foot tower. All this finally prepared them for five leaps from an airplane, qualifying them as a full-fledged paratrooper.
Toccoa to Atlanta
Colonel Sink organized a three-day march from Camp Toccoa to Atlanta Georgia, about 115 miles. Both officers and NCOs had to complete the entire distance or risk being thrown out of the unit. Colonel G. H. Williams, the assistant commandant at the parachute school explained reasoning for this march. “What we learned of the operation of our men in Africa convinced us of the soundness of our program of hard muscle building and strict discipline. One of the units in the invasion marched 30 miles after getting on the ground and then captured the airport which was their objective.”
On December 4, 1942, Sink and 600 paratroopers set off to achieve their goal. Each man carried full combat equipment including mortars, machine guns, and other arms. Major Robert L. Wolverton, “a husky West Pointer,” set the pace. They marched in fog, rain, sleet and hail, through soggy fields and along concrete highways. On one night they camped on the banks of a lake on the Oglethorpe University campus. Buses were kindly rushed out to transport the Paratroopers to a country club for hot showers.
During the long days, some fell out for a time to nurse sore feet but caught up. They refused rides offered by passing motorists. Sink congratulated those who fell out, “When you fell, you fell face forward.”
Private Leonard Hicks recalled that he had the toughest job in the whole outfit. It was his duty to run, not walk, ahead of the battalion to set up roadblocks on the side roads so the marching men wouldn’t be hindered by traffic. As the last man would pass him, Hicks would wave the cars on and again run ahead to set up the next roadblocks. He was the first to arrive to Atlanta and thus the first to get a hot bath. His feet were very sore and his boots were caked with red mud from the Georgia back roads.
Once they all arrived, the mayor of Atlanta presented each of them with a ribbon from the city of Atlanta. The soldier’s moving time over the 115 miles was 31 hours. They claimed that is was a new world’s forced march record. Col. Sink said the march was “unparalleled in continental American history.”
From Atlanta, the soldiers were transported to Fort Benning except for one battalion. As if that wasn’t enough, instead of getting a ride, the battalion led by Major Wolverton, decided to march on to Fort Benning after only a couple days rest. During this extended march, Wolverton’s feet became so swollen that he couldn’t wear his boots. He marched a portion of the of the time wearing only three or four pairs of socks. They covered 136 miles in four days, but with less moving time than the march to Atlanta. They proclaimed that they bettered the world record for forced marching. As they arrived at Fort Benning, they were “singing, cursing, and nursing sore feet.” Sadly Robert Wolverton died in 1944 on D-day at Normandy.
The Hiking 79th
Earlier in 1942, another battalion located at Camp Roberts in Santa Cruz, California, also strove to accomplish an incredible hiking achievement. They were the 79th Infantry Training Battalion and chose the nickname of “The Hiking 79th.” In August 1942 they set out on an hilly 75-mile march which was by far the longest attempted hike at Camp Roberts.
The long march was conducted in hot weather and the majority of the men were from the upper Midwest, not accustomed to the heat. Some of them had just come into the service. The march was conducted in three days and no one dropped out voluntarily. Afterwards, one soldier dropped on his bunk in the barracks and said, “I made it, I made it.”
The men said the heroes were the cooks. An article wrote about the march stated, “There was great commendation of the work turned in by the battalion cooks. Working under field handicaps, they turned out excellent meals even though in most cases their Army cooking experience had been limited in the past to mess hall kitchens.”
1942 Joint Maneuvers Forced March
In October 1942, the United States and British Marines conducted joint maneuvers in England that included landing operations, mock combat and the toughest of all, a forced march lasting 29 hours, mostly in the rain. US Lieutenant Colonel Walter I. Jordan (1802-1947) congratulated the Marines. “If you ever hear anybody else talk about a tough time again, you know what you can tell them. After this, a lot of battles are going to seem easy.”
Most of the Americans participating were from the Southern States. One said, “I have never been this cold in all my born days. Beyond that, what I am thinking isn’t printable.” Another said, “This sort of stuff makes you long for the comfort of shooting at a real, live enemy.”
Canadian Battle Training Forced March
Also in October 1942, in Quebec, Canada, a special assault section was being trained to open the way through barbed wire, smash pillboxes and demolish mines. Included in their training was an exercise to march 228 miles in two weeks. During this march they covered 48 miles in 17 hours and also covered 79 miles in 48 hours. As they became fit to march great distances, it was said that they could “step a six-mile forced march carrying full kit in one hour or ten miles in two hours.”
Other Marching Accomplishments
These speed marching achievements caught on elsewhere. Another paratrooper company in 1942 led by Captain F. J. Mix Jr. did an overnight forced march in San Diego, California. The 150 marines completed a 45-mile march in just 11 hours 38 minutes. Only six of the 150 marines didn’t finish.
On December 11, 1942 Private Robert J McCormick, stationed at Fort Knox, Kentucky, had recently graduated from the Co. B-6 as a Thunderbolt in the Army’s armored division. With a full pack, carbine and steel helmet, he covered 25 miles in 3:30.
On March 31, 1943, Company B of the 52nd Engineer Combat Regiment from Camp Butner in North Carolina covered 20 miles in just over six hours. They finished singing, “Mmm Mmm Mmm. Would Ya Like to Take a Walk.” They set a regimental marching record.
Forced marches for training were not only conducted in America. Once such march occurred in Australia. In 1941 a fully equipped anti-tank company of Australian soldiers completed a 45-mile march from Gatton to Redbairn, Australia in a total elapsed time of 15:45. Their marching time was 12 hours. They thought that this probably was a one-day march record.
Forced Marches During Battle
Many forced marches occurred during the war to surprise the enemy or to strategically move combat forces quickly into positions.
Forced March to capture Benghazi
In February 1941 during an African offensive, British forces conducted a forced march of 150 miles in just 30 hours moving time through sand storms. They smashed into a fleeing Italian army, overwhelming superior numbers, trapping thousands of Italian soldiers heading for Tripoli. Thousands surrendered. An enormous store of war materials left behind fell into British hands.
British March to the Seine
In France, In 1944, the British made a spectacular, very fast 40-mile forced march, crossing the Seine river at Vernon and eventually turned loose a powerful force against the Germans
Merrill’s Marauders
In 1944, “Merrill’s Marauders” were a long range penetration special operations jungle warfare unit of 2,750 men. They were under the command of Brigadier General Frank D. Merrill (1903-1955) and marched across difficult country. In February, 1944 the Marauders marched into the Burmese jungle in Southeast Asia and were dependent on air drops for resupply. Over the next three months they would travel about 500 miles through terrible jungle.
In April 1944, a spectacular forced march over rugged terrain was successfully accomplished by Merrill’s Marauders teamed with Chinese forces. The company totaled 6,000 soldiers and their object was to capture a former British airfield at Myitkyina that was held by the Japanese in northern Burma. The capture would allow them to launch an attack on a major Japanese base and to capture the city of Myitkyina. The march was conducted over a 20-day period.
Along the way they had to travel 62 miles through the Kumon Mountain range and they scaled a 50-degree grade slope on a 6,100-foot mountain, “cutting steps through the undergrowth and advancing virtually on all fours.” Their attack caught the Japanese completely by surprise. The slight resistance lasted only 50 minutes. The next day resupply planes landed along with reinforcements.
“The March” of 1945
Some of the forced marches were very tragic cruel marches conducted by the Germans and Japanese. Incredible men and women suffered intensely on long marches.
During the final stages of World War II the most famous forced marches occurred, collectively referred to as “The March.” The Germans decided to evacuate eastern POW camps, fearing that the Russians would liberate them. More than 80,000 POWs were forced to march westward in extreme winter conditions over a four month period during 1945. Many were reduced to scavenging to survive. The route became littered with items that could not be carried. Many marched up to 500 miles before they were liberated. About 3,500 soldiers died during “The March.”
Warrant Officer Derek Riley of Wilmslow, Cheshire, England gave some glimpses to a reporter about his 500-mile march. He had been a wireless operator who had been shot down in 1942 and had been a prisoner for two and a half years. He, along with about 4,000 others, were ordered to set out on foot one cold January night. They Slipped and fell on the ice-bound roads, and covered 21 miles on the first night. They carried the remnants of their precious Red Cross parcels, but as the days and nights passed they grew so weary that many threw the food away to lighten their load.
The temperature was sometimes 38 degrees below zero and their boots, or what remained of them, were locked on their feet with solid ice. Some caring Polish civilians who handed the men food were shot by the Germans as they tried to help. The soldiers slept in barns or cold barracks floors, going up to five days without food, and averaged marching 15-20 miles per day. Many of the soldiers fell to the ground during the march and were persuaded by the guards to go on. Rifle butts were used as persuaders. Some of the men didn’t get up.
Another solider, Sergeant William Glynn said, “If we got too weak to walk and sat down to rest, one of the German police dogs that marched with us would be sent to snap at us.” They bartered with their German guards for food. Glynn continued, “At first we could give them our watches, our rings and our jewelry. They wanted those, and gave us food to pay for them. When those were gone we couldn’t do anything but steal.”
Staff Sergeant James Broadbelt added, “What did we get to eat? Well, we were tossed a quarter of a loaf of black bread daily and a few potatoes, mostly raw, and what carrots and cabbages we could find in the fields.”
When Riley and the others finally reached their new Stalag destination after 500 miles, Riley was suffering from blood-poisoning. The reporter wrote, “With emotion, Warrant Officer Riley told me of the day when the Americans arrived and set him and about 2,600 other captives free. At 1 p.m. the Nazis gave the Panzer warning, a five minute blast on the siren, signifying the approach of enemy ground forces. Riley was too weary to take much notice, but at eight minutes past five, a United States tank rolled past the camp and within a moment or two, the crews were amongst them and they knew they were free.”
The War ended and those who survived returned home to their loved ones. They went through a difficult time adjusting to civilian life again. They experienced no more forced marches but will left with the tragic memories.
It would take more than a decade for ultrarunning races to return to America. Freedom had been preserved by our veterans. Eventually the country turned attention to recreation again. Runners enjoyed again running through the mountains, across the prairies, to the oceans white with foam. God bless America, our home sweet home
For more, Read about war-time 100-mile attempts