Daring escape led to freedom in World War II

This story was given to me by Doug McPherson of Sagle, about one of his dad's experiences in World War I.

His dad, referred to by his son as the "old man," was actually in the Canadian Army and during a battle in the trench warfare of World War I, he was captured by the Germans along with several others. They were held in a railroad boxcar for three days. 

Every morning the guards would slide open the door to let the captives out to relieve themselves, and once they did that they stood in line to get a bowl of turnip soup. Every morning was foggy, so on the third morning when it was foggy again, the group planned to escape in the fog of which they did. The plan didn't work for everybody, as the Germans chased them and shot and killed every captive they found. However, the "old man" and another soldier ran into the fog as fast as they could and found themselves in a turnip field. 

In the middle of the field was deep furrow and had weeds to give them cover. They laid there all day. They could hear the Germans talking as they walked by. They could also hear the yelling and screaming from the woods as the Germans caught and shot the escaped prisoners.

After dark, the two men made their way toward artillery fire a distance away, as they knew that would bring them to the trench line of their own troops. They passed the German positions without incident and made their way to their own trench line and the old man hollered out. "Don't shoot, we are coming in."

The sentry called out. "The heck you are, what's the password?" The old man responded, "I've been gone for three days, my name is McPherson." It turns out the sentry knew him. "For crying out loud Mac," he replied. "Where have you been?" They had found their way back in the dark.

Roger Gregory is a Vietnam veteran and business owner in Priest River.