The Accidental Soldier

Steve Horton, Ron and myself: November 2016

I’m lucky to have known Ron Jones, who related his incredible story for the purposes of this BBC radio documentary.

After a clerical error led to his being called up for service, Ron was captured in Africa by German forces and held as a POW in Southern Italy before being transported and forced to work as slave labour at the IG Farben chemical works at Auschwitz.

In January 1945, believing that liberation by the advancing Soviet troops was imminent, Ron and his fellow POWs were led out of the camp by their captors and force-marched more than 400 miles across Europe in sub-zero conditions during the coldest winter of the 20th century. To hear the opening of the programme, click the player above.