Although THE BLACK MARCH is a work of fiction, I wanted it to be as historically accurate as possible. I read everything I could about the Eighth Air Force, the 91st Bombardment Group (Heavy) and the 401st Squadron. I watched World War II-era documentaries and Army training films (including a series on how to fly a B-17). Mainly, though, I focused on the memoirs written by the men like my father who had experienced aerial combat, bailing out, being captured and ultimately enduring the ordeal that would come to be known by many names, including the Black March, the Long Walk, the Shoe Leather Express, the Bread March and simply, The March.
Many of the Ex-POWs who wrote their memoirs put them to paper later in their lives. The experiences they described are remarkably similar, yet always slightly different. For example, being beaten by hostile German civilians when they were captured was a common theme, as was being told, “For you, the war is over,” by the first German military personnel they encountered. Most reported being in solitary confinement for days on end at the Dulag Luft interrogation center, while others reported being processed through quickly.
On the other hand, many of the accounts differed in minor details. I attributed the discrepancies to the fact that a large number of the memoirs, such as my father’s, were written later in life. By their sixties and seventies, the survivors still clearly remembered the most traumatic experiences, but some of the less significant details had become fuzzy.
Regardless, I think I was able to get a fairly accurate overview of what life was like in the planes, in the POW camps and on the march.