FOLLOWING IS THE TEXT AND PHOTOS OFFERED BY STEPHEN MARKS, ONE OF THE TWO MEN WHOSE NAMES APPEARED WHEN PAMELA SCONIERS WHITELOCK FIRST GOOGLED HER UNCLE'S NAME. THE DATE OF STEPHEN'S TRIBUTE BELOW IS SIGNIFICANT..IT IS HIS BIRTHDAY. IT WAS THE DAY EWART WAS BURIED. IT WAS THE FIRST DAY OF THE FORCED MARCH OF POWs FROM STALAG LUFT III in 1945.  

LITTLE DID STEPHEN KNOW WHEN HE POSTED THIS...THAT IT WOULD ALSO BE THE DATE EWART WOULD FINALLY BE LAID TO REST NEXT TO HIS MOTHER.

"Sixty-six years ago today, January 27, 2010, a small, sad group of Americans said goodbye to their comrade from Stalag Luft III, under the wary observation of armed German soldiers.  Their commander, Lt. Col. Albert Clark, was determined that this heroic soldier, Ewart Sconiers, be brought back to his native soil once the cruel war was over.  Unfortunately, he, along with Ewart's family and his many supporters, are still waiting.  How much more time must pass before the dreams of Ewart's family are realized, and their greatest son is brought home?

Following are a few photos I made today to commemorate the 66th anniversary of the burial of Ewart Sconiers on January 27, 1944--a date easy to remember, as it also marks the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz on January 27, 1945 by the Soviet Army.

Let us hope this is the last time Ewart must be honored by his family in absentia." 

                                              by Stephen Marks

                                         American living in Poland

                                        and working in same building

                                 that once was hospital where Sconiers died

                                       (see "with gratitude" page)

Photos were taken by Stephen Marks in Allies Park in Lubin, Poland, where Sconiers is buried and where the monument shown was erected by the city in his honor. His grave likely lies about 15 meters behind the monument, near the Catalpa tree a comrade reportedly planted in his memory after the war.