TO TURKEY INSPIRED BY WORLD WAR II LEGEND
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Patrick Fermor would go on to become the country’s greatest travel writer after walking the length of Europe alone a year before Hitler came to power.
The decorated war hero’s daring coup to abduct a German commander during World War II was turned into a Hollywood movie with Dirk Bogarde playing the adventurer.
More than 80 years later,, retired designer Phil Crane is now set et to r e t r a ce Fermor ’ s footsteps and march solo across eight countries.
Phil, 68, said: “This all started when I read Patrick’s obituary in the paper. I was fascinated by what he’d done. .
“The walk that he did in n 1933 has been in my head for r almost seven years. I had a heart operation in 2012 and d that delayed it. But this year ar I’ve got to do it.
“Patrick took lifts in early rly automobiles and rode a horse rse at one point. His idea was to get a cultural feel for Europe because use he was only 18 at the time.
“My idea is to walk the whole hole way. I’m not sure anyone’s ever done that.” It’s a mind- boggll ing 1400-mile journey that will see the former aquarium designer, from Edinburgh, set off on February 12 – his 69th birthday – and march solo through eight countries as he follows Patrick’s path f rom the Hook of Holland to Constantinople, NETHERLANDS
who gagave him a bed for the night along the wway. He arrivedd in Istanbulbl on January 1, 1935, then continued to travel around Greece while he started writing about his travels.
Patrick moved to Romania, only returning to Britain when war was declared in 1939 so he could enlist.
Phil once hitchhiked from London to Australia, straight after spending three months canoeing down an 800- mi le stretch of the Amazon Designer Phil will set off on February 12 – his 69th birthday. He will march solo through eight countries as he follow’s Patrick’s path from The hook ofHolland to Istanbul. The brave adventurer hopes to do 100 miles a week. nicknamed Michalis or Filedem, he lived for more than two years in the mountains.
In 1944, he and a group of commandos captured and evacuated the island’s German commander, General Heinrich Kreipe.
In 1957, the daring capture – which became a PR coup for the Allies – was made into movie Ill Met by Moonlight. Actor Bogarde met Patrick, then a successful travel writer, to talk about his life. His most famous books – A Time
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“I’ve been out camping in the Pentlands to test out my tent and all the stuff I know I’ll need.
“I’ve also been trying the wonderful dried food I’ll keep to use on the nights I can’t book up a cheap B&B because it’s impossible to book ahead when you’re not sure how many miles you’ll manage on any given day.
“I might be going up hills or through boggy forest or it might be snowing or raining. If it’s windy, that slows you down. So there will be times I just camp.
“My aim is to do 100 miles a week. In my greatest dreams, I might manage 130 miles a week. But it will depend on the terrain and whether I pick up any injuries. I don’t know how hard it’ll be.
“I’ve done 20 miles in a day before but that’s not day after day. I’ll need to take one day off a week to be sensible.”
Phil will be cheered on by his kids and grandkids and he’s on the hunt for others to fly out and join him for chunks of the way. But the trip won’t solely be a slice of swashbuckling self-indulgence.
The big goal is to raise sponsorship cash for Edinburgh’s Royal Hospital for Sick Children so patients can get the chance to dream of long- distance adventures of their own.
He said: “This is going to take six months. So hopefully people can follow my journey and donate along the way.”
Phi l ’ s fundra i s ing pa ge is: teamechc. everydayhero. com/ uk/ phil-s-walk-across-europe