Beyond the plain, the forest began again. Few prisoners had tried to escape, and those that did were driven back by hunger and the leeches. Only two made it home, after jumping overboard in Colombo harbour and clambering on to a Russian ship. Their journey took them as far north as they’d ever imagined, via Aden, the Black Sea and St Petersburg, and then south through Berlin, Amsterdam and German West Africa. Amongst Afrikaners, they’d attain mythological status, known forever as ‘The Swimmers’.
