MAJOR General Norman Rogers, a distinguished Army surgeon who walked more than 600 miles to freedom, has died aged 94.

After being freed as an Italian prisoner of war in the Second World War, Maj Gen Rogers trekked across the Apennine mountains to Allied lines.

Born in London, he qualified as a doctor at St Barth-olomew’s Hospital in 1939 and volunteered for active service at the outbreak of war.

He was sent to France as a medical officer with 131 Field Ambulance, which saw him caring for the wounded on the beaches at Dunkirk.

Following this, he was sent to North Africa in 1941, where he was captured by the Italians at the siege of Tobruk.

He was sent to Fontanellato in North Italy, but when Italy surrendered in August 1943, Italian troops let the prisoners out before the Germans arrived.

Maj Gen Rogers and Captain Arthur Jones then made a remarkable journey through Italy, walking more than 600 miles to reach the American lines.

He described it as a dog-legged route to avoid the enemy stronghold, walking over rough terrain through the Apennine mountains to freedom.

They were fed and sheltered by Italian villagers, who put their own lives at risk to help them.

Maj Gen Rogers never forgot their kindness.

A photographer captured the moment Maj Gen Rogers and his companion reached the allied borders and were given water.

On return to England, he became medical officer to the 1st Battalion the Black Watch and went to Normandy.

He was badly wounded by a shell fragment in his leg and returned home.

But determined to get back to the war effort, he persuaded authorities to let him go and finished the conflict in Germany.

After the war, Maj Gen Rogers spent time at various hospitals, before becoming the director of Army surgery at the Ministry of Defence in London.

He was later the consultant in charge of accident and emergency surgery and the Clinical Superintendent at Guys Hospital in London.

He retired to Kidlington and became a familiar figure to residents, walking into the village every morning at 7am to get his paper.

He was also instrumental in getting improvements to a footpath from Mill Street to Church Road.

Maj Gen Rogers never forgot the debt he owed to the Italian people and was a supporter of The Monte San Martino Trust, founded in 1989 to recognise their sacrifice.

It gives English language bursaries to Italian students to study in Britain, including at the Oxford School of English in Witney.

A representative will be at Maj Gen Rogers’ funeral.

Maj Gen Rogers died at the Sobell House hospice in Oxford. He leaves behind wife Dr Pamela Rose, three children and five grandchildren.

His funeral will be held tomorrow at St Mary’s Church, Kidlington, at 2pm.