The Long Walk

Sławomir Rawicz (1915-2004) by his account, was a Polish cavalry officer who was captured by Soviet troops during the German-Soviet invasion of Poland and was exiled to Siberia. In a book he participated in writing, he claimed that he and six others escaped and walked over 6500 km (4000 miles south, through the Gobi desert, and over the Himalayas to India). None of the others who escaped with him have ever been identified or come forward. No evidence beyond the account of Slavomir Rawicz himself exists for the journey, and he also claims to have seen Yetis.
His saga is chronicled in a ghost-written book "The Long Walk", whose veracity has been controversial since the book was published. Here the obituary on The Guardian Unlimited.
Link (via metafilter )