Heinz Joachim Albert KLEIER

Heinz was born in Stolp which is now part of Poland.  He was forced to join the German Army at the age of 16 and he was a messenger boy going from town to town.  He was captured in France and as a German POW was aboard a ship, bound for the USA but because of chronic sea sickness, he and others were allowed to disembark in Britain. He eventually was sent to Harperley POW Camp and set to work on a farm near West Auckland.

After the war, he managed to contact with one of his sisters who lived in a town called Blesendorf.  He was told that his mother, Marie Elizabeth Augusta Kleier and his other 2 sisters, Ursula and Irene had lost their home and were moved from camp to camp.  They left Stolp and by Christmas 1946, were in Obermassfield, Thuringen in West Germany.  Later, they lived at Lustringen, near Osnbruck where they shared a room with another lady and her children.  Heinz, now known as “Harry” decided to stay in Britain because he had met an English girl, Vera Rewcastle.   He still felt responsible for his mother and 2 sisters so persuaded them to join him in Britain.  He applied for work permits for them, eventually being successful and they arrived in England in June 1949.  Harry was naturalised as a British citizen in October 1953, married Vera in December 1953 and settled in the West Auckland area, as did his mother and 2 sisters, Irene and Ursula. 

1945: Harperley POW Camp: Heinz “Harry” Kleier, back row, far left.

Ursula married Fred Towers and Irene married John Dixon, from Bedlington, Northumberland.  They were married in a double wedding at St. Helens Church in February 1954.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Barbara Towers