Hello everyone, I am slowly working my way through a long list of Allied servicemen who were helped by the Italian Resistance to cross the border into Switzerland after the Italian armistice of 8 September 1943. The list was compiled by the Resistance and is held in an archive in Milan in what is known as the Fondo Parri - the Parri Collection. It contains many gaps and I am trying to fill these in from information in file WO 392/21. I am having a fair amount of success but the above entry has me puzzled, as the Captain's unit is given as C.L.B. and I have no idea which unit this might be. (Incidentally the column ''CLN Form Number'' refers to a form which the escapers/ evaders filled in and handed over to the CLN - the Committee for National Liberation - who then compiled this list.) Here is part of the page on which he appears: Any suggestions will be most welcome, Vitellino
He may have been Czech Naturalisation Certificate: Jan Kellner. From Czechoslovakia. Resident in London. Wife's... | The National Archives Reference: HO 334/188/31416 Description: Naturalisation Certificate: Jan Kellner. From Czechoslovakia. Resident in London. Wife's name Elisabeth [Kellner]. Home Office Reference: K 27517. Certificate AZ31416 issued 2 September 1947. Date: 1947 Sept 2 Held by: The National Archives, Kew Legal status: Public Record(s) Language: English Closure status: Open Document, Open Description TD
Very interesting indeed. If so, I wonder what he was doing behind the lines in 1943-4 and why he needed to get to Switzerland.
Compelete wild arsed guess but could he have been captured in the desert as there was a Czech unit at Tobruk. Czechoslovak 11th Infantry Battalion - Wikipedia Could CLB be a typo for CIB ?
CAST - WW2 'Mutiny' List Alphabetical KELLNER Jan (voj.) - voj means Private which was his rank in 1940, so he progressed well in a short time The main site is CAST - WW2 Czechoslovak Brigade which has some email address's which may provide further info TD Its possible he was part of Special Interrogation Group (SIG) or perhaps some other unit that needed fluent German speakers?? Military archives - My Czech Roots
My guess is that he was captured at Tobruk and that his unit was the Czechoslovak Brigade (CLB) - but then he was expelled from it! I had wondered about him being involved with the special services in some capacity. The OSS were operating in the Val d'Isère in the autumn of '44. Vitellino