86900 Captain Jan Kellner, escaper to Switzerland

Discussion in 'Prisoners of War' started by vitellino, Mar 21, 2021.

  1. vitellino

    vitellino Senior Member

    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:


    upload_2021-3-21_19-30-7.png

    Any suggestions will be most welcome,

    Vitellino
     
    Last edited: Jul 8, 2021
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  2. Tricky Dicky

    Tricky Dicky Don'tre member

    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
     
  3. vitellino

    vitellino Senior Member

    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.
     
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  4. Owen

    Owen -- --- -.. MOD

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  5. Tricky Dicky

    Tricky Dicky Don'tre member

    Last edited: Mar 21, 2021
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  6. vitellino

    vitellino Senior Member

    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
     
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