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'Enemies' become best of friends

Ruhubia Akbor
14/ 5/2008

GERMAN prisoner of war Vinzenz Miere made an emotional return to Oldham 25 years ago this week to visit a local family who had taken him under their wing at the end of the Second World War.

The ties forged between the then 20-year-old prisoner and the Jackson family has spanned decades. Generations later, the two families still have strong ties and regularly visit each other. Another reunion, this time in Germany, has been organised for later in the year.

Pat, now Mrs Hellon, of Livingstone Street, Lees, first came face to face with German soldiers when they visited her parents’ home on Spring Lane, Springhead, two years after the end of the war.

Jack and Edith Jackson opened their family home to three prisoners from the nearby Glen Mill PoW Camp. The family welcomed Vinzenz, August Shipperz and Paul Preufs with open arms when Pat was just eight years old.

Pat, now aged 68, remembered: "My dad worked at Glen Mill, and got chatting to a guard when it was decided that they could let some of the good prisoners out, so he applied for a visit.

"Our next-door neighbour advised dad to have them over. He’d been in Germany and he’d been treated very well and said we should do the same for prisoners over here."

At its peak Glen Mill, on Wellyhole Street, housed more than 6,000 men. It was one of the first and largest camps in Britain.

On each of the first three floors 2,000 prisoners slept in bunks three-tiers high and inches apart. The top floor was used as a hospital, and the officers who had been captured lived in tents.

It was not until December 1946 that fraternisation with local people was officially allowed. On February 14, 1947, Jack received a letter from the Commandant, Lt Col Tanner, allowing ‘safe’ prisoners to visit unsupervised.

What followed were weeks of visits which forged the foundation of long-lasting relationships.

Although August and Paul have died, Pat is still in regular contact with Vinzenz and is going to Germany in the summer.

"He’s like a brother to me," she said, looking through old pictures of the three soldiers.

"I was 13 years old when I went to visit August and Paul for the first time. Then when my son Paul was three, along with my husband Hector, we went as a family and have been going ever since.

"We’re just like family. We’re treated like family whenever we go over and our son has started visiting Vinzenz’s daughter so it’s still going on.

"I don’t know of any other people locally who have kept in touch for so long."

A young Pat used to look forward to her new friends’ visits and despite communication being difficult they all got on like a house on fire.

"They used to take me for walks and come for me at school. They weren’t allowed on the buses so they walked all the way to Shaw to pick me up.

"I used to go and wait under the railway bridge for them and they’d come round for tea.

They called my mum ‘mummy’ and loved the English food, not believing the meals she cooked up from the rations.

"They liked to keep themselves busy. My mum was the first one in Lees with a fitted kitchen as they made it out of old wood.

"Vinzenz was the best English speaker, Paul used to like books and August was very hands-on.

"We communicated with hand gestures – it was second nature. We were like family straight away."

But their visits didn’t go down well with everyone. Although the war was over, the prisoners were still resented by some.

Pat explained: "There was quite a lot of hostility. When the prisoners walked from the railway station people used to throw eggs and everything – it was just so awful. But dad just thought they were normal people.

"They were just young lads, they weren’t Nazis.

"It taught me to believe there’s good and bad in everything and I was never sorry because I could speak to anybody.

"When my husband first started going he was very unsure but now it breaks his heart when we have to come home.

"I don’t think anyone should think ill of any prisoner. They should see the good and bad side and see everyone for what they’re really like."

Vinzenz is now 83 and living in Trier, in western Germany.

He was captured near Dunkirk on D-Day and shipped to Glen Mill where he spent two years.

He has visited Oldham twice though is no longer fit for the long journey.

Pat said: "He loved it but always had to go back to the spare land where the mill once stood. It did get quite emotional.

"He won’t be coming back again but we’ll continue to visit and hopefully the next generation will continue the tradition."

In the news, 25 years ago

• A 14-year-old schoolboy feared to be dead was given a prodigal son’s welcome after being missing for 19 months. Dustine ‘Dusty’ Boff, of Shaw Road, ran away from home because of school bullies. After being taken to Ireland by friends the youngster led a gypsy’s life before feeling homesick and returning to Oldham. His father Brian said: "We’re absolutely delighted and we are planning a big celebration. Dusty speaks in a fluent Irish brogue now."
• An eleventh hour discovery helped a Saddleworth church save its ‘promised land’. The congregation at Christ Church, Friezland, had been battling for months to try and stop the bulldozers moving in on the field next door. But an ancient document, referring to an old promise made by the original owners, could save the day. Legal experts were call in to study the extract. Rev Hirst said: "It is absolutely marvellous that the deeds have turned up. But local people are not building up too much hope until the deeds have been proved."
• Local postie Susan O’Neill certainly knew how to get letters delivered to the right addresses after being named Miss Postcode 1983. The Hollinwood resident was chosen for her knowledge of local postcodes and went on to represent the Post Office at functions and carnivals.
• Stephen Shaw, who lived in Shaw and was sponsored by Shaw Lubricants, was banking on a ‘Shaw-fired’ success. The out-of-work butcher’s string of names-the-same coincidences had won him financial backing for his favourite hobby. The 23-year-old had been looking for a company who shared his name to be his sponsor for motorcycling racing. The management at the Huddersfield-based firm decided they couldn’t refuse and offered to pay Stephen’s entrance fees and supply him with equipment.