This is posted on behalf of Alan Parkinson from Australia, who is researching this subject. If anyone can help, please let us know.
I am interested in an episode in the early part of World War II which concerns some 2,000 or more Germans and Austrians who escaped Nazi Germany to England at the outbreak of war. After some time in England they were transported to Australia aboard HMT Dunera. While they were in England, a group was housed at Brentwood in Church Lane, Marple and it is this group which interests me.
I grew up in Strines and at the time, my father Robert Parkinson was a part-time (wartime) policeman attached to the Marple Police Station. The refugees were required to report at intervals to the Police, and through that my parents came to know several of the group. One of the refugees returned to Marple probably during the war and was employed in munitions work in Manchester. I can remember his name, Josef Thiele, and some of the others; Walter Zion and Paul Wolfe.
On arrival in Australia, the refugees were all put aboard a train and sent to Hay in the centre of New South Wales. I visited Hay a couple of weeks ago and found Josef Thiele's name in a resource book. Nothing remains of the camp which housed these people, but there is a small commemorative stone at the site. From Hay, they were all moved to Tatura in Victoria and I will be visiting Tatura in the next few weeks to further my search.
I will be visiting Marple again in June, and would like to follow the story a little further, to make the connection between Marple, Hay, and Tatura. I might also include something about the journey onboard the Dunera, which apparently was not a pleasant experience. Army guards on the ship were later prosecuted for plundering the refugees (Manchester Guardian 1 Oct 1940).
If you have any records which might help me to identify those who were housed in Brentwood, or can point me towards any other records which could help me in my search, could you please advise me. While I am mostly interested in finding out the names, any other pieces of information, such as on their backgrounds would be helpful and interesting.
I have been in contact with Marple Police Station and that led to contact with Mike Walsh of Greater Manchester Police. I also contacted Cheshire Constabulary in Chester and that led to contact with Jane Gregory of Cheshire police. It was Jane who gave me your contact details and your web address which I will visit to see if I can find anything.
Any assistance you can give me would be much appreciated.
Alan Parkinson
