Camp Intelligence Officer
and
Interpreter

• My father was born Erhard Wilhelm Wolf SAAR in 1921 in the then-German city of STETTIN [ now Szczecin, Poland], where his father was stationed as a regular soldier.
• His mother was from Stettin originally.
• However, when my father was a toddler his parents divorced and my father went to live with his grandparents and his father in the centre of Berlin.
• His grandfather was a master tailor and had a flourishing business in Berlin.
• My father lived there until 1934 when, as a 13 year old, he was sent out of Germany by his family.
• The situation was becoming increasingly dangerous - since not only were the family jewish, but my grandfather was a known anti-Nazi activist in the Communist party and he was being persecuted for his political activities.
• My father travelled alone to England - under the protection of the Quakers, who brought many children and adults out of Germany in the 1930's.
• He travelled by sea, via the Hook of Holland and Harwich and eventually ended up in Manchester with a jewish family who fostered him for a while.
• He went to a grammar school in Manchester and retained very fond memories of his time with this foster family.
• He left school at 15 or 16 and went into horticultural and agricultural training, which were the only types of training "enemy aliens" were allowed to do in the late 1930s.
• From 1938 until 1940 he worked for the Cooperative Wholesale society in Cheshire as a trainee.
• In the late 1930s he changed his name to Edward LEES, taking the name of a family he was lodging with in Cheshire.
• In 1940 he was interned for 6 weeks in the Liverpool area.
• On release he joined the Pioneer Corps.
• In 1943 he was transferred to the Royal Fusiliers and then recruited to the Special Operations Executive (S.O.E.) in November 1943.
• After extensive training he was commissioned as a Lieutenant in early 1944 and later promoted to Captain.
• During his service in the SOE, he was parachuted into the Dolomites in Northern Italy where he worked with local partisans on sabotage missions.
• His speciality was setting explosives and he was nicknamed "il Dynamitard" by the Italians.
• He remained in Italy until the end of the war.
• In 1945 he was posted to Special Camp 11 as an intelligence officer and interpreter with the rank of Captain in the regular Army.

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Over recent years more information has come to light and consequently, with the utmost respect to Captain Lees' daughter for providing me with the initial information originally, I have written the below account which fills in, adds to and corrects any information:

• Name: Erhard Wilhelm Wolf SAAR
• Date Of Birth: 12th June 1921
• Place of Birth: Stettin, Germany.
• As per the "Conditional Landing" document, dated 12th June 1934, Erhard landed in Great Britain via the S.S Amsterdam on his 13th birthday.
• He was placed in the care of Miss Dorothy Haines and was to stay at an address in Welwyn Garden City.
• The document suggests that Erhard's father was already living in Great Britain.

A letter dated 24th August 1934 states that Erhard's father was being held in a concentration camp and Erhard was living with a family in Manchester. The letter requested an extension of his 4-month stay in Great Britain.

In 1936 Erhard attended Manchester Grammar School and was granted further extensions of his permit to remain in the UK through the Society of Friends Germany Emergency Committee.

On 6th September 1939, Erhard was granted the right to remain in the UK until 31 August 1940. At this time, he was training in horticulture and employed at the Co-operative Wholesale Society. He was classified as an "Alien" from an enemy country.

With the outbreak of war, "Aliens" were considered a potential security risk and faced internment. On 27th October 1939, Erhard was exempted from internment as his status was classified as a refugee opposed to the Nazi regime.

In the summer of 1940, the policy changed and Erhard was interned for 6 weeks in Liverpool. He chose to join the Auxiliary Military Pioneer Corps on 23rd September 1940 as an alternative to continued internment.

Name: Edward Lees
Service Number: 13803191
Age: 23 years
On 23rd September 1940, Edward joined the 253 Company Auxiliary Military Pioneer Corps. After training, he joined the Royal Fusiliers and was then recruited to the Special Operations Executive (SOE) on 27th February 1943.

His promotions were:

• 13th August 1944 - 2nd Lieutenant 325150
• 13th February 1945 - War Substantive Lieutenant

On 24th June 1945, Edward was posted to Camp 96 in Staffordshire as an interpreter.