Under heavy artillery fire I used my own weapon and I sent my guard where he belonged
Senior Warrant Officer in retirement Vladislav Klečka was born January 24, 1922 in Dolní Tošanovice near Český Těšín in the then Czechoslovakia. After completing elementary school he worked for the railways and in 1942 he was drafted to the wehrmacht as a Volksdeutsche. Vladislav underwent training in Germany and then he was assigned to La Rochelle and other places in France. Vladislav also took part in guarding the Atlantic Wall. After the Allied landing in Normandy on June 6, 1944 when his unit was retreating from France, Vladislav deserted near the city of Lille and he defected to the Allied army. He was captured by American soldiers and subsequently interned in Naples in Italy. While there, he established contact with the Czechoslovak military mission. It was agreed that he would be transported to Liverpool in England, where he then joined the 1st Czechoslovak Armoured Brigade on November 4, 1944. With this brigade he took part in the siege of the French port Dunkerque. When the operation was over, Vladislav returned to Czechoslovakia with his unit and he began working for the railways again. He worked as a telegraph operator, station dispatcher and eventually as a stationmaster. He lived in Pilsen, died on July, 27th, 2017.