Date of birth:

July 9th, 1920 (Springs/Transvaal South)

Date of death:

November 7th, 1944 (Bologna/Emilia-Romagna. Italy)

Buried on:

Commonwealth War Cemetery Faenza
Plot: VII. Row: B. Grave: 3.

Service number:

207086V

Nationality:

South African

Spitfire Pilot, Lieutenant
South African Air Force, 1 Squdron

Son of Abraham and Celia Schneider of Springs, Transvaal. His Spitfire was hit by anti-aircraft fire near Bologna on 22 August 1944 and he was forced to abandon his plane. He was helped by local farmers and joined the Italian partisans under the pseudonym “John Klemlen”.

On 7 November 1944, the partisans in Bologna decided to revolt because of the approaching Allied troops. John Klemlen died that day in the battle that would go down in history as “the Battle of Porta Lame” and was buried in the Commonwealth Cemetery in Faenza in 1947.

Every year on 7 November, the commemoration of the battle of Porta Lame also mentions his name and Italians lay flowers on his grave. In Bologna, a city garden near the Porta Lame is named after him.

Do you have more information about this person? Inform us!

• - https://anpiimola.it/la-vera-storia-di-samuel-schneider-aviatore-sudafricano-eroe-a-porta-lame/ - https://samilhistory.com/tag/partisans/ - https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/2237809/s-schneider/

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