Wartime resistance heroine and concentration camp survivor,she received many honours for her bravery during the Second World War.Despite being starved,ridiculed and used as a human guinea pig for medical experiments at the Ravensbruck concentration camp,in Germany,she survived to build a new life for herself in North Staffordshire,with her Tunstall born soldier husband.Born in Belgium,she was working as a courier for the Belgium Resistance at the age of 13.In her German occupied birth town of Leuvan,she would deliver secret information to military personnel,while at home she would help care for Allied air men sheltered from the Germans by her family.In 1944,her family were betrayed to the Gestapo,and following a brutal raid on her home,she was sent to the notorious Ravensbruck concentration camp.When she developed gangrene in her leg,she was moved to the camp's contagious block,and was forced to take part in medical experiments.She was in the camp for 18 months before it was liberated by the Russians.On the day she returned to Leuvan,she met her husband,British Sergeant Sydney Clews,from Tunstall.The couple married and returned to England in 1945,Sydney Clews died in 1994.
Among the honours accepted by Mrs Clews were five medals from the Belgium government,a certificate thanking her for helping the Royal Air Force,Royal Canadaian Air Force,and Allied Air Crew,and the Partisan Medal from the Belgium Partisan Association.She also received the Freedom of the cities of London and Stoke-on-Trent.
Among the honours accepted by Mrs Clews were five medals from the Belgium government,a certificate thanking her for helping the Royal Air Force,Royal Canadaian Air Force,and Allied Air Crew,and the Partisan Medal from the Belgium Partisan Association.She also received the Freedom of the cities of London and Stoke-on-Trent.
Wartime resistance heroine and concentration camp survivor,she received many honours for her bravery during the Second World War.Despite being starved,ridiculed and used as a human guinea pig for medical experiments at the Ravensbruck concentration camp,in Germany,she survived to build a new life for herself in North Staffordshire,with her Tunstall born soldier husband.Born in Belgium,she was working as a courier for the Belgium Resistance at the age of 13.In her German occupied birth town of Leuvan,she would deliver secret information to military personnel,while at home she would help care for Allied air men sheltered from the Germans by her family.In 1944,her family were betrayed to the Gestapo,and following a brutal raid on her home,she was sent to the notorious Ravensbruck concentration camp.When she developed gangrene in her leg,she was moved to the camp's contagious block,and was forced to take part in medical experiments.She was in the camp for 18 months before it was liberated by the Russians.On the day she returned to Leuvan,she met her husband,British Sergeant Sydney Clews,from Tunstall.The couple married and returned to England in 1945,Sydney Clews died in 1994.
Among the honours accepted by Mrs Clews were five medals from the Belgium government,a certificate thanking her for helping the Royal Air Force,Royal Canadaian Air Force,and Allied Air Crew,and the Partisan Medal from the Belgium Partisan Association.She also received the Freedom of the cities of London and Stoke-on-Trent.
Among the honours accepted by Mrs Clews were five medals from the Belgium government,a certificate thanking her for helping the Royal Air Force,Royal Canadaian Air Force,and Allied Air Crew,and the Partisan Medal from the Belgium Partisan Association.She also received the Freedom of the cities of London and Stoke-on-Trent.
