Czechoslovakia. 1942. A building in the village of Miretin. On the photograph is written "Praveuv ...

Czechoslovakia. 1942. A building in the village of Miretin. On the photograph is written "Praveuv mlyn, Nove Hrady" meaning "Praveuv Mill, New Hrady". Praveuv being the name of the mill. Private Lawrence Phillip Saywell, 17th Brigade Company, Australian Army Service Corps, 26403 Private Sydney O. C. (Mac) Kerkham of New Zealand stayed here between 18 February 1945 and 15 April 1945, after they escaped with two Russians from Kommando E7010 (a prison camp in Bohemia). The villagers of Miretin sheltered the escapees, and in return Saywell, Kerkham and the Russians offered to assist the Czech partisans in their sabotage operations. Private Saywell was murdered - shot in the head by a German SS Patrol on 8 May 1945 (VE Day). He is buried in the Evangelical Cemetery in Miretin, Czechoslovakia. Five months after his death, a memorial was erected in his honour by the "grateful inhabitants of the village of Miretin". In November 1945, the President of the Czechoslovak Republic awarded Private Saywell the Czechoslovak Military Cross for his "brave and eminent services to our State in the battle for liberation".