Date of birth:

January 27th, 1921 (Gilze en Rijen, the Netherlands)

Date of death:

February 9th, 1945 (Nederland)

Nationality:

Dutch

Leo was born on January 27, 1921 in the municipality of Gilze en Rijen and lives in Alem. He is the younger son of Jan Klingen and the younger brother of Jozef and Tilly. He works as a bread baker's servant and became active in the resistance during the occupation years, after his brother was executed by the Germans in February 1942. He joins Knokploeg-Lith.

Leo narrowly escapes death when in September 1944 his father and sister are arrested and executed at home with a person in hiding; Leo is also sought during that action, but then turns out not to be present. Fleeing from the Germans, he goes into hiding for the next few months.

On February 9, 1945, Leo tries to reach the Allied armies by swimming across the Waal near Nijmegen. It is unclear exactly how he died. The Germans stretched wires along the bank that fired a machine gun as soon as the swimmers hit it. Leo presumably triggered such a trap during the crossing and was shot dead as a result. Leo turned 24 years old.

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• Photo 1: Oorlogsgravenstichting
• - OGS Gedenkboek 36 - Amersfoort, Vught, Westerbork, Oorlogsgravenstichting.
  - ANNETTE OUDEJAND, Een familie in het verzet, Orlando, 2018.
  - HEUVEL, C.C. VAN DEN e.a., Verzetsherdenkingskruis, Samsom Uitgeverij, 1985.
  - Leo Klingen, Gilze en Rijen 1921 | In Memoriam | Brabantse Gesneuvelden 1940 - 2021
  

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