Garage founded by former PoW, Nefyn

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Link to Welsh translationGarage founded by former PoW, Nefyn

West End Garage in Nefyn was founded after the Second World War by Siegfried Nierada, who had come to the area as a German prisoner of war.

Nefyn’s prisoner of war camp was at Glan y Pwll, across the road from the garage site – then a field. About 40 German prisoners were moved from there to Anglesey in March 1948. Several former PoW’s later returned to the Llŷn Peninsula, where they had worked on farms and become friends with local people.

Siegfried married a Nefyn woman, Megan. The couple had two sons, Erhard and Mark. Erhard recalled in 2021 that his father never spoke about his life in Germany and role in the armed forces. Siegfried learned English after becoming a prisoner of war. He could follow Welsh conversations but was never fluent in Welsh.

He was sometimes asked to translate from German. In 1976 the authorities asked him to translate the label on a chemical drum found by the coastguard at Porthdinllaen. The drum contained a metal preservative made in West Germany and had probably fallen from a cargo ship in a storm.

West End Garage included petrol pumps and a shop. The covered facilities were later expanded for the garage’s new role as home to Nefyn Coaches, operator of local bus services and an MoT testing centre.

Postcode: LL53 6EG    View Location Map

Website of Nefyn Coaches (Facebook)