Seeking POW's Helmut Beckermeyer and Alfred Dekker

[paulcheall]

I am trying to trace two German prisoners of war whom my dad came into contact with in Egypt in 1943. They came from Bremen and were Alfred Decker or Dekker (?) and Helmut Beckermeyer. Following is an extract from my Dad's war memoirs:

"For a while, we had to guard thousands of German prisoners of war, who had been taken at Alamein. They looked really exhausted and were almost all about the same age as us and wanted to be sociable; it was not their fault they were at war and they seemed very pleased to have been taken prisoner. We would take out small working parties about the camp doing maintenance. Two of the young Germans in my party spoke very good English and were quite well educated, wanting to make conversation and I, rightly or wrongly, obliged. Their names were Helmut Beckermeyer and Alfred Decker, both from Bremen in northern Germany. They told me all about their families and homes, giving me their address. I formed the opinion that not all Germans were bad, the same as not all English are good, because I had come across some awful characters in my time in the army. Granted, we were at war, but I felt that if I had been a prisoner of war I would have appreciated my guard showing me some kindness, so my favourable reaction to the young Germans was to give them little treats, like biscuits and chocolate. These were soldiers just like us – Wermarkt not SS. Eventually, I wrote a letter to the parents of those boys, telling them that I had met their sons and that they were alive and well and happy to have been taken prisoner. Apparently, they had not known this news. The mother of Alfred Decker wrote back thanking me for my kindness and sent me their only photograph of Alfred. I still have the letter and snap among my souvenirs. God had been good to me and I felt I was upholding my faith by being kind to those lads, and I never regretted the action I took."
If anyone has any knowledge of these soldiers I would be very grateful indeed to hear from you.
Pictures of Alfred Dekker are at http://www.grimdetermination.co.uk/#/ph ... 4537215873