AN ABERGAVENNY man who guarded Adolf Hitler’s deputy, Rudolf Hess, when he was a prisoner of war in the town, has died.

Joe Clifford watched over Hess from 1942 when he arrived at Maindiff Court Military Hospital and PoW Reception Centre, outside Abergavenny, until 1945, when he was flown to Nuremberg to stand trial for crimes against humanity.

Mr Clifford, who lived at Avenue Road nursing home and was a former NHS worker, died after a short illness on June 10.

Father Thomas Regan, of Our Lady and St Michael’s Church, described Mr Clifford as “a lovely man, humble”, who never missed church, no matter what the weather, and never spoke about his role with Hess.

He said: “He was personable, discreet and humble and most people didn’t know he had been Hess’ guard until a newspaper article was published a few years ago.”

Hess made a dramatic midnight flight to the UK in 1941, supposedly to try to broker a peace deal between Britain and Nazi Germany.

He was initially held in the Tower of London, but taken to Maindiff Court – a former mental hospital – in 1942.

Mr Clifford guarded Hess in Surrey in 1941 and moved with him to Abergavenny, making the town his home.

In 1945 Hitler’s deputy was flown to Nuremberg, where he was handed a life sentence for war crimes.

He died, aged 93, at Spandau Prison, Berlin, in August 1987.

Mr Clifford’s funeral will be at Our Lady and St Michael’s Church on Tuesday, June 21, at 2pm.