I can`t belive all that rubish was in that tent what a way to live,
Its a sad loss for wolverhampton, RIP Fred.

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jools
Take a look and you’ll see lots more rubbish in your own house than what Fred ever had, talk about pot calling kettle black.

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To Rob Banks, have you not read any of the stories on either this website or on facebook or even on Midlands Today last night, he lived this way because he wanted to this was his way, he was offered housing by the council many times and didn’t want to live in a house due to (possibly)something that affected him in the war. He was very well looked after in his way with local people leaving food, clothing and even new tents from time to time and he had medical help as and when he needed it.

So for anybody else who wants to point the finger about why he was treated this way and why nobody helped read the stories before you comment.

I would say most of Wolverhampton’s residents remember Fred with very kind thoughts and happy memories he was an icon in this City and everybody had a great respect for him.

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I remember a few years ago, the council offered him a home, but he refused – he wanted to stay where he was.

Sad that Wolverhampton’s eccentric characters like the Sisco Kid, Fred, are all being replaced with hoodies and yobs.. welcome to the ASBO generation. :(

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I wonder what Josef had gone through in that Russian prison camp- living outside on the ring road must have been his sanctuary- i hope he has found his inner peace now- i am glad he was allowed to live there- good people.

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God Bless Fred

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i was in w-ton last week and i went past the tent with my kids. and i was telling them the story about fred god bless fred

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aww it is a shame on the bloke he got offered a home but he rufused the home bless

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Aww It Was A Sham 4 Him He Gone 2 A Better Place Hold It “gether I Will See You In Heven :)

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he was safe he helped people clean the streets
rip man

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ill miss him so said kallum

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Fred never spoke much about anything, even to the man who claims to be one of his closest friends

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I feel sorry for the poor bloke.i carnt understand why he refused all them houses,he never meant to harm any1.peace be with him all the way.

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I canot believe the posts why is it a sad loss for wolverhampton is that our identity a “Tramp” God help us if it is.

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Hi Jools,
What do you mean “what a way to live”.The nicely dressed people from posh houses dropped all the crap on the streets that Fred had in his tent.
Out of sight, out of mind, eh?

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i think some children as school reps should be aloud to go to the funeral. a plack should be put up for him. no 1 can keep the ring road clean like him. bless.

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I really hope Fred has a good funeral, as he never did anyone any harm and just lived his life the way he wishes. Can’t believe some of the comments about him, he was obviously more popular than these bitter people will ever be. Rest in peace FRED.

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bless himm ):
proper shame likeee
legend
glad he’ll be rememberred (:!

i love you freddy!
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

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RIP Fred!
i hope his funeral is a guddun!
he deserves it!
aah!

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its sad now fred has gone i have been passed his tent so meny times ive seen him in the street sweeping its is sad god bless fred

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he was a sweet old man and didn’t do any harm to any body. it was sad when he died. REST IN PEACE xxx

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a remarkable man who opted to live life as he saw fit, one of wolverhamptons icons, who everybody knew, but nobody knew anything about,
society dreamed up the SS rumours to discredit the man,
wheres the proof ? there isnt any

GOD BLESS FRED
R.I.P.

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I find it really sad that on a page dedicated to Fred and his memory that people are quick to start calling him “scum” and making light with little more than hear-say.
I’m proud of Fred for doing what he did, for not turning into what the rest of this society have become and for doing what he wanted, not conforming to any governement – if only the rest of us could be so brave.
If Fred was really in such a dire situation I doubt he would’ve lived to the ripe old age of nearly 87, most do not get so long even in the best comforts. It just goes to prove that a bit of dirt never hurt anybody!
You can’t force anyone to live a life they don’t want to, hence the reason Fred never did live in a council house, and if someone wants to live that way why should the council or anybody else be put as “to blame” for that persons own actions – I sometimes think people in our lovely society think they should have a nursemaid because they can’t be held accountable for their own actions, heaven forbid!
But anyway – for Fred, RIP, you will be missed by all and were a landmark to Wolves – things will never be quite the same again. X

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We all love(d) Fred because our society has gone to hell in its pursuit of material wealth and comfort. We need someone to remind us of how vulnerable we really are. Someone remarked on ‘all the rubbish’ but look at your own life and see how much unneccessary crap you live with.
It’s easy to like Fred. But ask yourself, if he was living next door to you would you feel the same?
Was Fred your neighbour? Really? Think about it and face up to all this hypocrisy.

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A true character who was accepted by the city, Fred was a part of Wolverhampton, a memorial stone should be placed at the site where he lived for so long.

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i was always amazed at how he could live like that, something bad must have happened to him for him to change so drastically, its a sad loss to our city
R.I.P X

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Its such a shame, poor man. rest in peace fred. you will be missed by alot of people. Good Night soilder and sleep well.

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rest in peace for ever god bless you luv paul gilchrist xxx

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R.I.P Fred,
I am proud of Fred as he kept his self to him self, he never caused no harm 2 no1 if anyfink people brought harm to him, Fred may of bin named as “the TRAMP of Wolverhamptom” but people look at yourselves do you brush the streets and keep the enviroment clean the way Fred did “NO” I hope Fred gets a good send off as she deserves it…
R.I.P Fred xx

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Most of these comments are lovely to see, that people did care…
Starting to get a feeling like it’s Wolverhamptons very own Princess Di, with a lot of emotional outpouring – nice.
I don’t live there anymore but make sure he has a decent funeral and a bloody good turn out!!
Dave.

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MY HUSBANDS GRANDFATHER FOUGHT IN WORLD WAR 1 AND 2 AND WHEN HE DIED HE GOT NO MEMORIAL SO WHAT DID FRED DO THAT WAS SO SPECIAL THAT MR R KEMP DID NOT DO AND MR R KEMP FOUGHT FOR OUR COUNTRY NOT SOMEONE ELSES. IT IS A SHAME WHEN SOMEONE DIES BUT EVERYBODY DOES WHY SHOULD WE ALL GO OUT OF OUR WAY TO DO SOMETHING SPECIAL WHEN HE DIDNT EVEN WANT ANYTHING WHEN HE WAS ALIVE SO I THINK IF PEOPLE WOULD LIKE TO DO A FUND FOR HIS MEMORIAL THEY SHOULD BUT THE COUNCIL HAS OTHER ISSUES WITH PEOPLE WHO ARE ALIVE AND WHO HAVE FOUGHT FOR US TO KEEP THIS COUNTRY ALIVE THINK ABOUT ALL THE OAPS WHO NEED OUR HELP AND ARE TRUE TO THIS COUNTRY. HE WAS NO SAINT A NEWSPAPER ARTICLE WILL DO

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I found out this old man had died watching BBC World this morning here in Mexico. I grew up close by in Wolves – everyone knew about him but I didn’t know why he was there, till now.

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they should build a monument of a tent in memory of fred so the road will always look the same.

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Lived in Wolves all my life, he was just part of the Town. Will be missed.

The ring road will be weird without him. I bet it won’t be as clean either!

RIP Fred!

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Does it matter if he was part of the SS or not. When are the people of today going to let the war that many of us were nothing to do with just fade into the past and live the lives we have today?

I was born in Wolvo although I do not live there now. I remember Fred/Jusef/Joseph/Jo or whatever you know him by. I saw him ofetn and in a way envied his life. Inner peace,freedom. Maybe we all should take a leaf from his book and worry about what is important rather than what we assume is important.

If the world had more people like him we would benefit instead of having opinionated,vile,poisoness,backstabbing people that we seem to all live by in todays society.

God Bless Fred

If your memory helps one person to change their ways then your price has been paid for whatever you may or may not have done.

In my eyes you were a man of honour.

May you rest alongside those who lost their lives in the war for you surely lost yours then too.

Best Wishes

Pete

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To the Council – Please lets give Fred a respectful service and a memorial. Thanks to the council for their understanding.

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I Think fred should have the best funeral ever and a great memorial left where he lived.He swept every day round where he lived.Hope he is now at rest.I know like other people of wolverhampton and surrounding areas that my husband and myself would like to attend his funeral if at all possible.So rest in peace fred,we will never forget u.xxx

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we love you, and will miss you dearly my old friend x

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Can please Fred be a proper person even he doesn’t exist any more , he was an angel like other martyr.
could please the council and the temple always remember him.

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May ‘Fred’s’ soul rest in peace. If anyone is really interested in reading about a true WW2 hero, they might like to read about St. Maximilian Kolbe, also a Pole.

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during WW2 the SSWaffen did recruit members of the countries in the occupied territories. In the early years these were young men and women enthusiastic to the cause .They were not however given full SS status .Although it is well documented that countries such as Latvia , Lithuania, Estonia , Norway, Hungary and others had organisations of this kind , I am not aware of any Polish corp. in the latter years of the war following the Russian westward advance, the Germans may well have recruited or perhaps coerced is a better word , a number of young Poles to fight against the advancing Russian armies .These recruits are not considered to be war criminals under international law and are given the status of ordinary soldiers.If Josef was one of these unfortunates then there is a possibility that he may well have been captured and jailed by the Russians .Finally there is no historical evidence to suggest that any members of these “occupied groups ” had anything to do with the extermination programmes carried out by the Nazis. Hitler and his SS cronies simply did not trust “foreigners ” to carry out such a task .

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I remember seeing Fred and his tent in the early 90′s. Kudos to Wolverhampton for allowing Fred to live the life he chose in peace for so many years. May he find eternal peace.

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Anyone who resides in Wton for 30 years deserves a medal definatly, Its like the Gaza Strip.

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I moved away from Wolves many years ago, but grew up in wolves upuntil my early 20′s. I always looked for his tend whenever I drove past and still do whenever I visit my folks…Wolverhampton has lost a icon and He’ll never be forgoten. Fred is now a part of Wolverhampotons History..Rest in peace Fred.

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Rrrrrr
It Propa Sad I Used To Go Past Him Every Day It Is A Sad Loss For Wolvo
R.I.P Fred We All Love You =]
xxx

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Hey Craig, i’d love to see u live 30 years out there. Bet u couldn’t even last 30 seconds.

Give Josef some respect would ya, he lived his life the way he wanted to live it and nobody has the right to say he shouldn’t have lived there.

Like i said before i’d like to see u last 30 years out there.

Such a shame to lose Fred to pneumonia,

God Bless and R.I.P Josef

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At the end of the day most people who fought in the world wars were ‘conscripted’. For those of you who don’t know, that means they had no choice but to be recruited into the army, otherwise they would be sent to prison and branded as lazy, a traitor to their country etc etc. This also happened to the Polish, as it has been mentioned here already. No-one really knows ‘Fred’s’ story, however it’s more than likely that he saw so many atrocities, if he really WAS a war vet, that it would have deeply affected him both mentally and emotionally. Who knows what kind of memories and nightmares he had to battle with day and night. He does deserve a memorial or some kind of memory, as do all the other vets who get remembered on Poppy day etc. I bet no-one bothers to remember the german soldiers who were FORCED to fight? So many people forget that often wars are fought by the people who didn’t want to fight, and wars are ALWAYS caused by the people who will NEVER fight. ‘Fred’ is being remembered in exactly the right way – hopefully now he has found some kind of happiness and has been released from his torment.

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AWWW

RIP X

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