Kazimierz Cheveski was a native of Poland. Husband of Biasia and father of Ivan, the family fled their home after the Occupation and arrived in Britain as refugees to live with Kazimierz's brother Rizhard in Warrington. Both men found work at the local steelworks but were persecuted by the locals who saw them as taking jobs away from returning servicemen. After Kazimierz was killed during an industrial accident, Ivan took his father's job at the steelworks at the age of fourteen.