The Children Who Fought Hitler: a British Outpost in Europe Free

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We recommend Burning the Books by Richard Ovenden. Buy now. Delivery included to Germany. Includes delivery to Germany. Check for new and used marketplace copies. Few people know The Children Who Fought Hitler: A British Outpost in Europe Ypres, centre of First World War remembrance, was once home to a thriving British community that played a heroic role in the Second World War. This expatriate outpost grew around the British ex-servicemen who cared for the war memorials and cemeteries of 'Flanders Fields'. Many married local women and their children grew up multi-lingual, but attended their own school and were intensely proud to be British. When Germany invaded in the community was threatened: some children managed to escape, others were not so lucky. But, armed with their linguistic skills and local knowledge, pupils of the British Memorial School were uniquely prepared to fight Hitler in occupied territory and from Britain. Still in their teens, some risked capture, torture and death in intelligence and resistance operations in the field. An exceptional patriotism spurred them on to feats of bravery in this new conflict. Whilst their peers at home were being evacuated to the English countryside, these children were directly exposed to danger in one of the major theatres of war. James Fox was a pupil at the British Memorial School in and he has made it his mission to trace his former school friends. The Children Who Fought Hitler is their story: a war story about people from an unusual community, told from a fresh The Children Who Fought Hitler: A British Outpost in Europe human perspective. Skip Navigation and go to main content Bestsellers Books. Print this page. Used from other sellers Check for new and used marketplace copies. The Battle of the Atlantic Jonathan Dimbleby aut The Volunteer Jack Fairweather auth John Nicholas Vincent auth Inge's War Svenja O'Donnell auth John Murray Press. John Murray. The Children Who Fought Hitler: A British Outpost In Europe | Books | Entertainment |

That is not what the book describes. Only one character in the story, a boy called Stephen Grady who was 15 at the start of the Second World War, can truly be described as a child who fought Hitler and his role in the Belgian Resistance takes up a mere half chapter. The others were no longer children by the time they made their contributions to the war effort. Beyond that I have no complaints, for this is a compelling tale about an obscure British community in a corner of Western Europe that was broken up and cast into limbo by Nazi occupation. Sue Elliott has pieced together numerous testimonies with skill, The Children Who Fought Hitler: A British Outpost in Europe by Jimmy Fox, who grew up in the community and organised a reunion of his fellow school pupils in The first part of the book explains how this community came into being. In total these battles cost Britain and her empire the lives ofmen. At the same time a thriving trade in battlefield visits was under way bywith Michelin publishing guidebooks and Thomas Cook and others organising package tours. Many of those recruited to work as gravediggers and gardeners were former soldiers wishing to honour their fallen comrades as well as find secure employment. Some operated taxi services to take the bereaved pilgrims to the graves of their loved ones. Some married Belgian girls and started families. The policy-makers back in London saw the community that sprang up as another outpost of the empire. British newspapers were available the day after publication and BBC radio was within range. Veterans associations such as the Ypres League and the British Legion were active. At Ypres there was a cricket club, lodges for masons and buffaloes and eventually, with the help of monies subscribed by Old Etonians many of whose schoolfellows had perished at Ypresan Anglican chapel and an English school. The Children Who Fought Hitler: A British Outpost in Europe school was free but despite a shortage of accommodation and large classes of mixed-age pupils it followed the model of an English public school with an emphasis on strict discipline and prizes. When the Second World War began plans were drawn up for evacuation of the Ypres colony. With the invasion of the Low Countries in many of the gardeners and their families escaped to Britain via Calais and Dunkirk, although there were many close shaves and inevitable heart-rending separations. The young men from the community who reached Britain enlisted, while their parents struggled to survive, treated as foreign refugees. Most of those who remained in Ypres were placed in detention, with the men being sent to a mental asylum in Silesia and the women and children to an asylum near the Swiss lakes. The child who fought Hitler, the aforementioned Stephen Grady, worked for the Belgian Resistance, sabotaging bridges, railway lines, waterways and The Children Who Fought Hitler: A British Outpost in Europe. He even assassinated a German officer who threatened to expose his group. After the war some of the gardeners and their families returned to Belgium. He later jumped in front of an Underground train at Baker Street. Stephen Grady, whose father had been a gardener, studied horticulture at Wisley and enjoyed a year career with the Imperial War Graves Commission back in his native Belgium. But the Ypres colony was no more. At Ypres there was a cricket club, lodges for masons and buffaloes. Elaine Madden - Wikipedia

She died in in Pont-Saint-Esprit, France. Elaine was The Children Who Fought Hitler: A British Outpost in Europe couple's only child. Her mother was 32 and died of septicaemia after a miscarriage when Elaine was nine or ten. Speaking of this time Elaine said - [6]. When my mother died I was obliged to wear black and for the first six weeks I had to wear a long black veil. When I had my first Communion at the cathedral in Ypres I was the only one in black. All the other little girls were in white dresses, dressed up like brides, and there was me in my black veil which went down to the waist. Her father Larry's drinking, already a problem, was worsened by the loss of his wife. His work ended with the war graves commission in Marchalthough records don't say if he left or was dismissed. Elaine remembers him saying, "I don't want her [Elaine], she looks too much like her mother". Later, after continuing in a spiral of drinking and gambling the Duponselle family paid for Larry to go to Britain where he joined the army and Elaine lost touch with him. Following her father's rejection, Elaine was sent to live with her grandparents in Poperinghe. They owned the Palace Hotel on the Rue d' Ypres in the town. She was initially schooled at the British Memorial School in Ypres but her grandparents sent away to school at a boarding convent. There she had to wear a uniform of thick black stockings and an ankle length tunic. After only a few weeks there Elaine took a pair of scissors to her uniform, cutting the tunic knee length and stockings at the ankles. After this act of rebellion the convent asked her grandparents to remove her from the school and she re-joined the British school at Ypres. In her senior year at the school Elaine was appointed an 'Elder' which was a school prefect. Elaine became aware that her Belgian family cared for her out of obligation rather than choice. At the age of 16 she was pleased to get out to London where she attended secretarial college. However, on a Christmas visit to Poperinghe a quarrel erupted between her grandmother and Uncle Charles regarding The Children Who Fought Hitler: A British Outpost in Europe education. Upset at this Elaine said she wouldn't go back to college, the family wouldn't have to pay for her any further. At the age of 17, Elaine was engaged to Belgian officer Edgar Callant. Together with her 19 year old Aunt, Simone Duponselle, she set off for the coast where the pair took part in the Dunkirk Evacuation. Sheltering in a barn they were discovered by three British soldiersKnocker, Smudger and Gary. Although another source has the soldiers passing them in a car and offering a lift. Elaine recalled, "When we got to Dunkirk about 11pm, the whole place was on fire. I thought my last moment had come. The three men stood around them to help Elaine and Simone blend in. Gary told them, "Say you're the Dorsetsif you're challenged". The women were spotted when climbing down a rope ladder into a trawler, given away when their legs were noticed. However, the captain gave them his cabin when she said she was English. Stone, in Streatham. This work led her to study for her Red Cross certificates in Home Nursing and First Aid as she wanted to be of more practical assistance to casualties. Recalling the period Elaine said - [6]. I don't know why I wasn't more scared of the Blitz. I used to walk around The Children Who Fought Hitler: A British Outpost in Europe it and even when I was off-duty I'd take flasks of tea out to the firefighters. Some people would say, 'Wait till it's quietened down, there are still bombs out there', but I'd say, 'Not to worry, if one has my name on it, OK, well, then I go. Of course sometimes you had to leave people who were dead or too badly injured to be helped-that was quite horrific. But I wasn't scared. At the start of Elaine was twenty and living in Bayswater with a flatmate, Susan. However, with three languages and her knowledge of Belgium she felt she could be of greater service. Elaine mentioned her desire to be of greater service to an American officer who took the flatmates to lunch from time to time. He arranged a meeting for her at the American Embassy where a man was recruiting personnel for 'unspecified secret operations'. As she was British he said he would have to clear it with them in case they wanted to recruit her. There she became a member of the Belgian section. There she was given the cover name of Elaine Meeus she was also known as Imogen and Alice with different names again on her false papers. The course leader gave this assessment of Elaine: [6]. This girl has a good The Children Who Fought Hitler: A British Outpost in Europe, a confident manner, has a good imagination and is capable of taking decisive action She is neither a leader nor an organiser, but she is alert, efficient and methodical. At the same time, she is not above being helpless and feminine when the chance presents itself. She is sophisticated for her age and After undergoing further training Elaine parachuted back into Belgium in Augustone of only two women parachutists sent to the country. Madden was tasked with gathering intelligence on the V1 and V2 rocket launch sites. Her other mission was to protect and arrange the escape to Britain of Prince Charles of Belgium. The other member of the team was wireless operator Jacques Van de Spiegel. Madden had close shaves in her work, including being given a lift by a German officer while carrying a radio receiver. Remembering this period, Elaine said - [9]. I found the work much easier than I anticipated She was in Brussels on 3 September when the city was liberated and joined the celebrations. At one stage she and Wendelen were left guarding a British tank while The Children Who Fought Hitler: A British Outpost in Europe officer relieved some of his men. At that moment some Germans ran by, Wendelen fired his revolver while Elaine fired a gun on the tank. Neither hit their target, although Elaine believed she had damaged a monument. It was at this moment that Elaine learned that the important 'Monsieur Bernard', whom she had been accompanying while arranging passage to Britain, was non other The Children Who Fought Hitler: A British Outpost in Europe Prince Charles of Belgium. Elaine shocked as she had been critical of Prince Charles and his brother the King while speaking with 'Monsieur Bernard'. The group operated in the western Netherlands providing information to the Canadian First Army. During their service Elaine and Wendelen had become lovers. With the liberation the new Belgian government had offered him the role of Belgian Ambassador to Austria. Elaine explained The Children Who Fought Hitler: A British Outpost in Europe happened - [6]. I had no money-even less than he did. So he married a girl with money In her search of the camps she found only two survivors. Elaine was later awarded the Belgian Croix de Guerre. Just young and excited and willing to do anything except join the ATS! From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Elaine Madden. Sunday Express. Fox, James A. James Alfred Large print ed. Daily Express. Daily Mirror. The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 9 August Hidden categories: Use dmy dates from October Namespaces Article Talk. Views Read Edit View history. Help Learn to edit Community portal Recent changes Upload file. Download as PDF Printable version. Add links. United Kingdom. Second World War.