The Children who Fought Hitler

Few people know that 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 1940 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 1940 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 and human perspective.

“'essential reading'”

It's hard to come up with new, untold stories about World War Two, but this book succeeds in just that... [James Fox] has retraced all the individual stories with impressive detail and moving candour - Military Illustrated

Fascinating - Best of British

Extraordinary - Sunday Express

essential reading - Families Journal

A vivid slice of human history. - Independent on Sunday

James Fox was born in 1935 and was once one of the youngest pupils at the British Memorial School when it was evacuated in May 1940. After serving in the RAF with SHAPE in Paris he worked for NATO and in 1966 began a long and distinguished career with the Magnum Photos as Editor in Chief in New York and Paris. An accomplished photographer in his own right, he has published several volumes of photography. He lives in Paris.

Sue Elliott is the author of the bestselling social history of adoption, Love Child. She lives in west London.

Few people know that 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 1940 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 1940 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 and human perspective.

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