Biography

At the time, unaccompanied children were not permitted entry to Britain, so he had to convince the British government to change the regulation. He succeeded, one of the conditions being the posting of a bond to ensure that the children would not become a public charge. He found families to take in the children, and raised money to finance their transport.

He was awarded the MBE (Member of the Order of the British Empire) in the 1983 Queen's Honours List for his charitable services to the elderly and the establishment of the Abbeyfield Houses before being awarded Knight Bachelor of the Order of the British Empire in the 2003 Queen's New Years Honors List for his services to humanity in saving Jewish Children from Nazi Occupied Czechoslovakia from 1937 to 1939.

In May 2014, he celebrated his 105th birthday with a party. Of the 100 or so guests, most had been passengers on his trains, along with their families.

When WWII started, he joined the Red Cross as an ambulance driver, and was evacuated from the beaches of Dunkirk during the Allied retreat. He later returned to France as a Royal Air Force pilot. After the war, he worked for various international organizations, among them the International Refugee Organization and the U.S. Marshall Plan.

On March 14, 1939, the first of his trains left Prague. The next day, the Germans occupied the rest of the country. Fortunately, they allowed the trains (which they called Kindertransports) to keep on rolling.