Sir Nicholas Winton was born in Hampstead, London in 1909. For nine months in 1939 he rescued 669 children from Czechoslovakia, bringing them to the UK, thereby sparing them from the horrors of the Holocaust. Sir Nicholas died in July 2015, aged 106.

Winton, alongside a few volunteers – including his mother – worked tirelessly to arrange everything the children needed, including finding host families and raising funds to cover the travel expenses of the children.

On Kristallnacht (9 and 10 November 1938), the Nazis had initiated a campaign of hatred against the Jewish population in all Nazi territories. An estimated 91 Jews were killed, 30,000 were arrested, and 267 synagogues were destroyed. Following this, the British government relaxed its immigration laws and agreed to allow in a limited number of children from Germany and Austria.

This programme was known as the Kindertransport, and some 10,000 children were successfully brought to Britain. Winton asked the British government to allow some Czech children to come into the UK as well; permission was granted on the condition that each child was matched to a host family who would care for the children until they were 18, and each child had to have a guarantee of £50 paid by their family.

Winton travelled to Czechoslovakia where he was sent by Doreen Warriner to see several refugee camps. Blake and Warriner were both working with an organisation to help relocate the adults, and Winton quickly realised that something had to be done to rescue the children who were caught up in the situation. He simply could not stand by.

Winton was subsequently awarded many honours, including a knighthood, the Freedom of the Cities of both Prague and London, and the Order of the White Lion, the Czech Republic’s highest honour.

It was Winton's actions, and those of his colleagues, including Trevor Chadwick and Doreen Warriner, who compiled lists of the children and travelled with them on the trains, that prevented them from meeting the same fate.

During the war, Nicholas Winton became an ambulance driver, before joining the RAF. After the war Winton joined the International Bank in Paris where he met his wife, Grete. They had three children, one of whom sadly died the day before his seventh birthday. After he retired, Winton spent much of his time doing voluntary work, having been president of the Maidenhead branch of Mencap for over 40 years and co-founder and president of the Abbeyfield Maidenhead Society.

Sir Nicholas Winton was an inspiration to many people, all around the world. He humbly insisted that anyone would have done the same. But they didn't. Most people stood by.