Memorial service to honour Sir Nicholas Winton

A memorial service will take place next week to celebrate the life and accomplishments of Sir Nicholas Winton, who died last year aged 106.

The event will take place on Thursday 19 May at London’s Guildhall in memory of the man known for masterminding the Kindertransport from Czechoslovakia in 1939 in which 669 mostly Jewish children were rescued by train across what was soon to be occupied Europe.

Many of the 669 children he rescued now have their own families and the number alive today as a result of his Kindertransports is believed to be in the region of 7,000.

The service will provide an opportunity for the many hundreds of people around the world who owe their lives to Sir Nicholas or who have been inspired by him to celebrate his achievements and to pay their respects to a British citizen who helped to make the world a better place.

Among the 400 people attending the service will be representatives from the Czech, Slovak and UK governments, from the German and Swedish Embassies in addition to 28 of the ‘children’ he saved including: Lord Alfred Dubs; Lady Milena Grenfell-Baines and Rev John Fieldsend.

Other ‘children’ have travelled from around the world together with their families and the descendants of ‘children’ who are now deceased making up a group of around 130.

The service will include contributions from Lord Dubs, himself one of the ‘children’, Dame Esther Rantzen, who’s TV programme first revealed the story to the public, four other ‘children’ who came to know Sir Nicholas well in later life and Michael Zantovsky, former Czech Ambassador to the Court of St James’s.