King's Most Loyal Enemy Aliens
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Most of the Germans and Austrians who fought with the British were Jews but a significant number were political opponents of the Nazi regime and so-called 'degenerate artists'. They arrived in Britain between 1933 and 1939, and at the outbreak of war on 3 September 1939 became enemy aliens. They volunteered to serve in the British forces, donned the King's uniform, swore allegiance to George VI and became affectionately known as the King's most loyal enemy aliens. This compelling story includes previously unpublished interviews with veterans and an impressive selection of archive photographs, many of which are reproduced for the first time.
Helen Fry PhD is an honorary research fellow in the Department of Hebrew and Jewish Studies at University College, London. During her research for her recent book Jews in North Devon during the Second World War (Halsgrove, 2005), she discovered that one in seven of the German and Austrian refugees who found shelter in Britain prior to 1939 enlisted in the British forces in the Second World War. It was this discovery that set her on the trail of 'The King's Most Loyal Enemy Aliens'. Helen is also the author of a number of articles for specialist journals on aspects of Jewish history. She lives in Devon.