A wireless operator in the Royal Corps of Signals during the liberation of France in WWII, Tony Atcherley was awarded the Légion d‘Honneur in 2015, the highest accolade of military recognition.

He graduated with a Certificate of Philosophy at Birkbeck’s then Faculty of Continuing Education in the 1950s. Back then, it was difficult to go to university if you didn’t have the normal background of completing a grammar school education and so on. The only chance anyone had was Birkbeck. It had a fine reputation, and some famous historians were there. It was full of very distinguished scholars.

Tony became a secondary school teacher of English and Religious Studies and then a lecturer at the University of Brighton. After retiring he co-wrote  Hitler’s Gay Traitor: The Story of Ernst Roehm, Chief of Staff of the S.A with Mark Carey. He died in 2017.