The Undying Flame: Olympians Who Perished in the Second World War

Over 60,000,000 people died worldwide during the course of the Second World War and, in contrast to those slaughtered in The Great War, it was civilian populations that bore the brunt. They perished in the Holocaust, in internment camps, in bombed towns and cities and as collateral damage’, in war zones, such as the Eastern Front and in Asia. Among this carnage were hundred of individuals of all nations who had competed in Olympic Games. Imagine the loss of so many of the world’s greatest sportsmen and women of the present era. The author has painstakingly researched the lives, achievements and circumstances of death of almost five hundred athletes of the period. While many were household names at the time, this exceptional work honours these fallen Olympians and reminds us of the futility and wastefulness of war. AUTHOR: Born in 1953, Nigel McCrery travelled extensively during his childhood as his father was in the RAF. They settled in Nottingham. He served in the Nottinghamshire Constabulary between 1978 and 1987. He then read History at Trinity College, Cambridge and joined the BBC graduate entry course. He has written or been responsible for a number of highly successful BBC series and films including Silent Witness, New Tricks and All The King’s Men. He has written over a dozen novels. Into Touch - Rugby Players Killed in The Great War, Final Wicket - Cricketers Killed in The Great War , The Coming Storm - Test and First Class Cricketers Killed in World War Two and The Extinguished Flame - Olympians Killed in the Great War are in print with Pen and Sword Military. Nigel lives in Nottingham.
240 b/w illustrations