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More than 5000 entries on the history, culture and life of Britain (published in 1993 by Macmillan, now out of print)
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Leonard Cheshire
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(1917–92, baron 1991) World War II hero and provider of refuge for the incurably handicapped; by the early 1990s there were some 270 Cheshire Homes in 49 countries. As a pilot in Bomber Command he received the *Victoria Cross in 1944 – not, as in other cases, for a single act of bravery but for his role in a long succession of dangerous missions (many of them with the *Dam Busters squadron, of which he became leader shortly after their famous raid).
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The Cheshire Homes started almost accidentally. After 18 months in hospital with TB, and a conversion to Roman Catholicism, he attempted to establish a community home for ex-servicemen. Instead, finding himself in possession of a large empty house (Le Court, in Hampshire), he gave shelter to an incurable patient from a local hospital – the first of many. In 1959 Cheshire married another tireless crusader in a similar cause, Sue *Ryder.
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